'Virilis' or 'Muliebris'?: The Byzantines in the Italo-Norman Histories of the Eleventh Century

Abstract

The overarching theme of this thesis is the dismissal of the regularly forwarded idea that the Normans unequivocally held Byzantine males to be 'effeminate'. Most notably, this perception has reached exaggerated and unsubstantiated heights in the work of Jean-Charles Payen: l'épithète femineus, une sévère accusation d'homosexualité. Although Payen was writing in reference to William of Puglia's GRW, it should be noted that it is really only Amatus of Montecassino's work that is consistently hostile to the Byzantines, the 'men like women' (homes comme fames) phrase and variants being used on more than one occasion. But Payen's 'severe accusation of homosexuality' is never implied. In fact, the opposite is suggested. When relating the reasons for the Normano-Lombard invasion of Puglia in the 1040s, Amatus had the Lombard Arduin claiming that the Byzantines – presumably garrison troops – had insulted or affronted their women. Amatus, it should be noted, was a Lombard, not a Norman, and therefore the idea that 'Norman' perceptions can be gleaned from his work is hardly compelling.