Norman-Arab-Byzantine culture

[Alessio]

There are also new linguistic findings on the Italian language and that it maybe be originally from Sicily.

[Piccolo]

For the most part yes, particularly the Normans as I have always understood, though not necessarily for the Latinization-Catholicizing per se. The Normans are regarded as a success because they managed to treat their subjects well and not harshly. Hence many wanted to be like them and have their religion. At least that's how I understand it as conversions were not really forced from what I can tell under them though I'm not completely sure of all the details of conversion here. Here's an interesting quote:



edit: almost forgot the source:http://www.bestofsicily.com/mag/art171.htm

Thank you. It is interesting that the Normans are viewed positively by the Sicilians but in Britain they are often seen negatively, especially in England where they are sometimes blamed for oppressing the native Anglo-Saxons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_yoke

[Vesuvian Sky]

Thank you. It is interesting that the Normans are viewed positively by the Sicilians but in Britain they are often seen negatively, especially in England where they are sometimes blamed for oppressing the native Anglo-Saxons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_yoke

Good point. When you watch documentaries like this they are very positive and refer to this time in s. Italian history as "il Regino". However, if you watch the "William the Conqueror" counterpart of this series, the tone is much different.

[Piccolo]

Good point. When you watch documentaries like this they are very positive and refer to this time in s. Italian history as "il Regino". However, if you watch the "William the Conqueror" counterpart of this series, the tone is much different.

Thank you. I wonder if perhaps there is also the issue of the Norman aristocracy continuing to exist in the UK and there being a socio-economic divide between the Normans and other Britons. People with Norman surnames are still wealthier than your average Briton.

Does something like this exist in Sicily or did the Norman-Sicilian aristocracy die out?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...r-Britons.html

[Sikeliot]

I will say, as I've said MANY times, I'd choose the Normans over being Muslim today. However, as a Hellenophile, Normans did bring the end of the Greek language and religion on the island, and that (in addition to my general dislike of Northern Europe) is the reason I do not look at the Norman period as brightly as many others.

I do however give them credit for the architecture that resulted and the mixing of cultures.. I just wish it had all ended differently and reoriented us toward Greece.

[Sikeliot]

Thank you. I wonder if perhaps there is also the issue of the Norman aristocracy continuing to exist in the UK and there being a socio-economic divide between the Normans and other Britons. People with Norman surnames are still wealthier than your average Briton.

Does something like this exist in Sicily or did the Norman-Sicilian aristocracy die out?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...r-Britons.html

I am unsure about Sicily but I know in Ireland, many common Irish surnames are Norman.

Barrett, Bennett, Burke, Darcy, Fagan, anything with Fitz-, Fleming, Jennings, Keating, Lambert, Meade, Nash, Nugent, Pierce, Plunkett, Prendergast, Purcell, Redmond, Rice, Roche, Russell, Savage, Stafford, Stapleton, Sutton, Walsh, and Warren

are all Norman.

[Vesuvian Sky]

Thank you. I wonder if perhaps there is also the issue of the Norman aristocracy continuing to exist in the UK and there being a socio-economic divide between the Normans and other Britons. People with Norman surnames are still wealthier than your average Briton.

Does something like this exist in Sicily or did the Norman-Sicilian aristocracy die out?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/news...r-Britons.html

Great point and question. From what I can tell, the surname Hauteville or a derivative does'nt seem to exist in Sicily though it still does in Normandy. There may be some other Norman derived surnames in Sicily though I know not of them. However I do know of Filangieri, which is a surname of Italo-Norman heritage and still persists in Naples:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Filangieri

Its still regarded as an aristocratic name and if you google it you'll find its associated with Italian statesmen well into the 1800's but also philsophers/intellectuals.

[Sikeliot]

Where is Minard777 when we need him, his surname is actually of Norman origins.

[Sikeliot]

I wonder if Maltese surname Borg is related to the Irish version, Burke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Burke

[Ulla]

I wonder if Maltese surname Borg is related to the Irish version, Burke. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Burke

Borg is probably related to Italian Borgo/Borghi Borghese/Borgese/Borghesi from Proto-Germanic *burgz "city”, "village"