Part 3 - The Normans in Italy: The Normans Expand in Southern Italy: The Twelve Baronies – Melfi and the County of Apulia and Calabria

 Prologue

During the 1030 and 1040s, in addition to the intrigue between the Lombards and Byzantines, southern Italy was rocked by raids from Sicilian Muslims.  The areas affected were primarily the Byzantine ruled lands in nearby Calabria (and to a lesser extent, Lucania - now Basilicata - and Apulia).  Lupus reported that in 1031 (or 1032) Pothos Argyros (the catepan of Byzantine Italy) faced an invasion by the Emirate of Sicily. [See Mense Iunij comprehenderunt Sarraceni Cassianum. Cod. Andr. in terra Hydruntina, et tertio die mensis Iulij fecit proelium (a) Potho cum Sarracenis, et ceciderunt Graeci. Annales, 57.45–46] The Italian chroniclers report that the Muslims sacked Cassano allo Ionio (in Calabria) in June, and that, hurrying to confront them Argyros was defeated and killed. [See Felix, Wolfgang (1981). Byzanz und die islamische Welt im früheren 11. Jahrhundert (in German). Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, p.202] 

It was during this period that William “Iron Arm”, one of twelve sons of Tancred De Hauteville,  journeyed to Italy with his younger brother Drogo in the first half of the eleventh century (circa 1035), in response to requests for assistance (and the possibility of money and land) made by fellow Normans under Rainulf Drengot, by then the count of Aversa. This immigration was a transformative event in Italian history. (William and Drogo's half-brothers Robert Guiscard and Roger would also later immigrate). These De Hauteville would later conquer large parts of southern Italy, the island of Sicily and their sons would create the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, in the 12th century.

Emperor Michael IV ordered one of his top generals to Italy, George Maniakes, to succeed Agyros and stabilize the situation in Italy and in addition seek to drive the Muslims from Sicily, which they had held since the ninth century.  Maniakes brought a formidable mercenary army which included the Viking hero Harald Hardrada, Italian Lombards under Arduin and the recent Norman adventurer / immigrants under William Iron Arm. These latter troops were committed by Guaimar IV of Salerno. 

Invasion of Sicily and Revolt of the Lombards and Normans

From 1038 until 1040, Maniakes' diverse group defeated Arab forces in south-eastern Sicily, where the jewel in the crown was the city of Syracuse. It was in Sicily that William earned his nickname, "Iron Arm," by killing the emir of Syracuse with a sword in single combat. George Maniakes was satisfied to conquer Syracuse, controlling it from the coastal fortress that still bears his name. He was then appointed catapan of Italy but his victory was to prove fleeting.

Maniakes publicly insulted Arduin, the Lombard leader, who decided to withdraw back to peninsular Italy. William and the Normans decided to follow the Lombards, over a dispute on the sharing of the spoils of war. Back in Apulia the two were not always on the most amicable terms with each other or with the Byzantines. 

As a final insult, Harold and most of the Vikings also abandoned Maniakes. This made it difficult for Maniakes to hold his piece of Sicily. Maniakes likewise offended Stephen, his admiral, who had important connections back in Constantinople. In Maniakes' absence, the Emperor's crown had passed to Constantine IX. The general was recalled to the capital in 1042 and Syracuse (and Sicily) once again fell into Arab hands. Adding insult to injury, when Michael Dokeianos was appointed catapan of Italy, replacing Maniakes, he appointed Arduin as the military commander of the city of Melfi in Puglia.

In 1040, the Lombards of southern Italy revolted against the Byzantines, with the support of Norman mercenaries. In March, the rebels scored a first victory and killed Dokeianos, near the Olivento. In September 1041, they defeated the new Byzantine catepan, Exaugustus, the son of Basil Boioannes, and took him captive.  In February 1042, the original nominal leader, Atenulf, brother of the prince of Benevento, defected with the catepan's ransom money to the Byzantiness and was replaced by Argyrus, the son of Meles (of the original Lombard Rebellions). After some early successes, Argyrus also defected to the Byzantines. Agyrus apparently received a bribe from Constantine IX, and travelled to Constantinople and received the title of "Duke of Italy, Calabria, Sicily, and Paphlagonia."

In September 1042, the Normans elected their own leader, ignoring Arduin. The revolt, originally Lombard, had now become Norman in character and leadership. William Iron Arm was elected by the Normans as their count. Under him the Normans essentially conquered this part of northern Puglia from the Byzantines. William and the other leaders, chief among them Drogo and Peter, petitioned Guaimar IV, Prince of Salerno, for recognition of their conquests. They received the lands around Melfi as a fief and proclaimed Guaimar "Duke of Apulia and Calabria". At Melfi in 1043, Guaimar divided the region (except for Melfi itself) into twelve baronies for the benefit of the Norman leaders.

Amatus recorded that "the Normans divided among themselves" the lands at Melfi, following their victories against the Byzantines dated to 1041, and that:

• “William received Ascoli;

• Drogo had Venosa;

• Arnolin had Lavello;

• Hugh Toutebove had Monopoli;

• Rodulf had Canne;

• Walter, Civitate;

• Peter, Trani;

• Rodulf son of Bebena, Sant´Arcangelo;

• Tristan, Montepeloso;

• Hervey, Grumento;

• Asclettin, Acerenza; and

• Rainfroi, Malarbine”

adding that “Prince Guaimar of Salerno…invested each one of them,”

Location of the Twelve Baronies of the Normans

William married Guida, daughter of Guy, duke of Sorrento, and niece of Guaimar, continuing a Norman strategy of using marriage to solidify political moves.

Melfi was the third of the Norman territories in Italy.  Melfi is located then in northern Apulia (present day Basilicata).  The lands at Melfi range from Monte Gargano near the Adriatic Sea to Monopoli (south of Bari).  Melfi gained its importance in the Middle Ages as a strategic point between areas controlled by the Byzantines – the Byzantine Themes of Lucania and Longbardia - and those controlled by the Lombards – the Duchy of Salerno, as a buffer territory, much like Ariano had been earlier.

County of Apulia and Calabria

William and Guaimar then began the conquest of Calabria (from the Byzantines) in 1044 but William was defeated near Taranto by Argyrus. He died in early 1046 and was succeeded by his brother Drogo. 

Drogo had fought on behalf of his brother in Apulia, seizing in 1045, Bovino from the Byzantines. In 1047, Drogo married Altrude of Salerno, a Lombard princess. In 1047, while the Emperor Henry III was visiting southern Italy, he received Drogo's homage and invested him with all the territory which he already controlled. After this Drogo began using the title "Duke and Master of all Italy and Count of all the Normans of Apulia and Calabria". [See Raoul Manselli. "Altavilla, Drogone d'". Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. 2, Alberto Ghisalberti (ed.) Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia italiana, 1960] 

In 1051, Drogo was assassinated at Monteilaro, near Bovino, the victim of a Byzantine conspiracy of the Catepan, the Lombard, Argyrus, who was planning the reconquest of Apulia. Drogo was then succeeded by his brother Humphrey.

By this time, the Norman advances in southern Italy had alarmed Pope Leo and others. First, the Norman presence in Italy was more than just a case of upsetting the power balance, for many of the Italian locals did not take kindly to the Norman raiding and wished to respond in kind. Second, the instability brought about on the Norman side by the murder in unclear circumstances of Drogo. Third, Leo met Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor in Saxony, and asked for aid in curbing the growing Norman power. This was supported by the Italian and Lombard rulers in the south - the Prince of Benevento, Rudolf, the Duke of Gaeta, the Counts of Aquino and Teano, the Archbishop and the citizens of Amalfi — together with Lombards from Apulia, Molise, Campania, Abruzzo and Latium. The Pope had also another friendly power, the Byzantines now ruled by Constantine IX. At first, the Byzantines had tried to buy off the Normans and press them into service within their own largely mercenary army. So, the Byzantine commander, the Lombard Catepan of Italy Argyrus, offered money to disperse as mercenaries to the Eastern frontiers of the Empire, but the Normans rejected the proposal, implicitly stating that their aim was now the conquest of southern Italy. 

The sum of all this led to Leo establishing a coalition army of Germans, Lombards and Italians in 1053. Argyrus also contacted the Pope, and when Leo and his army moved from Rome to Apulia to engage the Normans in battle, a Byzantine army personally led by Argyros moved from Apulia with the same plan. The Normans understood the danger and collected all available men into a single army under the command of Humphrey as well as the Count of Aversa, Richard Drengot, others of the De Hauteville family, including Robert Guiscard, and the Count of Ariano, Gerardo, Guiscard's nephew (by marriage).

The Normans defeated the Papal army with Agyrus unable to reach the battle area in time to help them in the Battle of Civitate. After this defeat, Pope Leo did eventually acknowledge the Normans as the rulers of their domains in southern Italy. The Battle of Civitate proved to be a turning point in the fortunes of the Normans in Italy, who were able to win a victory despite their differences among themselves, solidifying their legitimacy in the process. Moreover, it was the first major victory for Robert Guiscard, who would eventually rise to prominence as the leader of the Normans. [Eads, Valerie. "Civitate, Battle of," in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology. Edited by Clifford J. Rogers. Vol. 1. Oxford: University Press, 2010. p. 204.] In terms of its implications, the Battle of Civitate had the same long-term political ramifications as had the Battle of Hastings in England and Northern Europe, a reorientation of power and influence. [Norwich, John Julius. The Other Conquest. New York: Harper and Row, 1967. p. 96.]

Humphrey died in 1057 and was succeeded by Guiscard. Soon after his succession, likely in 1058, Guiscard separated from his wife because they were related within the prohibited degrees (apparently in a concession to the Papacy). The reformist Papacy, at odds with the Holy Roman Emperor (due to the Investiture Controversy) and the Roman nobility itself, resolved to recognize the Normans and secure them as allies. Therefore, at the Council of Melfi, in 1059, Pope Nicholas II invested Guiscard as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily.  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 tribute to the Holy See and to maintain its cause.  In the next twenty years he was to undertake a series of conquests, winning his Sicilian dukedom.

Depiction of Robert Guiscard

The Drengots 

A series of deaths during the period of 1054–1056, that of Pope Leo with no immediate successor, of Constantine IX Monomachos leaving Constantinople in internal strife and Emperor Henry III leaving a child heir, gave the Normans a near free hand in Southern Italy. [G.A. Loud, The Age of Robert Guiscard: Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest (New York: Longman, 2000), p. 120] Richard (who was Guiscard's brother-in-law, took advantage of this. Richard had been constantly seeking territorial expansion through war against his Lombard neighbors, Pandulf VI of Capua and Guaimar's son and successor, Gisulf II of Salerno. [John Julius Norwich, The Normans in the South 1016-1130 (London: Longmans, 1967), pp. 108–09] He pushed back the borders of the latter until there was little left of the once great principality but the city of Salerno itself and when the (weak) prince of Capua died in 1057, he besieged Capua and took the princely title (1058) from Pandulf's brother, Landulf VIII, but left the city in Lombard hands for at least four years more, until 1062. [Norwich, 1967, pp. 108–09]

In 1059, the future Pope Gregory VII, then a high-ranking member of the Papal Curia, travelled to Capua to enlist for aid on behalf of the reforming Pope Nicholas II against the antipope Benedict X. [Norwich, 1967, p. 124] Soon, Richard was besieging Benedict and, in 1059, Nicholas convened a synod at Melfi where he confirmed Richard as count of Aversa and prince of Capua at the same time as investing Guiscard as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily. [Norwich, 1967, p. 124] Richard and Guiscard swore allegiance to the papacy and respect for papal territory, completely transforming the political loyalties of the south of Italy and removing the few remaining independent Greek and Lombard princes and the Holy Roman emperor from the political picture. [Norwich, 1967, p. 124]

Richard I, Prince of Capua, making donation, miniature from Sant'Angelo's Register in Formis, manuscript, Italy, 12th century

Epilogue

The conquest of southern Italy thus fell into three distinct stages. First, up to the early 1040s the Normans acted as mercenaries, selling their services to almost every power in the south, except for the Muslims, “fighting for the purpose of gain” in Malaterra’s succinct phrase. (“Causa militari aliquid lucrandi”, Malaterra, i.6, p. 10.) This led to the Norman enclaves of Ariano and Aversa.

From 1042 onwards they acted in their own right, extending their operations from the Lombard zone (Ariano) into Apulia (at Melfi and elsewhere), and in the 1040s and 1050s employment turned into conquest. The capture of Capua in 1058 and the investiture of the Norman leaders Robert Guiscard and Richard I of Aversa by the pope in 1059 as, respectively, duke of Apulia and prince of Capua effectively closed this phase, even though not all of southern Italy was yet in Norman hands. The papal investiture was a sign that the Normans were there to stay, and it recognized that by then their takeover was inevitable.  

The third phase was one of consolidation on the mainland, defeating the last bastions of Byzantine rule in Apulia and Calabria, annexing the remaining Lombard led duchies and, then combined with a new enterprise, the conquest of the island of Sicily in 1061.