Perseguitati ed esuli tra Bisanzio e Malta: Giorgio Maniace e l'Anonimo di Gozo

The paper focuses on two cases of exile and political persecution both in Byzantium and in Norman Sicily. The analysis starts with the XIth-century sources about George Maniakes’ rebellion (Michael Psellos, John Skylitzes and Michael Attaleiates above all); it proceeds with the examination of the lament by a XIIth-century Greek-Norman poet (the so-called Anonymous Tsolakis or Anonymous of Malta) for his exile on Gozo. Finally, the paper takes into account the language of persecution and subversion as to analyse how the power could have been criticised at the Byzantine as well as the Norman court.