Idéologie du pouvoir et modèles littéraires anglo-normands dans le royaume des deux Guillaume

In the twelfth century much iconographic evidence shows the diffusion in Italy of the plots of the most important chansons de geste and medieval romances. Until now the representations of these stories in the mosaics of the Apulian cathedrals has not been properly analysed by considering the problem of the relationship between clients and users. In this article we consider the ideological re-employment of characters of the Breton and Carolingian cycles, or even of Alexander’s romance, in the artistic language in Norman Kingdom of Sicily. Here the Macedonian king and the heroes in chansons do not only express an anti-Byzantine sentiment, as recent studies reaffirm; indeed, the geographical context also provides to these figures a function as the embodiment of a common historical-cultural heritage and accordingly expresses an image of the East which was built by the Europeans in the Middle Ages.