Norman Rule Research Articles

Kufic Epigraphy between Norman Sicily and Ifriqiya

Abstract Current scholarship on the role of Islamic art in the formation of Norman Sicilian material cultures argues for the importing of artistic traditions from Fatimid Egypt. This Palermo—Cairo axis overshadows the cultural ties that linked Sicily with nearby Ifriqiya (modern-day Tunisia and Algeria), narrowly separated by the Strait of Sicily. This article explores the epigraphic and visual ties between Sicily and Ifriqiya through extant Kufic epigraphs. It presents for the first time the inscriptions of the Santa Maria di Terreti Church near Reggio Calabria, Italy, and the San Giovanni degli Eremiti and Santa Maria dell’Ammiraglio churches in Palermo, Sicily. Previously dismissed as pseudo-Kufic, these fragments preserve true texts whose ornament and epigraphy correspond to the visual traditions of Zirid Ifriqiya. They offer an alternative perspective to the notion of cultural discontinuity that has guided recent research on the arts of Norman Sicily, instead pointing to medium-specific continuity bridging pre-Norman and Norman rule.

The Muqarnas Ceiling of the Cappella Palatina: Cultural Fluidity and Construction of the Royal Identity

The muqarnas ceiling of the Cappella Palatina was constructed in 1140 and is painted with themes ranging from court life to animals, mythical creatures to magnificent gardens. The ceiling is a testament to Roger II’s ambition for power, legitimacy, and multicultural harmony under Norman rule. Many scholars have tried to pinpoint the provenance of the ceiling as purely of Fatimid origin. However, upon inspection of the interconnectivity of the 12th-century Mediterranean and the incorporation of various Fatimid, Byzantine, North Syrian, and North African visual models, such a claim warrants scrutiny. This essay will consider how the subject matter, style, materials, and structure of the muqarnas ceiling function to form a new Norman language that addresses all the people of the Mediterranean. By synthesizing the iconography and style of different cultures, Roger uses material culture to symbolize his universalistic ambitions and elevates himself as an equal to other contemporary powers. The fluidity in the Norman visual language is also demonstrated.

Dynasties Intertwined: The Zirids of Ifriqiya and the Normans of Sicily

Dynasties Intertwined: The Zirids of Ifriqiya and the Normans of Sicily

Translating German Emperors: A Staufen–Sicilian Synthesis under Henry VI?

AbstractThe Staufen conquest of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1194 can be understood as the violent destruction of a sophisticated and cosmopolitan Norman kingdom and its replacement by a new dynasty with starkly different cultural and political models. Indeed, many contemporary authors decried the brutality associated with Henry VI's conquest. This article considers the other side of the coin by examining the evidence for attempts to integrate Henry VI into the local models associated with the previous monarchy. Despite the limited survival of evidence, there is reason to think that Staufen administrators deliberately continued and cultivated the ceremonies and traditions associated with the Norman Hauteville crown. Moreover, Sicilian elites had meaningful incentives to help translate between Norman and Staufen cultures. Finally, this article examines how a language of Staufen imperial authority could be blended with traditions of Norman rule.

The Normans in the Mediterranean ed. by Emily A. Winkler and Liam Fitzgerald

Reviewed by: The Normans in the Mediterranean ed. by Emily A. Winkler and Liam Fitzgerald Lindsay Diggelmann Winkler, Emily A., and Liam Fitzgerald, eds, The Normans in the Mediterranean (Medieval Identities: Socio-Cultural Spaces, 9), Turnhout, Brepols, 2021; hardback; pp. 268; 11 b/w, 5 colour illustrations; R.R.P. €75.00; ISBN 9782503590578. Examinations of Norman activity in Italy and the wider Mediterranean region are numerous, but this volume of essays has much to add to our understanding of the effect of the northerners' arrival in the south. From their first appearance as [End Page 176] missionaries and pilgrims in the early eleventh century, through to the creation of Roger II's multicultural kingdom in the twelfth, Norman immigrants and their descendants conquered, reshaped, and amalgamated with the existing Latin, Greek, and Islamic societies in Italy and Sicily. The introduction provides a useful thematic overview, placing the narrowly focused individual essays within the broader context of scholarship on the Mediterranean going back to Braudel. The general aim is to provide micro-studies, often dealing with evidence at the local or personal level, which can balance the well-known 'grand narrative' of Norman expansion. Above all, the editors and authors are keen to demonstrate how the changing circumstances brought by new Norman ruling powers affected prevailing social conditions. Essays are grouped into three parts with individual contributions loosely connected around the themes of 'Motivations', 'Implications', and 'Perceptions'. While the subjects and sources are diverse, there is a pleasing coherence to the collection, perhaps more than is often the case in volumes of this nature. Part I on 'Motivations and Strategies' opens with Matthew Bennett's survey of the current state of the field and key narrative sources for the idea of normanitas and Norman relations with those peoples they encountered in Italy. Aurélie Thomas looks at marriage strategies, discerning variance in the success of Norman newcomers in marrying into established powerful families. Differing outcomes, she argues, can be linked to the differing inheritance practices of Italian elites, thus placing agency in the decisions on whether to pursue dynastic alliances back on to local families, rather than seeing it all rest with ambitious Norman lords. In the final chapter of the section, Lucas Villegas-Aristizábal broadens our horizons by examining Norman incursions into Iberia up until the time of the Third Crusade. Themes of Norman expansion and ambition played out equally in Iberia, although geographically distant from the areas looked at by other contributions, adding a valuable comparative element to the collection. Five chapters in Part II deal with social realities and the 'Implications of Conquest' in the wake of the Normans' arrival in Italy. Architectural, archaeological, and documentary evidence sits alongside investigation of the more familiar narrative sources. Sandro Carocci argues for the importance of 'micro-lordships', suggesting that these were much more influential in determining the outcome of local affairs compared with the efforts of the great territorial lords. Graham Loud uses charter evidence to establish the role of Norman kin groups in the nobility of southern Italy between 1085 and 1127, a period for which the narrative sources are extremely sparse. By focusing on the specific example of Salerno, Maddalena Vaccaro shows how a deliberate ecclesiastical building programme could promote Norman integration into a city they now ruled. Theresa Jäckh also undertakes the case study of a single city, Roger II's capital Palermo in Sicily, to question the nature of the transition from Islamic to Norman rule. Using Latin texts and Arabic documents, Jäckh contests the consensus view that the city's importance had significantly weakened under Islamic authority in the [End Page 177] period before the Normans' conquest of the island. Finally in Part II, Nicole Mölk examines material evidence from a hilltop village in Sicily which suggests the possibility of Christian and Muslim communities living side by side. Despite this positive conclusion, the archaeological record also indicates the difficulties which ordinary members of Sicilian society faced in their day-to-day lives. Two excellent essays on 'Perceptions and Memories' round out the collection in the shorter Part III. Matt King discusses Roger II's temporary conquest of Africa (roughly equivalent...

THE TROIA CHRONICLE AND HISTORIOGRAPHICAL PRODUCTION IN MEDIEVAL PUGLIA

Historiographical production within twelfth-century Puglia seems to have been markedly limited, and this frustrates attempts to access internal perspectives on a region which played a pivotal socio-political and economic role within southern Italy as it fell under Norman rule, and was subsequently absorbed into the new Kingdom of Sicily in 1130. It might, however, be possible to bolster the region's twelfth-century historiographical outputs if we were to include a largely overlooked and problematic source, the so-called Fragmentary Troia Chronicle. It is a short, hybridized and fragmented Latin text usually assumed to be late twelfth-century as a result of its chronological coverage. It consists of an annalistic-style account of political and religious events mostly of relevance to the northern Pugliese city of Troia and its bishopric, and ostensibly covers 1014 to 1124/7. It is accompanied by what also seems to be an appendix of documents (some dated later than the annalistic section) associated with the city's bishopric. This article therefore offers the first extended analysis of the Troia Chronicle's place within Pugliese historiographical production. It revisits questions around its authenticity, examines potential contexts surrounding its production and content, and provides the first English translation of the narrative section of the chronicle. In so doing, it argues that we must tread carefully when using this source, but that the Troia Chronicle's existence and its main chronological focus could at the very least hold significance as a marker of an enduring remembrance of a vibrant era of episcopal, literary and urban development in this Pugliese city in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

O prvom pomenu kneza Vladimira u izvorima

The paper attempts to answer the question of the first records of Prince Vladimir in historical sources. Up to now it has been considered that he was first mentioned in the work "A Synopsis of Byzantine History" by John Skylitzes. However, Henri Grégoire and Raoul De Keyser indicate that the prince was mentioned in "The Song of Roland" ("La Chanson de Roland") as rei flurit, i.e., as the Blessed King. This epic originates from the spring of 1085 in Salerno, which was under the Norman rule at the time. This author agrees and supports the thesis by identifying a great number of concepts which refer to the Balkans (geographically, ethnically). It is believed that the Normans obtained information about the Balkans and Prince Vladimir while they held Dyrrhachium from 1081 to 1085.

Norman Rule in Normandy, 911–1144 by Mark Hagger

Reviewed by: Norman Rule in Normandy, 911–1144 by Mark Hagger James Doherty Norman Rule in Normandy, 911–1144 By Mark Hagger. Woodbridge: The Boydell Press, 2017. https://boydellandbrewer.com/norman-rule-in-normandy-911-1144-hb.html In his new contribution to the substantial body of scholarship on medieval Normandy, Mark Hagger examines the means by which the dukes of the region obtained and then maintained power in the period 911–1144. Hagger's previous monographs include a biography of William the Conqueror (William: King and Conqueror) and a study of the Verdun family in England, Ireland and Wales over the course of three centuries (The Fortunes of a Norman Family: The de Verduns in England, Ireland and Wales, 1066–1316). His other publications have focused on the records of governance, the nature of lordship and the practicalities of rule in Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. The author is, then, concerned with the nuts and bolts of authority; indeed, that is his focus in this sizable study. At the outset, it is made clear that Norman Rule in Normandy is a political history, and, as Hagger states, issues such as literature, art, and intellectual developments are not considered unless they have a political dimension (p. xviii). No other work, though, has covered Norman rule in such depth over the entire period examined in this book or placed such emphasis on the surviving ducal acta. The introduction is primarily an overview of the source base, and it is followed by a book of two parts that is divided along methodological lines. Part I, "Conquest, Concession, Conversion and Competition: Building the Duchy of Normandy," comprises five chapters, all of them analytical narratives. Chapters 1–3 offer an outline of the major developments in the duchy during the chronological scope of the book, while in Chapter 4, "Holier than Thou: The Dukes and the Church," Hagger examines the nature of ecclesiastical power in medieval Normandy, as well as the dukes' relations with Rome. In the final chapter of Part I, "Sovereigns, Styles, and Scribes," the focus moves to the vicissitudes of the ducal relationship with the French crown. It is understandable that Hagger has adopted a narrative approach in Part I. The period covered by this book gave rise to some of the most impactful events and movements in Western European history, such as the ascent of the Capetians, the Norman Conquest of England, the Gregorian Reform, the Investiture Contest, and the First Crusade. To cover a period of such monumental [End Page 244] change does, then, justify so substantial a chronological overview, and it makes the second part of this work, where Hagger's expertise is most clearly apparent, accessible to those less familiar with the history and/or historiography of medieval Normandy. One potential drawback in adopting such an approach is that, for some readers, Norman Rule in Normandy will feel like two different books bound together. Part II is a series of thematic studies over the longue durée. Chapters 6–11 include in-depth investigations of executive authority, the performance and experience of power, the enforcement of justice, communication in the duchy and further afield, finance, and the personnel within the orbit of ducal influence. The approach implemented in Part II is in many ways a simple (not simplistic) one. Hagger sets himself a series of straightforward and interrelated questions to answer regarding the mechanics of power. For instance, in Chapter 9, "Movements, Messengers, Mandates, and Minions," he asks, amongst other questions: what did a count actually do in the duchy, how were messages sent, and who was tasked with delivering writs? The answers he provides, however, are often complex, nuanced and make significant contributions to the study of medieval power relations. Throughout, the author draws on his vast experience of research in Normandy's archives, and he offers extensive analysis of the material. The inclusion of tables to present the findings of statistical analyses is particularly useful. The titles used in pre-conquest acta, for example, appear in a clear table (p. 268) and this can be contrasted to the titles used in post-conquest acta, as represented in table six (p. 293). Also included in this...

Maltese: blending Semitic, Romance and Germanic lexemes

AbstractMalta’s position at the centre of the Mediterranean attracted various conquerors and settlers, but in its present form Maltese has its origins in the Arabic dialect introduced by the Muslim conquest around the year 1000. Lexical Latinisation started early under Norman rule and kept increasing steadily up to the twentieth century thanks to contact with Chancery and spoken Sicilian up to the sixteenth century, and then with Italian which was introduced by the Knights of Malta. This article traces the historical developments and their influence on the Maltese language, providing statistics concerning the composition of the lexicon and the various methods by which it can be analysed. A look at the present situation explains how Maltese and English bilingualism in the schools and in society is affecting the spoken variety which is often marked by code-switching.

Norman Rule in Normandy, 911–1144 by Mark Hagger

Reviewed by: Norman Rule in Normandy, 911–1144 by Mark Hagger Lindsay Diggelmann Hagger, Mark, Norman Rule in Normandy, 911–1144, Woodbridge, Boydell Press, 2017; hardback; pp. 824; 8 b/w, 6 line illustrations; R.R.P. £60.00; ISBN 9781783272143. Scholarship on the Norman period has been expanding rapidly in recent years. As well as increasing our knowledge of Norman activities in England, southern Italy, and elsewhere, the nature of Norman lordship and society within Normandy itself, both before and after 1066, has come under scrutiny. Mark Hagger's new study makes a significant and welcome contribution to our understanding of the development of ducal rule and is likely to become an authoritative statement on the topic. With its narrower but highly detailed focus on the duchy itself, it complements other recent volumes with a wider perspective, such as David Bates's The Normans and Empire (Oxford University Press, 2013) and the essays in Stringer and Jotischky (eds), Norman Expansion (Ashgate, 2013), or Bates's biography of William the Conqueror in the Yale English Monarchs series (Yale University Press, 2016). The introduction offers an extended overview of the sources on which Hagger bases his study. The four major narrative sources (by Dudo of Saint Quentin, William of Jumièges, William of Poitiers, and Orderic Vitalis) are all familiar to scholars of the period. But in surveying recent historiography on these authors, Hagger offers new interpretations. For example, he hypothesizes that William of Jumièges composed the Gesta Normannorum ducum in part to reconcile rebellious nobles to their duke's rule (pp. 14–18). Indeed, one of the book's major themes [End Page 176] concerns the way in which both narrative and administrative sources (especially the latter) are better understood as part of a dialogue between the dukes and their subjects. Since many of the surviving acta were produced not by ducal officials, but by those making requests of their ruler, they can tell us just as much about the 'reception of ducal power by the dukes' subjects and beneficiaries' (pp. 30–31) as they can about the motivations of the rulers themselves. For Hagger, charters and related documents 'provide views from the bottom up rather than the top down' (p. 37). The book contains two large sections. The first offers three chronological chapters following the development of ducal authority from its origins in the early tenth century to the conquest of Normandy from King Stephen by his Angevin rivals in 1144, as well as chapters on ducal relations with the Church and with the neighbouring kings of France. The focus stays tightly on the expansion and expression of power within the duchy, as exercised through grants of land, military activity, marriage alliances, and the management of relationships with family members and aristocratic rivals. Consequently, Hagger deliberately avoids extensive coverage of better-known external events, including the campaign of 1066. By emphasizing local developments in the regions of Normandy and showing how individuals and families asserted their autonomy or benefited from ducal patronage at different times and in different ways, the author builds a careful and thorough argument suggesting that the establishment of full ducal control was a slower and more piecemeal process than has previously been thought. Normandy may have become a 'viable political entity' by the late tenth century but it was not until c. 1120, Hagger argues, that Henry I was able to gain full control over all parts of the duchy (p. 184). The second section presents six thematic chapters on topics including justice, finance, and the military household. Each of these forms a substantial study in its own right. The chapter on courtly ritual and the performance of ducal authority is representative in the way it presents an eclectic mix of evidence. Hagger reexamines witness and signatory lists to show how petitioners at court were part of an elaborate system of ritual through which the dukes could 'broadcast and maintain their authority' (p. 364), even while attendees asserted their own claims to power, property, and recognition. A section on the 'political theatre of landscapes and buildings' (p. 381–94) draws on recent work on castles, architecture, and medieval urban spaces to argue that ducal...

The King, His Chapel, His Church. Boundaries and Hybridity in the Religious Visual Culture of the Norman Kingdom

AbstractThe creation of the Norman kingdom of Sicily was complemented by the development of a unique court milieu encompassing elements from the Latin West, Byzantium, and the Islamic world. The churches of Palermo, in particular, became the focus of a sophisticated project of experimentation and combination of different artistic traditions, to convey an artificial image of equilibrium among élites and communities of three different denominations: Latin, Greek-Byzantine, and Arabo-Christian. Through the creation and subversion of architectural boundaries, the promotion of certain forms of visual hybridity, the transgression of artistic media, and the articulation of new liminal spaces, the Norman rulers transformed their churches and cathedrals into an ideal stage for performing their liturgy of kingship, and conveying the message of a multi-faceted religious system unified and harmonized only through the king, as supreme head of the Church and vicar of Christ.

„NEC TEMERE NEQUE INIUSTE, SED CONSULTO ET AEQUITATIS DUCTU IN HANC TERRAM TRANSVECTUS SUM” (GG II, 12) – LEGITYMIZOWANIE WŁADZY W GESTA GUILLELMI WILHELMA Z POITIERS

The aim of the article is to analyse first medieval biography of William the Conqueror in order to explain the issue of legitimization of the Norman rule in England. In the introduction I present the author of Gesta Guillelmi and his work. Main part of the article contains detailed explanatory narrative’s elements used by author to provide ideological justifications for William the Conqueror’s rule in London.

Maltese: blending Semitic, Romance and Germanic lexemes

Abstract Malta’s position at the centre of the Mediterranean attracted various conquerors and settlers, but in its present form Maltese has its origins in the Arabic dialect introduced by the Muslim conquest around the year 1000. Lexical Latinisation started early under Norman rule and kept increasing steadily up to the twentieth century thanks to contact with Chancery and spoken Sicilian up to the sixteenth century, and then with Italian which was introduced by the Knights of Malta. This article traces the historical developments and their influence on the Maltese language, providing statistics concerning the composition of the lexicon and the various methods by which it can be analysed. A look at the present situation explains how Maltese and English bilingualism in the schools and in society is affecting the spoken variety which is often marked by code-switching.

The Cult of St Nicholas of Myra in Norman Bari, c. 1071–c. 1111

This article explores the cult of St Nicholas in later eleventh-century Bari, focusing on its importance to the new Norman rulers in the region as well as to their subjects. While acknowledging the influence of earlier expressions of the cult in Normandy and in Byzantine southern Italy, it argues that for numerous reasons Nicholas was, for Bari, an especially important – and appropriate – intercessor. During these years, which witnessed the translation of the saint from Myra, economic developments, church politics and the demands of the First Crusade merged to render Nicholas an ideal patron for the city.

(Old) English, Anglo-Saxon Legal Texts in the Later 11th to Mid-12th Centuries

Manuscripts containing English language copies of Anglo-Saxon laws and related texts continued to be produced and used well into the mid-12th century. Interpretations of the underling manuscript contexts prevalent in the scholarship have tended to prioritise the Conquest as the defining feature underlying their production and use. Such interpretations assume that the collation of a wide range of Anglo-Saxon legal texts into a single manuscript context was a direct result of Norman rulers struggling to understand their newly acquired realm. This article reassesses the impact of the Conquest on the manuscript contexts of Anglo-Saxon law, by reviewing the extant scholarship on the surviving manuscripts, the role of the vernacular in the 12th century, and on legal history relating to Anglo-Saxon law in the period. Case studies of the scribal augmenting and updating of a turn of the 12th century manuscript collection of the laws are examined. Through these case studies, I illustrate the extent of scribal agency in the subtle adaption of the materiality and mise-en-page of the laws in their manuscript contexts. I argued for a manuscript-led approach to the study of Anglo-Saxon laws and related texts produced and used in the later 11th and first half of the 12th centuries.

The socio-economic determinants of social capital and the mediating effect of history:Making Democracy Workrevisited

Putnam argued that the different levels of social capital between the North and the South of Italy originated in the Middle Ages. In the North of Italy, the existence of a dense network of medieval towns gave rise to horizontal ties and collective action. Conversely, in the South of Italy, the authoritarian Norman rule generated hierarchical relationships and the absence of collective action. This article proposes an alternative explanation for the lack of social capital in the South of Italy using a comparative perspective. The analysis is undertaken in two steps: 1) testing the socio-economic determinants of social capital in 85 European regions; 2) performing a comparative historical analysis between deviant – that is, South of Italy and Wallonia – and regular – that is, North East of Italy and Flanders – cases. These cases are selected by looking at the residual of the regression model. The results suggest that medieval history does not explain the lack of social capital in the South of Italy. On the contrary, the historical legacy mitigates the negative effect of inequitable income distribution, low labour market participation and weak national cohesion on social capital.

ORIENTATION IN THREE SPHERES: MEDIEVAL MEDITERRANEAN BOUNDARY CLAUSES IN LATIN, GREEK AND ARABIC

ABSTRACTThis paper investigates the development of land registry traditions in the medieval Mediterranean by examining a distinctive aspect of Latin, Greek and Arabic formularies used in boundary clauses. The paper makes particular reference to Islamic and Norman Sicily. The argument begins by recalling that the archetypal way of defining limits according to Classical Roman land surveyors was to beginab oriente. Many practices from Antiquity were discontinued in the Latin West, but the idea of starting with or from the East endured in many cases where boundaries were assigned cardinal directions. In the Byzantine Empire, the ‘Roman’ model was prescribed and emulated by Greek surveyors and scribes too. But in the Arab-Muslim Mediterranean, lands were defined with the southern limit first. This contrast forms the basis of a typology that can be tested against charter evidence in frontier zones – for example, in twelfth-century Sicily, which had been under Byzantine, Muslim and Norman rulers. It concludes that, under the Normans, private documents drawn up in Arabic began mainly with the southern limit following the ‘Islamic’ model. However, Arabic descriptions of crown lands started mainly in the ‘Romano-Byzantine’ way. These findings offer a higher resolution view of early Norman governance and suggest that such boundary definitions of the royal chancery could not have been based on older ones written in the Islamic period.

Hormone, Relationships of Parathyroid Gamma Counts, and Adenoma Mass in Minimally Invasive Parathyroidectomy

To better understand relationships of parathyroid hormone (PTH) production, adenoma gamma counts, and adenoma mass in patients undergoing minimally radioguided invasive parathyroidectomy for primary hyperparathyroidism from single-gland disease. A prospective review of 104 patients operated on by a single surgeon. University tertiary hospital. Adults who have primary hyperparathyroidism due to a single gland. There were 23 men and 81 women with an average age of 63 years. The mean (SD) adenoma mass was 0.78 (0.69) g (median, 0.57 g). The mean (SD) percent of background for the adenoma was 120.2 (90.5). Preoperative PTH and percent of background gamma count of the adenoma showed a likely correlation with a Spearman ρ value of 0.2039 and a P value of .037. There were significant correlations between both percent of background of the adenoma and adenoma mass (Spearman ρ = 0.4991 and P < .0001). Preoperative PTH and adenoma mass also showed a significant positive correlation (Spearman ρ = 0.308 and P = .002). There exist correlations between gland mass, radioactivity, and PTH level. Adenoma radiation counts do not appear to be a proxy for changes in PTH levels measured during surgery as has been reported. Intraoperative PTH has been shown by others not to be necessary when doing radioguided parathyroid surgery if the Norman rule is observed. However, a radioguided technique and intraoperative PTH can provide complementary information in making an assessment of completion of parathyroid procedures.

Stuccoes from the Early Norman Period in Sicily: Figuration, Fabrication and Integration

This study examines fragments of stucco reliefs from three churches located in Sicily and southern Italy, Santi Pietro e Paolo at Itala, San Giuliano at Caltagirone, and Santa Maria de Terreti near Reggio Calabria. The churches and stuccoes date from the late eleventh century and reveal unexpected connections and conflicts among cultures, artists and patrons during the first years of Norman rule. Stucco, a material that is rarely included in discussions of European art of the Middle Ages, merits serious consideration; in this article, it helps illuminate such major art historical questions as the status of “Islamic” Sicily and the genesis of the polyvalent art forms associated with the later Norman kings.

Using the distribution of the CCR5-Δ32 allele in third-generation Maltese citizens to disprove the Black Death hypothesis

Malta was under Norman rule for over 400 years and has had three major documented plague outbreaks (and a number of minor ones) since the 14th century with death tolls of 5-15% of the population at the time. This makes the Maltese population ideal for testing the hypothesis that the Black Death (particularly that of 1346-52) was responsible for a genetic shift that spread the CCR5-Δ32 allele. By enrolling 300 blood donors to determine the percentage of the Maltese population resistant to HIV-1 (which uses the CCR5-receptor to infect cells), it was established that the CCR5-Δ32 allele frequency is almost zero in third-generation Maltese citizens and sequencing showed that the deletion observed in the region of interest is the 32-base deletion expected. Thus, despite the extensive Norman occupation and the repeated plague cullings, the CCR5-Δ32 allele frequency is extremely low. This provides a basis for the discussion of conflicting hypotheses regarding the possible origin, function and spread of the CCR5-Δ32 deletion.