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Historical person
George Maniakes was an eleventh-century Byzantine general renowned for campaigns in the eastern Mediterranean and southern Italy. He captured Edessa and later recovered much of eastern Sicily from Muslim rule, but quarrels among Byzantine commanders undermined the expedition. Recalled and threatened by court rivals, he rebelled against Emperor Constantine IX and was killed in battle in 1043.
Historical fiction can use Maniakes as the model of the brilliant but politically dangerous general: physically formidable, successful on campaign and repeatedly frustrated by court intrigue. His Sicilian expedition brings together Byzantines, Lombards, Normans and Varangians, making his career especially valuable for novels about the unstable alliances that preceded the Norman conquest of southern Italy.
Series
The Wolves of Odin series follows Halfdan and the crew of the Sea Wolf from eleventh-century Scandinavia into the interconnected world of Byzantium, Italy, Normandy, England and Norway. Their blood feud begins amid Christianisation but soon becomes a wider search for wealth, honour and belonging among rulers who…
All books in this series
