Political Manoeuvring in the Norman Kingdom of Sicily: Civitate and Carinola in the Development of the South-Italian County

One the of most interesting documents concerning the social and political history of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily can be found in the first instance in Giuseppe Del Giudice’s appendix to his diplomatic collection of Angevin documents. The document records Robert, Count of Civitate, restoring some lands that Robert Guiscard and Roger II had formerly granted to Abbot Unfredus of Terra Maggiore, and agreeing upon some exemptions and privileges. The edited document, though seemingly unimportant and relevant only at a local level, is not only crucial for the understanding of King Roger’s rearrangement of the nobility and their dominions in the mainland. What I argue here is that it also exemplifies the contemporary usage of the notion of county as a construction of something more than just a ‘countship,’ and rather a cluster of lordships defined by the social role exercised by the Norman count.