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Robert Guiscard (i.e. "the resourceful") (c. 1015
– 1085) was the most remarkable of the
Normans| Norman adventurers who conquered Southern
Italy and Sicily.

From 999 to 1059 the Normans were pure
mercenaries, serving either Greeks or Lombards.
Then Sergius of Naples, by installing the leader
Rainulf Drengot| Rainulf in the fortress of Aversa
in 1029, gave them their first pied-à-terre,
allowing them to begin an organized conquest of
the land.

In 1035 there arrived William Iron-Arm and Drogo
of Hauteville| Drogo, the two eldest sons of
Tancred of Hauteville, a petty noble of Coutances
in Normandy. The two joined in the organized
attempt to wrest Apulia from the Greeks, who by
1040 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 Apuliae
e Calabriae", and Humphrey of Hauteville|Humphrey,
who arrived about 1044. 1047 saw the arrival of
Robert, the sixth son of Tancred of Hauteville.
According to Anna Comnena, he had left Normandy
with only five mounted riders, and thirty
followers on foot, and upon arriving in Lombardy
he became the chief of a roving robber-band. Anna
Comnena also leaves a physical description of
Robert Guiscard:
: "This Robert was Norman by descent, of minor
origin, in temper tyrannical, in mind most
cunning, brave in action, very clever in attacking
the wealth and substance of magnates, most
obstinate in achievement, for he did not allow any
obstacle to prevent his executing his desire. His
stature was so lofty that he surpassed even the
tallest, his complexion was ruddy, his hair
flaxen, his shoulders were broad, his eyes all but
emitted sparks of fire, and in frame he was
well-built ... this man's cry is is said to have
put thousands to flight. Thus equipped by fortune,
physique and character, he was naturally
indomitable, and subordinate to no one in the
world."

Guiscard soon rose to distinction. The Lombards
turned against their allies and Pope Leo IX|Leo IX
determined to expel the Norman freebooters. The
army which he led towards Apulia in 1053 was,
however, overthrown at Civitate on the Fortore by
the Normans, united under Humfrey, Guiscard, and
Richard of Aversa. In 1057 Robert succeeded
Humfrey as count of Apulia and, in company with
Roger_I_of_Sicily|Roger, his youngest brother,
carried on the conquest of Apulia and Calabria,
while Richard conquered the principality of Capua.

The Papacy, foreseeing the breach with the emperor
over investitures, then resolved to recognize the
Normans and secure them as allies. Therefore at
Melfi, on August 23 1059, Pope Nicholas
II|Nicholas II invested Robert with Apulia,
Calabria, and Sicily, and Richard with Capua.
Guiscard, "by Grace of God and St Peter duke of
Apulia and Calabria and future lord of Sicily",
agreed to hold by annual rent of the Holy See and
to maintain its cause.

In the next twenty years he made an amazing series
of conquests. Invading Sicily with Roger, the
brothers captured Messina, Italy|Messina (1061)
and Palermo (1072). Bari was reduced (April 1071),
and the Greeks finally ousted from southern Italy.
The territory of Salerno was already Robert's; in
December 1076 he took the city, expelling its
Lombard prince Gisulf, whose sister Sikelgaita he
had married. The Norman attacks on Benevento, a
papal fief, alarmed and angered Pope Gregory
VII|Gregory VII, but pressed hard by the emperor,
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry IV, he turned
again to the Normans, and at Ceprano (June 1080)
reinvested Robert, securing him also in the
southern Abruzzi, but reserving Salerno.

Guiscard's last enterprise was his attack on the
Greek Empire, a rallying ground for his rebel
vassals. He contemplated seizing the throne of the
Basileus and took up the cause of Michael VII, who
had been deposed in 1078 and to whose son his
daughter had been betrothed. He sailed with 16,000
men against the empire in May 1081, and by
February 1082 had occupied Corfu and
Durrës|Durazzo, defeating the Alexius I
Comnenus|emperor Alexius before the latter (the
Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081)|Battle of
Dyrrhachium, October 1081). He was, however,
recalled to the aid of Pope Gregory VII|Gregory
VII, besieged in San Angelo by Henry IV, Holy
Roman Emperor|Henry IV (June 1083).

Marching north with 36,000 men he entered Rome and
forced Henry to retire, but an émeute of the
citizens led to a three days' sack of the city
(May 1084), after which Guiscard escorted the pope
to Rome. His son Bohemund I of Antioch|Bohemund,
for a time master of Thessaly, had now lost the
Greek conquests. Robert, returning to restore
them, occupied Corfu and Kephalonia, but died of
fever in the latter on July 15 1085, in his 70th
year. He was buried in S. Trinità at
Venosa.

Guiscard was succeeded by Roger Borsa|Roger
"Borsa", his son by Sikelgaita; Bohemund, his son
by an earlier Norman wife Alberada, being set
aside. At his death Robert 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, however, was met by many baronial
revolts, one being 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,
as his nephew Roger II of Sicily|Roger II is the
statesman and organizer.

In The Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri sees the
spirit of Robert Guiscard in the Heaven of Mars
with the other noteworthy crusaders. 


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succession box|title=List of Counts of Apulia and
Calabria|Duke of Apulia|before=Humphrey of
Hauteville|after=Roger Borsa|years=1057–1085
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===References===

* F. Chalandon, Histoire de la domination normande
en Italie et en Sicile (Paris, 1907) 
* L. von Heinemann, Geschichte der Normannen in
Unteritalien (Leipzig 1894) 
* Graham Loud, The Age of Robert Guiscard (ISBN
0582045290)

1911