A representação dos pagãos no século XI: narrativas normandas sobre escandinavos e sarracenos

Abstract

Throughout the 10th and 11th centuries, Normandy established itself as an important center of power in northern Francia. The Normans, led by the Norman dynasty of Rouen, considerably expanded their territory and influence in Francia. However, this Norman expansion was not limited to the Kingdom of Francia, and these Normans also conquered overseas possessions. An important example of this process was the Norman conquest of southern Italy led by the Norman Hauteville family.The Normans in Francia and Italy faced a similar problem: the need to legitimize their political and social position. One mechanism used by both dynasties was to commission written narratives of their trajectories to justify their sovereignty. In both cases, the authors had to represent non-Christian or pagan populations in their narratives: the Scandinavians and the Saracens. This article seeks to compare how this non-Christian element is described in the narrative of Dudo de Saint-Quentin and Godfrey Malaterra to determine whether it is possible to establish a connection between Dudo's pagans and those of Malaterra.