William Iron Arm | |
|---|---|
Statue of William Iron Arm outside Coutances Cathedral | |
| Count of Apulia | |
| Reign | 1042 - 1046 |
| Successor | Drogo |
| Noble family | Hauteville |
| Spouse(s) | Guida of Sorrento |
| Father | Tancred |
| Mother | Muriella |
William of Hauteville (died 1046), better known with his nickname, William Iron Arm, was a Norman military leader and the first Count of Apulia. He initiated the series of fortunes of the House of Hauteville.
William was a son of Tancred of Hauteville by his first wife Muriella. Goffredo Malaterra records him as being the eldest son, while Romuald Guarna records him as being the fourth, coming after Serlo, Geoffrey and Drogo. Regardless, it is unlikely anyway that William was older than Serlo, as Serlo stayed in Normandy to inherit their father's possessions, while William journeyed to Southern Italy. [1] [2]
Since Tancred had many sons, and his possessions weren't enough to satisfy all of them, William and many of his brothers were soon forced to seek fortune elsewhere. [3]
Around 1035/7, William journeyed to Southern Italy with his brothers Drogo and Humphrey, to strengthen the ranks of Rainulf Drengot, Count of Aversa, the first Norman mercenary lord who had been granted a fief. Together with Rainulf, the Hauteville brothers took part in a military operation led by Guaimar IV of Salerno against Pandulf IV, Prince of Capua. [1] [3]
With time, William and his brothers put themselves under the direct service of Guaimar IV. Guaimar sent them, together with other Norman and Lombard forces, to help in a Byzantine attempt to conquer Sicily, which was occupied by the Saracens. Between 1038 and 1040, William, together with his brothers, fought in Sicily, distinguishing himself in a victory obtained at the feet of Mount Etna. During the siege of Syracuse, led by the Byzantine general Georgios Maniakes, William charged and single-handedly killed the emir of the city, gaining himself his nickname, "Iron Arm". [1] [3] [4]
After the siege of Syracuse, due to unpaid wages and an unfair division of loot, the Norman forces were dissatisfied with Maniakes. They sent forward their leader, Arduin, to give a voice to their reasons. Maniakes, however, humiliated Arduin, [a] and both the Normans and Lombards immediately left the Byzantine expedition (which was already weakened by internal discord) and returned to Guaimar IV. [1] [3]
In 1040 a Lombard rebellion in Apulia, led by the nobleman Argyrus, started. Arduin, being a Lombard himself, travelled to Aversa and asked for help to his former Norman soldiers, among whom there was obviously William. In exchange, he would have given them control of Melfi, and from there Normans and Lombards would have chased off the Byzantines and would have divided Apulia between themselves. The Norman forces were essential in obtaining two victories: one at Montemaggiore, on May 4, 1041, and the other at Montepeloso on September 3 of the same year. [1] [3]
During the rebellion, due to corruption and distrust, the Lombard and Norman forces struggled to maintain a leader. Arduin was refused as a figurehead by the Apulian Lombards, and his successors, in order Atenulf of Benevento and Argyrus, were both subjects of bribery by the Byzantines. [3]
William, however, had managed to keep the Normans under his control, and was the key to many victories during the rebellion. Thus, in September 1042, he was nominated Count of all the Normans in Apulia, with the Norman capital in Melfi. His title and territories were recognized by Guaimar IV, who gave William the hand of his niece Guida (the daughter of Guy of Sorrento) in marriage, and also granted him Ascoli as a personal fief. In turn, William declared himself Guaimar's vassal, as Guaimar assumed the title of Duke of Apulia and Calabria. [1] [2] [3]
From his County, William marched against Bari, which was still under Byzantine control. However, he failed to achieve any success there, and he thus shifted his attacks towards Lucania and Calabria, where in 1044 he built the castle of Scribla. He died shortly afterwards, between May and September 1046. He was succeeded by his brother Drogo. [1]
Year 1043 (MXLIII) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar.
Robert Guiscard, also referred to as Robert de Hauteville, was a Norman adventurer remembered for his conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century.
The Battle of Civitate was fought on 18 June 1053 in southern Italy, between the Normans, led by the Count of Apulia Humphrey of Hauteville, and a Swabian-Italian-Lombard army, organised by Pope Leo IX and led on the battlefield by Gerard, Duke of Lorraine, and Rudolf, Prince of Benevento. The Norman victory over the allied papal army marked the climax of a conflict between the Norman mercenaries who came to southern Italy in the eleventh century, the de Hauteville family, and the local Lombard princes. By 1059 the Normans would create an alliance with the papacy, which included a formal recognition by Pope Nicholas II of the Norman conquest in south Italy, investing Robert Guiscard as Duke of Apulia and Calabria, and Count of Sicily.
The Catepanateof Italy was a province of the Byzantine Empire from 965 until 1071. At its greatest extent, it comprised mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Salerno. North of that line, Amalfi and Naples also maintained allegiance to Constantinople through the catepan. The Italian region of Capitanata derives its name from katepanikion.
Drogo of Hauteville was the second Norman Count of Apulia. He led the Normans of Southern Italy after the death of his brother, William Iron Arm.
Humphrey of Hauteville, also nicknamed Abelard, was the third Norman Count of Apulia. He succeeded his brother Drogo.
Argyrus was a Lombard nobleman and Byzantine general, son of the Lombard hero Melus. He was born in Bari.
Guaimar IV was Prince of Salerno (1027–1052), Duke of Amalfi (1039–1052), Duke of Gaeta (1040–1041), and Prince of Capua (1038–1047) in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052. He was an important figure in the final phase of Byzantine authority in the Mezzogiorno and the commencement of Norman power. He was, according to Amatus of Montecassino, "more courageous than his father, more generous and more courteous; indeed he possessed all the qualities a layman should have—except that he took an excessive delight in women."
Rainulf Drengot was a Norman adventurer and mercenary in southern Italy. In 1030 he became the first count of Aversa. He was a member of the Drengot family.
Melus was a Lombard nobleman from the Apulian town of Bari, whose ambition to carve for himself an autonomous territory from the Byzantine catapanate of Italy in the early eleventh century inadvertently sparked the Norman presence in Southern Italy. He was the first Duke of Apulia.
Rainulf II, called Trincanocte, was the fourth Count of Aversa (1045–1048), the cousin of his immediate predecessor Asclettin and nephew of Rainulf Drengot, the founder of their family's fortunes in the Mezzogiorno. There was a succession crisis after the premature death of Asclettin and Guaimar IV of Salerno, as suzerain of Aversa, tried to impose his candidate on the Normans, but they elected Trincanocte and he prevailed in getting Guaimar's recognition too. In 1047, he was present at a council with Pandulf IV of Capua and Guaimar, where the former was returned to his princely position and the latter's great domain was broken up. The feudal titles of Rainulf and Drogo of Hauteville, count of Apulia, were confirmed by the Emperor Henry III and they were made his direct vassals. Within a year, Trincanocte died and was succeeded by his infant son Herman under the regency of his cousin Richard, whom he had originally spurned, believing him to be a dangerous rival. Soon, Herman was displaced and Richard was count.
Arduin the Lombard was a Greek-speaking Lombard nobleman who fought originally for the Byzantines on Sicily and later against them as the leader of a band of Norman mercenaries.
Michael Dokeianos, erroneously called Doukeianos by some modern writers, was a Byzantine nobleman and military leader, who married into the Komnenos family. He was active in Sicily under George Maniakes before going to Southern Italy as Catepan of Italy in 1040–41. He was recalled after being twice defeated in battle during the Lombard-Norman revolt of 1041, a decisive moment in the eventual Norman conquest of southern Italy. He is next recorded in 1050, fighting against a Pecheneg raid in Thrace. He was captured during battle but managed to maim the Pecheneg leader, after which he was put to death and mutilated.
Richard Drengot was the count of Aversa (1049–1078), prince of Capua and duke of Gaeta (1064–1078).
Peter I, also known as Petronius, was the first Norman count of Trani. He was one of the most prominent of the twelve leaders of the Norman mercenaries serving Guaimar IV of Salerno. Though it had not yet been conquered from the Byzantine Empire, Peter received Trani in the Normans' division of Apulia made at Melfi in 1042. In that same division his brother Walter received Civitate.
Atenulf was the son of Prince Landulf V of Benevento and brother of Prince Pandulf III. In 1040, Benevento still had the prestige of being the first of the independent Lombard principalities of the Mezzogiorno. So, when the Lombard Arduin, topoterites of Melfi, and his Norman mercenaries rebelled against Byzantine authority, they elected the brother of Pandulf as their leader, calling him "prince of Benevento."
The Principality of Salerno was a medieval Southern Italian state, formed in 851 out of the Principality of Benevento after a decade-long civil war. It was centred on the port city of Salerno. Although it owed allegiance at its foundation to the Carolingian emperor, it was de facto independent throughout its history and alternated its allegiance between the Carolingians and their successors in the West and the Byzantine emperors in the east.
The Norman conquest of southern Italy lasted from 999 to 1194, involving many battles and independent conquerors. In 1130, the territories in southern Italy united as the Kingdom of Sicily, which included the island of Sicily, the southern third of the Italian Peninsula, the archipelago of Malta, and parts of North Africa.
The County of Apulia and Calabria, later the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria, was a Norman state founded by William of Hauteville in 1043, composed of the territories of Gargano, Capitanata, Apulia, Vulture, and most of Campania. It became a duchy when Robert Guiscard was raised to the rank of duke by Pope Nicholas II in 1059.
The Battle of Olivento was fought on 17 March 1041 between the Byzantine Empire and the Normans of southern Italy and their Lombard allies near the Olivento river, between the actual Basilicata and Apulia, southern Italy.
