One of the great medieval dynasties that is often overlooked was built by Norman Knights in the 11th & 12th century. The Normans influence may have be overlooked because they did not create a single empire under a single ruler, instead Norman barons conquered new lands and made small kingdoms for themselves as Williams the Conqueror did when he conquered England in 1066. Under William's rule great building projects began all over England. Williams built huge castles to protect his kingdom and encouraged the church to build monasteries and churches on a scale and architectural ambition that had never been seen in England before.

When the Normans went on Crusades and conquered large areas of Southern Italy and Sicily they also built monumental buildings and decorated them with some of the finest medieval art of its time. They laid the foundations of an appreciation of art and architecture that would make Italy the artistic and architectural powerhouse of Europe for centuries to come.

One of the Byzantine jewels of Europe was created by a Norman king in the Norman Palace, Palermo, Sicily. It is the Capella Plant in a or Palatine Chapel.

The other mosaics depict scenes for the old testament and scenes from the lives of apostles and probably date from the 1160's. They are not as fine as the transept mosaics and were probably made by local craftsmen as a lot of the inscriptions are in Latin rather than Greek.

The Palatine chapel is a political statement from the 11th and 12th century. It is designed to be appealing to Roman Christians, Orthodox Christians, Jews and Muslims alike. Its mosaics depict biblical scenes, the scenes from the apostles lives as well as very rare secular mosaics and paintings on the ceiling depicting everyday life, animals and flowers. The multifaceted ceiling. made from now rare Nebrodi pine, is an arabic design influenced by Iraqi 'Ab bas id art. Scenes show people playing chess and dancing. Lions & eagles are depicted and these paintings in tempera, part of what is widely considered the largest single Fatimid work of art of its day, seems to reflect the relaxed norms of a tolerant society. The scenes would have been frowned upon by Muslims of the time yet they would have been painted by Muslim artists. Does this indicated defiance on the artists part o are the Normans sending out a secular message of tolerance to dogmatic Muslims?

Other scenes in the Palatine Chapel could represent tolerance or show the Normans independence. The lack of dogma in the pictures of the Palatine chapel point to the lack of dominance by the Roman or Orthodox church in Norman religious life. The division of the Christian Church into Roman and Orthodox almost seems to have been irrelevant to them. In the dome of the central apse above the main altar Christ looks down, arms spread wide in a gesture of benevolence, the fingers of his right hand making the shape of the Orthodox blessing. Christ's thumb touches his second finger and his other fingers make the shape of the Orthodox Cyrillic letter for Christ - KX<. This can be either interpreted as Norman tolerance towards the Roman & Orthodox churches or as a message to Rome that the Noma n's allegiance to the Roman church should not be taken for granted.

There is little ambiguity though with the raised Carolingian Throne area of the Chapel which shows the Normans allegiance to Carolingian kings and therefore the Holy Roman Emperor. Above the throne the messages are less clear. Christ sits on a throne high above the kings throne showing the dominance of the church but between the throne and Christ are arabic decorative panels depicting exotic birds and intertwining plants and flower. There are 2 bearded lions and small animals faces are inserted into the design. It almost seems to act as a secular barrier between the king on Earth and the king in heaven.

King Roger would not have seen his chapel finished in its full glory as he died in 1132. One hundred and Fifty years later in 12 82 the Norman rule in Sicily ended when the House of Aragon took over. As a final testament of the change the Aragon coat of arms is now in the middle of the throne mosaics.

The Chapel throws light on a period of history that is usually looked on as a dark period which lacked any culture or art. A time when ruthless barons waged constant religious crusades. The stories and ambiguities of the Palatine Chapel mosaics seem to point to less certain division in Europe between the various religions and cultures. The northern European Normans seem to have embraced eastern culture and art and encouraged cross over Christian art in their great cathedrals of Sicily.

As a separate culture the Normans did not have a long reign but they were rarely defeated. They assimilated themselves into the royal and noble houses of Europe. Maybe the message from the Normans in the Palatine Chapel Mosaics is tolerate and assimilate. They seem to have done both and in the process left great building that still dominated the European medieval landscape today.

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