Robert I of Bassunvilla (also ''Basunvilla'' and ''Bassonville'') (born 1080 - died 1138 or 1140) was a
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norma ...
baron from
Molise
Molise ( , ; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Ital ...
. His family originated in
Vassonville
Vassonville () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France.
Geography
A farming village situated by the banks of the river Scie in the Pays de Caux, some south of Dieppe on the D 57 road.
Pop ...
, near
Dieppe
Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France.
Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...
.
In 1110, Robert married Judith, the youngest daughter of
Roger I of Sicily
Roger I (; ; ; Norse: ''Rogeirr''; 1031 – 22 June 1101), nicknamed "Roger Bosso" and "Grand Count Roger", was a Norman nobleman who became the first Grand Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101.
As a member of the House of Hauteville, he parti ...
and his second wife
Eremburga of Mortain
Eremburga of Mortain (Eremburge de Mortain) was the second wife of Count Roger I of Sicily and thus the second Sicilian countess. She is very obscure and details of her life are almost unknown to us today.
Her father was either William, Count o ...
.
In 1132,
Alexander, Count of Conversano Alexander (died after 1142) was the second count of Conversano (1085–1132), the son and successor of Geoffrey the Elder.
Alexander, with his brother Tancred, was a constant thorn in the side of Roger II of Sicily. He took part in a civil war th ...
, fled to
Dalmatia
Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...
and was dispossessed of his territories by King
Roger II
Roger II or Roger the Great (, , Greek: Ρογέριος; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became ...
. In 1135, Roger gave the
principality of Capua
The Principality of Capua ( or ''Capue'', Modern ) was a Lombards, Lombard state centred on Capua in Southern Italy. Towards the end of the 10th century the Principality reached its apogee, occupying most of the Terra di Lavoro area. It was ori ...
to his son
Alfonso
Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic Kingdom in the Iberian Peninsula. I ...
and the county of
Conversano
Conversano (Bari dialect, Barese: ) is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. It is southeast of Bari and from the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic coast, at above sea level.
The counts of Conversan ...
to his brother-in-law Robert, "a man in the flower of his youth, both affable and most active in knightly deeds", according to
Alexander of Telese
Alexander of Telese () was an Italian chronicler and historian, and the abbot of San Salvatore, near Telese, in southern Italy from before 1127 to before November 1143.
His most famous work is ''The Deeds Done by King Roger of Sicily'' (''Gesta ...
.
Robert died not long after and was succeeded by his son,
Robert II of Bassunvilla.
Italo-Normans
Norman warriors
1138 deaths
Counts of Conversano
Year of birth unknown
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