Robert Guiscard (;
Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a
Norman adventurer remembered for the
conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the
Hauteville family in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, went on to become count and then
duke of Apulia and Calabria (1057–1059),
Duke of Sicily (1059–1085), and briefly
prince of Benevento (1078–1081) before returning the title to the papacy.
His sobriquet, in contemporary
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...
and
Old French
Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...
, is often rendered "the Resourceful", "the Cunning", "the Wily", "the Fox", or "the Weasel". In Italian sources he is often Roberto II Guiscardo or Roberto d'Altavilla (from Robert de Hauteville), while medieval
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C. E.Watson; Walter ...
sources call him simply ''Abārt al-dūqa'' (Duke Robert).
Background
From 999 to 1042 the
Normans
The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...
in Italy, coming first as pilgrims, were mainly mercenaries serving at various times the
Byzantines and a number of
Lombard nobles. The first of the independent Norman lords was
Rainulf Drengot who established himself in the fortress of
Aversa
Aversa () is a city and '' comune'' in the Province of Caserta in Campania, southern Italy, about 24 km north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the ''Agro Aversano'', producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical ...
becoming
Count of Aversa and
Duke of Gaeta.
In 1038 there arrived
William Iron Arm and
Drogo, the eldest sons of
Tancred of Hauteville, a petty noble of the
Cotentin in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
. The two joined in the revolt of the Lombards against Byzantine control of
Apulia. By 1040 the Byzantines had lost most of that province. In 1042
Melfi was chosen as the Norman capital, and in September of that year the Normans elected as their count William Iron-Arm, who was succeeded in turn by his brothers Drogo, ''comes Normannorum totius Apuliæ e Calabriæ'' ("the count of all Normans in Apulia and Calabria"), and
Humphrey, who arrived about 1044.
Early years
Robert Guiscard was the sixth son of
Tancred of Hauteville and eldest by his second wife Fressenda. According to the
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
historian
Anna Comnena, he left Normandy with only five mounted riders and thirty followers on foot.
[''The Alexiad of Anna Comnena'', Trans. (from the Greek) E.R.A. Sewter (London & New York: Penguin Books, 1969), p. 54 ] Upon arriving in
Langobardia in 1047, he became the chief of a roving robber-band. Anna Comnena also leaves a physical description of Guiscard:
Lands were scarce in Apulia at the time and the roving Guiscard could not expect any grant from Drogo, then reigning, for Humphrey had just received his own county of
Lavello
Lavello ( Potentino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the region of Basilicata of southern Italy; it is located in the middle Ofanto valley.
History
The area of Lavello was settled in prehistoric times, as attested by f ...
. Guiscard soon joined Prince
Pandulf IV of Capua in his ceaseless wars with Prince
Guaimar IV of Salerno (1048). The next year, however, Guiscard left Pandulf, according to
Amatus of Montecassino because Pandulf reneged on a promise of a castle and his daughter's hand. Guiscard returned to his brother Drogo and asked to be granted a fief. Drogo, who had just finished campaigning in Calabria, gave Guiscard command of the fortress of
Scribla. Dissatisfied with this position, Guiscard moved to the castle of
San Marco Argentano (after which he later named the first Norman castle in Sicily, at the site of ancient
Aluntium).
During his time in Calabria, Guiscard married his first wife,
Alberada of Buonalbergo. She was the paternal aunt of
Girard of Buonalbergo, who agreed to join Robert with 200 knights in exchange for Robert marrying her.
Guiscard soon rose to distinction. The Lombards turned against their erstwhile allies, and
Pope Leo IX
Pope Leo IX (21 June 1002 – 19 April 1054), born Bruno von Egisheim-Dagsburg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. Leo IX is considered to be one of the most historically ...
determined to expel the Norman freebooters. His army was defeated, however, at the
Battle of Civitate sul Fortore in 1053 by the Normans, united under Humphrey. Humphrey commanded the centre against the pope's
Swabia
Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.
The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...
n troops. Early in the battle Count
Richard of Aversa, commanding the right van, put the Lombards to flight and chased them down, then returned to help rout the Swabians. Guiscard had come all the way from Calabria to command the left. His troops were held in reserve until, seeing Humphrey's forces ineffectually charging the pope's centre, he called up his father-in-law's reinforcements and joined the fray, distinguishing himself personally, even being dismounted and remounting again three separate times, according to
William of Apulia. Honored for his actions at Civitate, Guiscard succeeded Humphrey as count of Apulia in 1057, over his elder half-brother
Geoffrey. In company with
Roger
Roger is a given name, usually masculine, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") and ', ' ( ...
, his youngest brother, Guiscard carried on the conquest of Apulia and Calabria, while Richard conquered the
principality of Capua
The Principality of Capua ( la, italic=yes, Principatus Capuae or ''Capue'', it, italic=yes, Principato di Capua) was a Lombard state centred on Capua in Southern Italy, usually ''de facto'' independent, but under the varying suzerainty of ...
.
Rule
Soon after his succession, probably in 1058, Guiscard separated from his wife Alberada because they were related within the prohibited degrees. Shortly after, he married
Sichelgaita, the sister of
Gisulf II of Salerno, Guaimar's successor. In return for giving him his sister's hand, Gisulf demanded that Guiscard destroy two castles of his brother
William, count of the
Principate
The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate. ...
, which had encroached on Gisulf's territory.
The reformist Papacy, at odds with the
Holy Roman Emperor (due to the
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy, also called Investiture Contest (German: ''Investiturstreit''; ), was a conflict between the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops ( investiture) and abbots of mona ...
) and the Roman nobility itself, resolved to recognize the Normans and secure them as allies. Therefore, in the
Treaty of Melfi, on 23 August 1059,
Pope Nicholas II invested Guiscard as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
. Guiscard, now "by the Grace of God and St Peter duke of Apulia and Calabria and, if either aid me, future lord of Sicily", agreed to hold his titles and lands by annual rent of the Holy See and to maintain its cause. In the next twenty years he undertook a series of conquests, winning his Sicilian dukedom.
Subjugation of Calabria
At the time of the opening of the Melfitan council in June, Guiscard had been leading an army in Calabria, the first strong attempt to subjugate that Byzantine province since the campaigns of Iron-Arm with Guaimar. After attending the synod for his investiture, Guiscard returned to Calabria, where his army was besieging
Cariati. After his arrival, Cariati submitted and, before winter was out,
Rossano and
Gerace followed. Only
Reggio was left in Byzantine hands when Guiscard returned to Apulia. In Apulia, he worked to remove the Byzantine garrisons from
Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label=Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important comme ...
and
Brindisi, before, largely in preparation for his planned Sicilian expedition, he returned again to Calabria, where Roger was waiting with
siege engines.
The fall of Reggio, after a long and arduous siege, and the subsequent capitulation of
Scilla, an island citadel to which the Reggian garrison had fled, opened up the way to Sicily. Roger first led a tiny force to attack
Messina but was repulsed easily by the
Saracen
upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia ...
garrison. The large invading force that could have been expected did not materialise, for Guiscard was recalled by a new Byzantine army, sent by
Constantine X Doukas, ravaging Apulia. In January 1061, Melfi itself was under siege, and Roger too was recalled. But the full weight of Guiscard's forces forced the Byzantines to retreat and by May Apulia was calm.
Sicilian campaigns
Guiscard invaded Sicily with his brother Roger, capturing Messina in 1061 with comparable ease: they landed unsighted during the night and surprised the Saracen army. This success gave them control over the
Strait of Messina. Guiscard immediately fortified Messina and allied himself with
Ibn al-Timnah, one of the rival
emir
Emir (; ar, أمير ' ), sometimes transliterated amir, amier, or ameer, is a word of Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person possessing actual or cer ...
s of Sicily, against Ibn al-Hawas, another emir. The armies of Guiscard, his brother, and his Muslim friend marched into central Sicily by way of
Rometta, which had remained loyal to al-Timnah. They passed through
Frazzanò
Frazzanò is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, located about east of Palermo and about west of Messina.
Frazzanò borders the following municipalities: Capri Leone, Galati Mamertino ...
and the ''pianura di Maniace'', where
George Maniakes and the first Hautevilles had distinguished themselves 21 years prior. Guiscard assaulted the town of
Centuripe, but resistance was strong, and he moved on.
Paternò fell, and Guiscard brought his army to
Enna (then Castrogiovanni), a formidable fortress. The Saracens sallied forth and were defeated, but Enna itself did not fall. Guiscard turned back, leaving a fortress at
San Marco d'Alunzio
San Marco d'Alunzio ( scn, San Marcu, Ancient Greek: ( Ptol.) or ( Dion.), Latin: ''Aluntium'' or ''Haluntium'') is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Messina in the Italian region Sicily, near the north coast of ...
, named after his first stronghold in Calabria. He returned to Apulia with Sichelgaita for
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
.
He returned in 1064, but bypassed Enna making straight for
Palermo. His campsite was infested with
tarantulas, however, and had to be abandoned. The campaign was unsuccessful, though a later campaign, in 1072, saw Palermo fall, and for the rest of Sicily it was only then a matter of time. As a result of his Sicilian campaign, Guiscard was referred to as "Black Shirt Robert" because throughout the campaign he wore elegant clothing with imported dyes that ran together resulting in black clothing.
Against the Byzantines
Bari was reduced in April 1071, and Byzantine forces were finally ousted from southern Italy. The territory around
Salerno was already held by Guiscard, and in December 1076 he took the city, expelling its Lombard prince Gisulf, whose sister Sichelgaita he had married. The Norman attacks on
Benevento, a papal fief, alarmed and angered
Pope Gregory VII. Pressured by the emperor,
Henry IV, Gregory VII turned again to the Normans, and at Ceprano in June 1080, he reinvested Guiscard, securing him also in the southern
Abruzzi, while reserving Salerno.
In his last enterprise, Guiscard mounted an attack on the Byzantine Empire, taking up the cause of
Raiktor, a monk pretending to be
Michael VII, who had been deposed in 1078 and to whose son Guiscard's daughter had been betrothed. He sailed with 16,000 men, including 1,300 Norman knights, against the empire in May 1081. He defeated Emperor
Alexius I Comnenus at the
Battle of Dyrrhachium in October 1081, and by February 1082 he had occupied
Corfu
Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
and
Durazzo. He was recalled to the aid of Gregory VII, however, who was besieged in
Castel Sant'Angelo by Henry IV, in June 1083. Also in 1083, Guiscard destroyed the town of
Cannae
Cannae (now Canne della Battaglia, ) is an ancient village of the Apulia region of south east Italy. It is a ''frazione'' (civil parish) of the '' comune'' (municipality) of Barletta. Cannae was formerly a bishopric, and is presently (2022) a L ...
, leaving only the cathedral and bishop's residence.
Guiscard was ally to kingdom of
Duklja and
Constantine Bodin. In 1081 he married his vassal's daughter
Jaquinta of Bari Jaquinta ( sh, Jakvinta/Јаквинта; 1081 – 1118) was a queen consort of Dioclea by marriage to king Constantine Bodin. She is best known for her role in the Dioclean civil war, where she violently intervened in a succession crisis follo ...
to Bodin.
In May 1084, Guiscard marched north with 36,000 men, entered Rome, and forced Henry to retreat. A rebellion, or seditious tumult (''émeute''), of the citizens led to a three-day
sack of the city, after which Guiscard escorted the pope to Rome. Guiscard's son
Bohemund, for a time master of Thessaly, had now lost the Byzantine conquests. Guiscard returned with 150 ships to restore them, and he occupied Corfu and
Kefalonia with the help of
Ragusa and the Dalmatian cities (which were under the rule of
Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia). On 17 July 1085, Guiscard died of fever in Kefalonia, at Atheras, north of Lixouri, along with 500 Norman knights. He was buried in the
Hauteville family mausoleum of the
Abbey of the Santissima Trinità at
Venosa. The town of
Fiscardo
Fiskardo (Greek: Φισκάρδο, also ''Fiscardo'' or in the past ''Viscardo'') is a village and a community on the Ionian island of Kefalonia, Greece. It is part of the municipal unit of Erisos. It is the northernmost port of Kefalonia, a sh ...
on Kefalonia is named after him.
Guiscard was succeeded by
Roger Borsa, his son by Sichelgaita, as Bohemund, his son by an earlier wife Alberada de Macon (aka
Alberada of Buonalbergo), was set aside. Guiscard left two younger sons:
Guy of Hauteville
Guy of Hauteville (Italian ''Guido d'Altavilla''; died 5 July 1108) was an Italo-Norman soldier and diplomat who for a time served the Byzantine Empire.
Guy was a younger son of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, and his second wife, Sichelgaita. Du ...
and
Robert Scalio, neither of whom made any trouble for their elder brothers. At his death Guiscard was duke of Apulia and Calabria, prince of Salerno, and suzerain of Sicily. His successes had been due not only to his great qualities but to the "entente" with the Papal See. He created and enforced a strong ducal power, which was nevertheless met by many baronial revolts, including one in 1078, when he demanded from the Apulian vassals an "aid" on the betrothal of his daughter. In conquering such wide territories he had little time to organize them internally. In the history of the Norman kingdom of Italy, Guiscard remains essentially the hero and founder, though his career ended in "something of a dead end," while his nephew
Roger II was the statesman and organizer.
Religion
Due to his conquest of Calabria and Sicily, Guiscard was instrumental in bringing
Latin Christianity to an area that had historically followed the
Byzantine rite. Guiscard laid the foundation of the
Salerno Cathedral and of a Norman monastery at
Sant'Eufemia Lamezia in Calabria. This latter monastery, famous for its choir, began as a community of eleven monks from
Saint-Evroul The Abbey of Saint-Evroul or Saint-Evroul-sur-Ouche (''Saint-Evroult-sur-Ouche, Saint-Evroul-en-Ouche, Saint-Evroult-en-Ouche, Abbaye de Saint-Evroult, Sanctus Ebrulphus Uticensis '') is a former Benedictine abbey in Normandy, located in the presen ...
in Normandy under the abbot
Robert de Grantmesnil.
Although his relationship with the pope was rocky, Guiscard preferred to be on good terms with the papacy, and he made a gesture of abandoning his first wife in response to church law. While the popes were often fearful of his growing power, they preferred the strong and independent hand of a Catholic Norman to the rule of a Byzantine Greek. Guiscard received his investment with Sicily at the hands of Pope Nicholas II, who feared the opposition of the
Holy Roman Emperor to the
Papal reforms more. Guiscard supported the reforms, coming to the rescue of a besieged Pope Gregory VII, who had once excommunicated him for encroaching on the territory of the
Papal States
The Papal States ( ; it, Stato Pontificio, ), officially the State of the Church ( it, Stato della Chiesa, ; la, Status Ecclesiasticus;), were a series of territories in the Italian Peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope fro ...
. After the
Great Schism of 1054, the polarized religious atmosphere served to strengthen Guiscard's alliance with papal forces, resulting in a formidable papal-Norman opposition to the Eastern Empire.
Depictions
In the ''
Divine Comedy
The ''Divine Comedy'' ( it, Divina Commedia ) is an Italian narrative poem by Dante Alighieri, begun 1308 and completed in around 1321, shortly before the author's death. It is widely considered the pre-eminent work in Italian literature a ...
'',
Dante
Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: ' ...
sees Guiscard's spirit in the Heaven of Mars, along with other "warriors of the faith" who exemplify the cardinal virtue of fortitude. In the ''
Inferno'', Dante describes Guiscard's enemies as a field of mutilated shades stretching out to the horizon.
Guiscard was the protagonist of
Kleist's verse drama ''Robert Guiskard'', incomplete at the author's death (1811).
[Olive Classe, ''Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English'', Volume 1 (Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 2000), p. 767]
Historical fiction novels covering the early years of the dynasty, from the arrival of the brothers in Italy to the conquest of Sicily, is covered in
Jack Ludlow's trilogy ''Mercenaries, Warriors'' and ''Conquest''.
Guiscard is a character in
Alfred Duggan's novel ''Count Bohemond''.
Marriage and issue
Married in 1051 to
Alberada of Buonalbergo (1032 – aft. July 1122) and had:
*
Bohemond.
*
Emma (b. 1052 or after), married to
Odo the Good Marquis
Married in 1058 or 1059 to
Sichelgaita and had:
*
Matilda (also Mahalta, Maud, or Maude); 1059 – aft. 1085), married Count
Ramon Berenguer II of Barcelona.
*
Roger Borsa, duke of Apulia and Calabria
* Mabile, married to
William de Grandmesnil.
* Gersent, married to Count
Hugh V of Maine, repudiated.
*
Robert Scalio
*
Guy, Byzantine ''
sebastos''
* Sibylla, married to Count
Ebles II of Roucy
Ebles II (died May 1103), also called Eble or Ebale, was the second Count of Roucy (1063–1103) of the House of Montdidier. He was the son and successor of Hilduin IV of Montdidier and Alice (Alix), daughter of Ebles I of Roucy. He is famous for ...
and had 8 children.
*
Olympias (renamed Helena), betrothed to
Constantine Doukas
Constantine X Doukas or Ducas ( el, Κωνσταντῖνος Δούκας, ''Kōnstantinos X Doukas'', 1006 – 23 May 1067), was Byzantine emperor from 1059 to 1067. He was the founder and first ruling member of the Doukid dynasty. Dur ...
, son of
Michael VII in August 1074, contract broken off in 1078.
Notes
References
Sources
* von Kleist, Heinrich ''Robert Guiskard, Herzog der Normänner'', student edition (
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...
, 2011).
* Chalandon, F. ''Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile''. (
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, 1907).
* von Heinemann, L. ''Geschichte der Normannen in Unteritalien'' (
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
, 1894).
*
Norwich, John Julius. ''The Normans in the South 1016–1130''. Longmans:
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, 1967.
* Chaplin, Danny. "Strenuitas: The Life and Times of Robert Guiscard and Bohemond of Taranto. Norman Power from the Mezzogiorno to Antioch, 1016–1111 AD" (
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
, 2015).
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Medieval History Texts in Translationat
Leeds University
, mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased
, established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds
, t ...
Coin with Guiscard's effigy
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert Guiscard
1010s births
1085 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Italo-Normans
Norman mercenaries
Norman warriors
Dukes of Apulia
People temporarily excommunicated by the Catholic Church
Counts of Apulia and Calabria
Hauteville family
Burials at the Abbey of Santissima Trinità, Venosa
People of the Byzantine–Norman wars
Nobilissimi