ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses the different frontiers, Normandy is defined as a territory that at some point fell under the authority of the descendants of Rollo, but neighboured that which owes allegiance to another lord. It considers the Welsh English border is a zone of contact between the Norman invaders and the native Welsh princes; and, in the case of Sicily, the frontier comprises the Straits of Messina. This also considers questions of imagined boundaries and the role of classical literature in characterising a frontier. As is the case with the northern Norman chronicles, little has been said in existing historiography about depictions of the landscape, or in this instance seascape, beyond a general acknowledgement of the perils of the Straits. In the case of Straits of Messina, Geoffrey Malaterra reported that when, due to bad weather, the Normans were prevented from crossing back to Reggio on the mainland after one campaign.