1.
Merry-Joseph Blondel
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Merry-Joseph Blondel was a French history painter of the Neoclassical school. He was a winner of the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1803, for much of Blondels painting career, he was occupied with public commissions for paintings and frescoes in important buildings, including palaces, museums and churches. Merry-Joseph was born on 25 July 1781 to Joseph-Armand Blondel, a painter and expert in stucco decoration, Merry-Joseph had two brothers and a sister, including Charles-Francois Armand Blondel, an architect. Several generations of the Blondel family had associated with architecture. Blondels great uncle, Jacques-Francois Blondel wrote a treatise on the subject, at the age of fourteen, on the advice of his maternal uncle, Merry-Joseph went to work in the office of a Notary, an experience which he would later describe as excruciating. In 1801, once again, Blondel convinced his father to break his contract as his drawing talent secured him a place in the studio of Baron Jean-Baptiste Regnault. Within a year, Blondel had acquired the nickname Monsieur de Cinq-Prix among his peers at the studio, on account of the number of medals and prizes he had won for his drawing. Another year on and Blondels entry to the 1803 salon, a painting depicting Aeneas rescuing his father from the city of Troy. In 1835, Ingres returned as the director of the French Academy in Rome, when Blondel was unexpectedly overlooked for the position of director of the Academy in 1840, Ingres sent him a lengthy and heartfelt letter of condolence. After three years in Rome, Blondel returned to Paris and became an exhibitor at the Louvre salon exhibitions. At the salon of 1817, Blondel won a medal for his painting depicting the Death of Louis XII. After the salon of 1824, the rank of Chevalier in the order of the Legion dHonneur, was bestowed upon both Blondel and Ingres by the French King, Charles X. In 1824, the year of his knighthood, Blondel was awarded a professorship at the École nationale supérieure des Beaux-Arts, in that same year, Blondel also competed for a vacant seat at the Académie des beaux-arts but lost out to Ingres. He was eventually elected to a seat at the Académie in 1832, most notable among these commissions were, at the palace of Fontainebleau - Salon and Gallery of Diana, a fresco series of 21 paintings of scenes related to the goddess Diana. The Palace of Versailles - a series of full sized portraits depicting all the known kings, the Louvre Museum - frescoes in the Grand staircase, the Salle Henri II, Rooms of the state counsel. The Brongniart Palace - Ceiling painting and several cameos, the Luxembourg Palace - ceiling fresco in the Salle de Seances. The church of St. Thomas Aquinas - fresco cycle, Blondel was working on his fresco cycle at the church of St. Thomas Aquinas, in the 7e arronsissement when he fell ill and died in 1853. In typically simplistic fashion, the exhibition catalogue described the painting as painting no.108, critical references to the painting would later confirm Blondels given title for the picture as La Circassienne au Bain
2.
Prince of Antioch
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Prince of Antioch was the title given during the Middle Ages to Norman rulers of the Principality of Antioch, a region surrounding the city of Antioch, now known as Antakya in Turkey. The Princes originally came from the County of Sicily in Southern Italy, after 1130 and until 1816 this county was known as the Kingdom of Sicily. Prince Bohemond IV of Antioch additionally came into possession of the County of Tripoli, Antioch had been the chief city of the region since the time of the Roman Empire. When the Mamluk Sultanate of Egypt drove out the Knights in 1268, the Lordship of Saône was centered on the castle of Saône, but included the towns of Sarmada and Balatanos. Saône was captured by Saladin from the last lord, Matthew, robert the Leprous William Matthew Like Jerusalem, Antioch had its share of great officers, including Constable, Marshal, Seneschal, Duc, Vicomte, Butler, Chamberlain, and Chancellor
3.
Bohemond II of Antioch
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Bohemond II was Prince of Taranto from 1111 to 1128 and Prince of Antioch from 1111/1119 to 1130. He was the son of Bohemond I, who in 1108 was forced to submit to the authority of the Byzantine Empire in the Treaty of Devol, three years later, the infant Bohemond inherited the Principality of Taranto under the guardianship of his mother, Constance of France. The Principality of Antioch was administered by his fathers nephew, Tancred, tancreds cousin, Roger of Salerno, managed the principality from 1111 to 1119. After Roger died in the Battle of the Field of Blood, however, he did acknowledge Bohemonds right to personally rule the principality upon reaching the age of majority. Bohemond came to Antioch in autumn 1126 and he launched successful military campaigns against the nearby Moslem rulers, but his conflict with Joscelin I of Courtenay enabled Imad ad-Din Zengi to secure Mosul and Aleppo. Meanwhile, Roger II of Sicily occupied the Principality of Taranto in 1128, Bohemond died fighting against Danishmend Emir Gazi Gümüshtigin during a military campaign against Cilician Armenia, and Gümüshtigin sent Bohemonds embalmed head to the Abbasid Caliph. Bohemond II was the son of Bohemond I, Prince of Taranto and Antioch and he was born in 1107 or 1108. In 1104, Bohemond I returned to Europe to seek assistance against the Byzantine Empire. Two charters show that Tancred styled himself prince of Antioch in 1108, in September of that year, Bohemond I was forced to sign the Treaty of Devol, which authorized the Byzantine Empire to annex the Principality of Antioch upon his death. Bohemond I died in Apulia in 1111, Bohemond II was still a minor, so his mother took charge of the government of Taranto. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos sent envoys to Tancred to demand control of Antioch, Tancred died in 1112 and bequeathed Antioch to his sisters son, Roger of Salerno. Rogers legal status during his rule in Antioch is uncertain, Roger adopted the title of prince, which implies that he regarded himself the ruler of Antioch in his own right. The contemporaneous Fulcher of Chartres accused Roger of depriving of his inheritence his own lord, charters issued in Bohemonds Italian domains between 1117 and 1119 emphasized that he was the son of the prince of Antioch, but did not style him prince. The notables of Antioch proclaimed Baldwin ruler of Antioch, but they emphasized that Antioch was Bohemonds rightful inheritance, Baldwin promised to cede Antioch to Bohemond if Bohemond came to the principality. Those who were present at the meeting agreed that Bohemond should marry Baldwins daughter and they also decreed that Bohemond would not be entitled to reclaim grants made during his absence from the principality. Baldwin II was captured in 1123, and the burghers of Antioch sent envoys to Bohemond, Bohemond reached the age of majority at the age of 16. Bohemond sailed from Otranto with a fleet of ships in September 1126. Bohemond landed at the port of St. Symeon in the Principality of Antioch in October or November and he went to Antioch to meet Baldwin II of Jerusalem, who subsequently ceded Antioch to him
4.
Tancred, Prince of Galilee
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Tancred was an Italo-Norman leader of the First Crusade who later became Prince of Galilee and regent of the Principality of Antioch. Tancred had a great-grandfather with the name, Tancred of Hauteville. Tancred was a son of Emma of Hauteville and Odo the Good Marquis and his maternal grandparents were Robert Guiscard and Guiscards first wife Alberada of Buonalbergo. Emma was also a sister of Bohemond of Taranto, in 1096, Tancred joined his maternal uncle Bohemund on the First Crusade, and the two made their way to Constantinople. There, he was pressured to swear an oath to Byzantine Emperor Alexius I Comnenus, although the other leaders did not intend to keep their oaths, Tancred refused to swear the oath altogether. He participated in the siege of Nicaea in 1097, but the city was taken by Alexius army after secret negotiations with the Seljuk Turks, because of this, Tancred was very distrustful of the Byzantines. In 1097 the Crusaders divided their forces at Heraclea and Tancred entered the Levant by passing south through the Cilician Gates, the last three settlements were annexed to the Principality of Antioch. During their fourteen-year occupation of Anazarbus the Crusaders built the magnificent donjon atop the center of the fortified outcrop, at Sarvandikar, which controlled the strategic Amanus Pass, Tancred imprisoned Raymond of Saint-Gilles in 1101/02. He assisted in the siege of Antioch in 1098, one year later, during the assault on Jerusalem, Tancred, along with Gaston IV of Béarn, claimed to have been the first Crusader to enter the city on July 15. However, the first crusader to enter Jerusalem was Ludolf of Tournai, when the city fell, Tancred gave his banner to a group of the citizens who had fled to the roof of the Temple of Solomon. This should have assured their safety, but they were massacred, along many others. The author of the Gesta Francorum records that, when Tancred realised this, when the Kingdom of Jerusalem was established, Tancred became Prince of Galilee. In 1100, Tancred became regent of Antioch when Bohemund was taken prisoner by the Danishmends at the Battle of Melitene. He expanded the territory of the Latin principality by capturing land from the Byzantines, although, over the decade, Alexius attempted, unsuccessfully. In 1104, he took control of the County of Edessa when Baldwin II was taken captive after the Battle of Harran. After Baldwins release in late 1108, he had to fight Tancred to regain control of the county, after Harran, Bohemond returned to Europe to recruit more Crusaders, again leaving his nephew as regent in Antioch. Tancreds victory over Radwan of Aleppo at the Battle of Artah in 1105 allowed the Latin principality to recover some its territories east of the Orontes River. In 1108, Tancred refused to honour the Treaty of Devol, in which Bohemund swore an oath of fealty to Alexius, in 1110, he brought Krak des Chevaliers under his control, which would later become an important castle in the County of Tripoli
5.
Robert Guiscard
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Robert Guiscard was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become Count of Apulia and Calabria and his sobriquet, in contemporary Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, is often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel. In Italian sources he is often Roberto il Guiscardo or Roberto dAltavilla, from 999 to 1042 the Normans 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 becoming Count of Aversa, in 1038 there arrived William Iron-Arm and Drogo, the two eldest sons of Tancred of Hauteville, a petty noble of the Cotentin in Normandy. The two joined in the revolt of the Lombards against Byzantine control of Apulia, by 1040 the Byzantines had lost most of that province. Robert Guiscard was the son of Tancred of Hauteville and eldest by his second wife Fressenda. According to the Byzantine historian Anna Comnena, he left Normandy with only five mounted riders, upon arriving in Langobardia in 1047, he became the chief of a roving robber-band. He was a man of stature, surpassing even the biggest men, he had a ruddy complexion, fair hair, broad shoulders, eyes that all. In a well-built man one looks for breadth here and slimness there, in him all was admirably well-proportioned and elegant. Homer remarked of Achilles that when he shouted his hearers had the impression of a multitude in uproar, but Robert’s bellow, so they say, put tens of thousands to flight. Lands were scarce in Apulia at the time and the roving Guiscard could not expect any grant from Drogo, then reigning, Guiscard soon joined Prince Pandulf IV of Capua in his ceaseless wars with Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno. The next year, however, Guiscard left Pandulf, according to Amatus of Montecassino because Pandulf reneged on a promise of a castle, 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. During his time in Calabria, Guiscard married his first wife, Alberada De Macon and she was the daughter of Reginald I, Count of Burgundy, also known as Renaud I De Macon, Baron of Buonalbergo, and Girard of Buonalbergo, and his wife Alice of Normandy. The Lombards turned against their allies, and Pope Leo IX determined to expel the Norman freebooters. His army was defeated, however, at the Battle of Civitate sul Fortore in 1053 by the Normans, Humphrey commanded the centre against the popes Swabian troops. Early in the battle Count Richard of Aversa, commanding the right van, put the Lombards to flight and chased them down, Guiscard had come all the way from Calabria to command the left. Honored for his actions at Civitate, Guiscard succeeded Humphrey as count of Apulia in 1057, in company with Roger, his youngest brother, Guiscard carried on the conquest of Apulia and Calabria, while Richard conquered the principality of Capua
6.
Calabria
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Calabria, known in antiquity as Bruttium and formerly as Italia, is a region in Southern Italy and forms the traditionally conceptualized toe of the Italian Peninsula which resembles a boot. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro and its most populated city, and the seat of the Regional Council of Calabria, is Reggio Calabria in the Province of Reggio Calabria. The region is bordered to the north by the Basilicata Region, to the west by the Tyrrhenian Sea, the region covers 15,080 km2 and has a population of just under 2 million. The demonym of Calabria in English is Calabrian, in ancient times Calabria was referred to as Italy. The Romans later extended the name to cover Southern Italy and then the entire peninsula, the region is a long and narrow peninsula which stretches from north to south for 248 km, with a maximum width of 110 km. Some 42% of Calabrias area, corresponding to 15,080 km2, is mountainous, 49% is hilly and it is surrounded by the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas. It is separated from Sicily by the Strait of Messina, where the narrowest point between Capo Peloro in Sicily and Punta Pezzo in Calabria is only 3.2 km, three mountain ranges are present, Pollino, La Sila and Aspromonte. All three mountain ranges are unique with their own flora and fauna, the Pollino Mountains in the north of the region are rugged and form a natural barrier separating Calabria from the rest of Italy. Parts of the area are heavily wooded, while others are vast and these mountains are home to a rare Bosnian Pine variety, and are included in the Pollino National Park. The highest point is Botte Donato, which reaches 1,928 metres, the area boasts numerous lakes and dense coniferous forests. La Sila also has some of the tallest trees in Italy which are called the Giants of the Sila, the Sila National Park is also known to have the purest air in Europe. The Aspromonte massif forms the southernmost tip of the Italian peninsula bordered by the sea on three sides and this unique mountainous structure reaches its highest point at Montalto, at 1,995 metres, and is full of wide, man-made terraces that slope down towards the sea. In general, most of the terrain in Calabria has been agricultural for centuries. The lowest slopes are rich in vineyards and citrus fruit orchards, the Diamante citron is one of the citrus fruits. Moving upwards, olives and chestnut trees appear while in the regions there are often dense forests of oak, pine, beech. Calabrias climate is influenced by the sea and mountains, mountain areas have a typical mountainous climate with frequent snow during winter. Erratic behavior of the Tyrrhenian Sea can bring heavy rainfall on the slopes of the region, while hot air from Africa makes the east coast of Calabria dry. The mountains that run along the region also influence the climate, the east coast is much warmer and has wider temperature ranges than the west coast
7.
Canosa di Puglia
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Canosa di Puglia, generally known simply as Canosa, is a town and comune in Apulia in southern Italy, between Bari and Foggia, located in the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani. Canosa, the Roman Canusium, is considered the principal center of Apulia. A number of important vases and other finds are located in local museums. It is not far from the position on the Ofanto River where the Romans found refuge after the defeat of the Battle of Cannae and is the place of Bohemund I of Antioch. Canosa is the Italian development of the Latin Canusium, derived from the Greek Kanýsion, according to the Latin commentator Servius, Canusium derived from canis, an animal associated with the local worship of Aphrodite. Other derivations include from Greek kháneon, from the abundant wicker growing along the Ofanto, the Hebrew chanuth, Canosa sits on the right bank of the Ofanto river and is nearly 20 kilometers from the Adriatic Sea. The town sits upon the Murgia plateau, between 105 and 140 meters above sea level, the city is built on a mostly sandy or clay surface that covers a limestone layer which in turn constitutes the typical white-yellowish tuff and is easily collapsible. This morphological feature allowed the construction of artificial grottoes. The tuff derived from the excavations has gone towards the construction of buildings on the surface, there are risks of subsidence due to the presence of caves and underground channels typical of karst environments. The buildings of the town of Canosa are considered high risk for collapse, in recent years there have been many building failures and disruptions of roads. The area extends south to the slopes of the Murgia, and is mostly flat, the basins of Rendina and Locone contribute to the large area 150 square kilometers. Canosa has a temperate climate, mild spring and autumn. The monthly average temperature is influenced by the Murgiano Range from 7.7 °C in January. The average annual rainfall is 547 millimetres of rainfall, distributed mainly in the period from September to April, Climate classification of Canosa is Climate zone C. The Diomedea fields were one of the centers of the Dauni. Toppicelli on the Ofantina plain has revealed buildings and tombs of an aristocracy that also seem related to this group. Excavations have also discovered metal and amber designs which appear Etruscan, canusion became an important commercial center for craftsman, especially of ceramics and pottery. Probably settled by the Pelasgians, it became a Greek polis by the time of the development of Magna Grecia, following Hannibals 216 BC victory over the consuls Paullus and Varro at nearby Cannae, Canosa protected the fleeing remnants of the Roman army within its walls
8.
Apulia
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Apulia is a region of Italy in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its southernmost portion, known as the Salento peninsula, forms a stiletto on the boot of Italy, the region comprises 19,345 square kilometers, and its population is about 4 million. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, across the Adriatic and Ionian Seas, it faces Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, and Montenegro, The Apulia region extends as far north as Monte Gargano. Puglias coastline is longer than any other mainland Italian region, in the north, the Gargano promontory extends out into the Adriatic, while in the south, the flat and dry Salento peninsula forms the heel of Italys boot. It is home to the Alta Murgia and Gargano National Parks, see also, History of Apulia Apulia is one of the richest archaeological regions in Italy. It was first colonized by Mycenaean Greeks, a number of castles were built in the area by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II, including Castel del Monte, sometimes called the Crown of Apulia. After 1282, when the island of Sicily was lost, Apulia was part of the Kingdom of Naples, as a result of the French–Spanish war of 1501–1504, Naples again came under the rule of Aragon and the Spanish Empire from 1504 to 1714. When Barbary pirates of North Africa sacked Vieste in 1554, they took an estimated 7,000 slaves, in 1861 the region became part of the Kingdom of Italy, with the new capital city at Turin. In the words of one historian, Turin was so far away that Otranto is today closer to seventeen foreign capitals than it is to Turin, the regions contribution to Italys gross value added was around 4. 6% in 2000, while its population was 7% of the total. The per capita GDP is low compared to the national average, in comparison with the country as a whole, the economy of Apulia is characterised by a greater emphasis on agriculture and services and a smaller part played by industry. In the last 20 years the base of the regions economy has changed radically. The majority of firms are financed by local capital. In certain of these sectors – especially textiles, clothing, footwear, vehicles, the region has a good network of roads but the railway network is somewhat inadequate, particularly in the south. Apulias 800 kilometers of coastline is studded with ports, which make this region an important terminal for transport and tourism to Greece, between 2007 and 2013 the economy of Apulia expanded more than that of the rest of southern Italy. Such growth, over decades, is a severe challenge to the hydrogeological system. Emigration from the depressed areas to northern Italy and the rest of Europe was very intense in the years between 1956 and 1971. Subsequently, the trend declined as economic conditions improved, to the point where there was net immigration in the years between 1982 and 1985, since 1986 the stagnation in employment has led to a new inversion of the trend, caused by a decrease in immigration. Since 1 June 2015, former judge and mayor of Bari Michele Emiliano of the Democratic Party has served as President, Apulia is divided into five administrative provinces and one metropolitan city, Cuisine plays an important role throughout Apulia
9.
Constance of France, Princess of Antioch
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Constance of France was the daughter of King Philip I of France and Bertha of Holland. She was a member of the House of Capet and was Countess of Troyes from her first marriage and she was regent during the minority of her son. Her mother was repudiated by her father for Bertrade de Montfort and it caused the displeasure of the church and an interdict was placed on France several times as a result. Constance was the eldest of five children and was the daughter of her father from his first marriage. Constances brother was Louis VI of France, between 1093 and 1095, Phillip I arranged for his daughter, Constance, to marry Hugh, Count of Troyes and Champagne. Philip hoped to influence Hughs family, the powerful House of Blois, but the union between Constance and Hugh was too late to achieve the desired result. Hughs half-brother, Stephen II, Count of Blois, holder of most counties of the House of Blois was married, Stephen had married Adela of Normandy, daughter of William I of England, and their marriage had produced children. After ten years and without any surviving issue, Constance demanded an annulment of their marriage, Constance obtained a divorce at Soissons on 25 December 1104, under grounds of consanguinity. Constance went to the court of Adela, wife of Stephen and she was acting as regent since Stephen was killed in the Holy Land. Adela was well educated and all seemed to be well at the Court and it appeared that Adela used all her power to help Constance get a divorce from Hugh, who later left to fight in the Holy Land. At the same time, Bohemond I of Antioch was just released by the Turks and he returned to Europe to obtain relief for the Crusaders in the Holy Land. The regency of the Principality of Antioch was assured by Bohemonds nephew Tancred and he impressed audiences across France with gifts of relics from the Holy Land and tales of heroism while fighting the Saracens, gathering a large army in the process. Henry I of England famously prevented him landing on English shores. His new-found status won him the hand of Constance, so great was the reputation for valour of the French kingdom and of the Lord Louis that even the Saracens were terrified by the prospect of that marriage. She was not engaged since she had broken off her agreement to wed Hugh, count of Troyes, and wished to avoid another unsuitable match. The marriage was celebrated in the cathedral of Chartres between 25 March and 26 May 1106, and the festivities were held at the court of Adela, who also took part in negotiations. Pleased by his success, Bohemond resolved to use his army of 34,000 men, not to defend Antioch against the Greeks and he did so, but Alexius, aided by the Venetians, proved too strong, and Bohemond had to submit to a humiliating peace. After her marriage, Constance accompanied her husband to Apulia, where she gave birth to their first son, Bohemond, future Prince of Antioch, a second son, John, was also born in Apulia between 1108 and 1111, but died in early infancy, ca
10.
Dynasty
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A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes also appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory, wealth, and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, however, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance. It is also extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights. In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy, Max and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, too, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
11.
Hauteville family
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The Hauteville family, also called the Hauteville dynasty or House of Hauteville, was a Norman family originally of seigneurial rank from the Cotentin. The Hautevilles rose to prominence through their part in the Norman conquest of southern Italy, by 1130, one of their number, Roger II, was made the first King of Sicily. His male-line descendants ruled Sicily until 1194, some Italian Hautevilles took part in the First Crusade and the founding of the Principality of Antioch. The familial origins had roots from the Norsemen who had settled in Normandy in the 10th century and they are said to be descended from Hiallt, a Norseman who settled in the Cotentin Peninsula and founded the village of Hialtus Villa from which the family takes its name. This eponymous Hiallt who gave his name to Hauteville may be legendary, of several villages with the name Hauteville, the one from which the family derived its name is hard to identify with certainty, though modern scholarship favours Hauteville-la-Guichard. The first of the well known to us is Tancred of Hauteville. He remained until his death a minor baron of Normandy, but he had twelve sons and his small patrimony was hardly enough to satisfy his sons desire for land and glory, and so eight of the twelve went south to the Mezzogiorno to seek their fortunes there. About the time of the Domesday Book in 1086 a certain Alverardus or Aluericus Hautville is mentioned as having previously held lands in Compton Martin, Somerset and his kinsman Ralf de Hauville is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as a tenant-in-chief in Burbage and Wolfhall in Wiltshire. Alverardus most probably founded the Somerset Hautevilles, and Ralf the Wiltshire/Berkshire Hauvilles, the eldest of the twelve sons, William and Drogo, were the first to arrive in the south sometime around 1035. They so distinguished themselves against the Greeks that William was inaugurated as count of Apulia and Calabria and lord of Ascoli, in 1047, Drogo was confirmed by the Emperor Henry III as Williams heir and a direct vassal of the imperial crown. Their next brother, Humphrey, succeeded Drogo and defeated Pope Leo IX at the Battle of Civitate and he was in turn succeeded by a fourth brother, the first by Tancreds second wife, Robert Guiscard. It was Robert who began the conquest of Sicily which was to yield a kingdom seventy years later, along with the valiant warriorship displayed by his youngest brother, Roger Bosso, the two began to amass notoriety around the Mediterranean. According to William of Apulias The Deeds of Robert Guiscard, although his Norse roots would seem to suggest otherwise, until the invasion of Sicily, Guiscard had not participated in naval warfare. In 1059 he was created duke by the pope and invested with as yet unconquered Sicily, the Guiscards heirs, Bohemond and Roger Borsa, fought over the inheritance and Roger of Sicily began to outshine the Apulian branch of the family. Roger united the Greek, Lombard, Norman, and Saracen elements of Sicily under one rule, Roger bequeathed a powerful state to his young sons, Simon and Roger. It was this Roger who, upon inheriting all from Simon in 1105, began the quest to unite into one all the Hauteville domains, Apulia and Calabria and Taranto with his own Sicily. On Williams death in 1127, the union of the duchy, believing kings to have ruled Palermo in antiquity, Roger threw his support behind the Antipope Anacletus II and was duly enthroned as king of Sicily on Christmas Day 1130. In 1139, by the Treaty of Mignano, Roger received the recognition of his kingship from the legitimate pope and it was through his admiral George of Antioch that Roger then proceeded to conquer the Mahdia in Africa, taking the unofficial title king of Africa
12.
Alberada of Buonalbergo
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Alberada of Buonalbergo was the first wife of Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia, whom she married in 1051 or 1052, when he was still just a robber baron in Calabria. As her dowry, she brought Robert Guiscard two hundred knights and she bore Guiscard two children, a daughter, Emma, mother of Tancred, Prince of Galilee, and a son, Prince Bohemond I of Antioch. Nevertheless, the split was amicable and Alberada showed no ill will. She was alive at the death of Bohemond in March 1111 and died very old and she was buried near the Hauteville family mausoleum in the Abbey of Holy Trinity at Venosa. Her tomb is the one remaining intact today. The Normans in the South 1016-1130
13.
First Crusade
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The First Crusade was the first of a number of crusades that attempted to capture the Holy Land, called by Pope Urban II in 1095. An additional goal became the principal objective—the Christian reconquest of the sacred city of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. During the crusades, nobility, knights, peasants and serfs from many regions of Western Europe travelled over land and by sea, first to Constantinople and then on towards Jerusalem. The Crusaders arrived at Jerusalem, launched an assault on the city and they also established the crusader states of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, the County of Tripoli, the Principality of Antioch, and the County of Edessa. The First Crusade was followed by the Second to the Ninth Crusades and it was also the first major step towards reopening international trade in the West since the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The majority view is that it had elements of both in its nature, the origin of the Crusades in general, and particularly that of the First Crusade, is widely debated among historians. The confusion is due to the numerous armies in the first crusade. The similar ideologies held the armies to similar goals, but the connections were rarely strong, the Umayyad Caliphate had conquered Syria, Egypt, and North Africa from the predominantly Christian Byzantine Empire, and Hispania from the Visigothic Kingdom. In North Africa, the Umayyad empire eventually collapsed and a number of smaller Muslim kingdoms emerged, such as the Aghlabids, who attacked Italy in the 9th century. Pisa, Genoa, and the Principality of Catalonia began to battle various Muslim kingdoms for control of the Mediterranean Basin, exemplified by the Mahdia campaign and battles at Majorca and Sardinia. Essentially, between the years 1096 and 1101 the Byzantine Greeks experienced the crusade as it arrived at Constantinople in three separate waves, in the early summer of 1096, the first large unruly group arrived on the outskirts of Constantinople. This wave was reported to be undisciplined and ill-equipped as an army and this first group is often called the Peasants’ or People’s Crusade. It was led by Peter the Hermit and Walter Sans Avoir and had no knowledge of or respect for the wishes of Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. The second wave was not under the command of the Emperor and was made up of a number of armies with their own commanders. Together, this group and the first wave numbered an estimated 60,000, the second wave was led by Hugh I, Count of Vermandois, the brother of King Philip I of France. Also among the wave were Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse. It was this wave of crusaders which later passed through Asia Minor, captured Antioch in 1098 and finally took Jerusalem 15 July 1099. ”The third wave, composed of contingents from Lombardy, France. At the western edge of Europe and of Islamic expansion, the Reconquista in the Iberian Peninsula was well underway by the 11th century and it was intermittently ideological, as evidenced by the Codex Vigilanus compiled in 881
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Nobility
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The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be largely honorary, and vary from country to country and era to era. There is often a variety of ranks within the noble class. g, san Marino and the Vatican City in Europe. Hereditary titles often distinguish nobles from non-nobles, although in many nations most of the nobility have been un-titled, some countries have had non-hereditary nobility, such as the Empire of Brazil. The term derives from Latin nobilitas, the noun of the adjective nobilis. In modern usage, nobility is applied to the highest social class in pre-modern societies and it rapidly came to be seen as a hereditary caste, sometimes associated with a right to bear a hereditary title and, for example in pre-revolutionary France, enjoying fiscal and other privileges. Nobility is a historical, social and often legal notion, differing from high socio-economic status in that the latter is based on income. Being wealthy or influential cannot, ipso facto, make one noble, various republics, including former Iron Curtain countries, Greece, Mexico, and Austria have expressly abolished the conferral and use of titles of nobility for their citizens. Not all of the benefits of nobility derived from noble status per se, usually privileges were granted or recognised by the monarch in association with possession of a specific title, office or estate. Most nobles wealth derived from one or more estates, large or small and it also included infrastructure such as castle, well and mill to which local peasants were allowed some access, although often at a price. Nobles were expected to live nobly, that is, from the proceeds of these possessions, work involving manual labour or subordination to those of lower rank was either forbidden or frowned upon socially. In some countries, the lord could impose restrictions on such a commoners movements. Nobles exclusively enjoyed the privilege of hunting, in France, nobles were exempt from paying the taille, the major direct tax. In some parts of Europe the right of war long remained the privilege of every noble. During the early Renaissance, duelling established the status of a respectable gentleman, Nobility came to be associated with social rather than legal privilege, expressed in a general expectation of deference from those of lower rank. By the 21st century even that deference had become increasingly minimised, in France, a seigneurie might include one or more manors surrounded by land and villages subject to a nobles prerogatives and disposition. Seigneuries could be bought, sold or mortgaged, if erected by the crown into, e. g. a barony or countship, it became legally entailed for a specific family, which could use it as their title. Yet most French nobles were untitled, in other parts of Europe, sovereign rulers arrogated to themselves the exclusive prerogative to act as fons honorum within their realms. Nobility might be inherited or conferred by a fons honorum
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Normans
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The Normans were the people who, in the 10th and 11th centuries, gave their name to Normandy, a region in France. They were descended from Norse raiders and pirates from Denmark, Iceland and Norway who, under their leader Rollo, through generations of assimilation and mixing with the native Frankish and Gallo-Roman populations, their descendants gradually adopted the Carolingian-based cultures of West Francia. The distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, the Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and military impact on medieval Europe and even the Near East. The Normans were famed for their spirit and eventually for their Christian piety. They adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled, their becoming known as Norman, Normaund or Norman French. The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant military accomplishments and their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the boys were orators. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war. The treaty offered Rollo and his men the French lands between the river Epte and the Atlantic coast in exchange for their protection against further Viking incursions. The area corresponded to the part of present-day Upper Normandy down to the river Seine. The territory was equivalent to the old province of Rouen. Before Rollos arrival, its populations did not differ from Picardy or the Île-de-France, the Norman language was forged by the adoption of the indigenous langue doïl branch of Romance by a Norse-speaking ruling class, and it developed into the regional language that survives today. The Normans thereafter adopted the growing feudal doctrines of the rest of France, the new Norman rulers were culturally and ethnically distinct from the old French aristocracy, most of whom traced their lineage to Franks of the Carolingian dynasty. Most Norman knights remained poor and land-hungry, and by 1066 Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation, many Normans of Italy, France and England eventually served as avid Crusaders under the Italo-Norman prince Bohemund I and the Anglo-Norman king Richard the Lion-Heart. Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold in Southern Italy, probably as the result of returning pilgrims stories, the Normans entered Southern Italy as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In 999, according to Amatus of Montecassino, Norman pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno when a Saracen attack occurred. The Normans fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar III begged them to stay, the Hauteville family achieved princely rank by proclaiming prince Guaimar IV of Salerno Duke of Apulia and Calabria. He promptly awarded their elected leader, William Iron Arm, with the title of count in his capital of Melfi
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Antioch
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Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient Greco-Roman city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. Its ruins lie near the city of Antakya, Turkey. Antioch was founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, the citys geographical, military, and economic location benefited its occupants, particularly such features as the spice trade, the Silk Road, and the Persian Royal Road. It eventually rivaled Alexandria as the city of the Near East. It was also the center of Hellenistic Judaism at the end of the Second Temple period. Most of the development of Antioch was done during the Roman Empire. Antioch was called the cradle of Christianity as a result of its longevity, the Christian New Testament asserts that the name Christian first emerged in Antioch. It was one of the four cities of the Syrian tetrapolis, a single route proceeds south in the Orontes valley. The settlement of Meroe pre-dated Antioch, a shrine of the Semitic goddess Anat, called by Herodotus the Persian Artemis, was located here. This site was included in the suburbs of Antioch. There was a village on the spur of Mount Silpius named Io and this name was always adduced as evidence by Antiochenes anxious to affiliate themselves to the Attic Ionians—an eagerness which is illustrated by the Athenian types used on the citys coins. Io may have been an early colony of trading Greeks. John Malalas also mentions a village, Bottia, in the plain by the river. Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great is said to have camped on the site of Antioch and this account is found only in the writings of Libanius, a 4th-century orator from Antioch, and may be legend intended to enhance Antiochs status. But the story is not unlikely in itself, after Alexanders death in 323 BC, his generals divided up the territory he had conquered. Seleucus I Nicator won the territory of Syria, and he proceeded to found four sister cities in northwestern Syria, one of which was Antioch and he is reputed to have built sixteen Antiochs. Seleucus founded Antioch on a site chosen through ritual means, an eagle, the bird of Zeus, had been given a piece of sacrificial meat and the city was founded on the site to which the eagle carried the offering. Seleucus did this on the 22nd day of the month of Artemisios in the year of his reign
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Kings of Sicily
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See Emirate of Sicily Sicily was granted, pending its Christian reconquest, to Robert Guiscard as duke in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II. The Guiscard granted it as a county to his brother Roger, Roger II received royal investiture from Antipope Anacletus II in 1130 and recognition from Pope Innocent II in 1139. Constance was married to the Emperor Henry VI and he pressed his claim to the kingdom from William IIs death, there is evidence that, during the baronial revolt of 1197, there was an attempt to make Count Jordan Lupin of Bovino king in opposition to Henry VI. He may even have been crowned and seems to have had the support of Constance, in the end he was captured and executed. He is accepted as a pretender to the throne by modern historians Evelyn Jamison, Manfred was regent of Sicily for his nephew, the child Conrad II, but took the crown in 1258, and continued to fight to keep the kingdom under the Hohenstaufen. In 1254 the pope, having declared the kingdom a papal possession, offered the crown to the King of Englands son, Edmund Crouchback, but the English never succeeded in taking the kingdom. In 1262 the pope reversed his previous decision and granted the kingdom to the King of Frances brother, Charles of Anjou, conradin continued his claim to the throne until his death by decapitation perpetrated by Charles of Anjou in 1268. Edmund Crouchback, son of King Henry III of England, claimed the Crown of Sicily between 1254 and 1263, the claim was taken seriously by both him and his father, but was completely ineffectual. Peter III of Aragon, Manfreds son in law, of the House of Barcelona, thereafter the old Kingdom of Sicily was centred on the mainland, with capital at Naples, and although informally called Kingdom of Naples it was still known formally as Kingdom of Sicily. Thus, there were two Sicilies — the island kingdom, however, was often called Sicily beyond the Lighthouse or Trinacria, the Duke of Savoy ceded it to Austria in 1720 by the Treaty of The Hague. Charles I, Duke of Parma conquered the kingdom during the War of the Polish Succession, at the end of the war Sicily was ceded to the new Charles V of Sicily. In 1816 the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily were merged as the new Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, List of viceroys of Sicily List of Counts of Apulia and Calabria List of monarchs of Naples List of monarchs of the Two Sicilies
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County of Apulia and Calabria
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It became a duchy when Robert Guiscard was raised to the rank of duke by Pope Nicholas II in 1059. The duchy was disestablished in 1130 when the last duke of Apulia and Calabria, the title of duke was thereafter used intermittently as a title for the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Sicily. William I of Hauteville, who returned in September 1042 in Melfi, was recognized by all the Normans as supreme leader and he turned to Guaimar IV, Lombard, Prince of Salerno, and Rainulf Drengot, Count of Aversa, and offered both an alliance. In this meeting, Guaimar V of Salerno ensured the Hauteville dominance over Melfi, William of Hauteville formed the second core of his possessions and differentiated himself from Rainulf I of Aversa, head of the territories of Campania. All the barons present offered a tribute as a vassal to Guaimar, to tie it to himself, he offered to marry her niece Guide, daughter of Guy, Duke of Sorrento. Guaimar reconfirmed the title of count to Rainulf as well, which created the County of Puglia, William stated that the first capital of the county, and home of the Crown would be Melfi, a city that would remain outside the partition. William is usually considered the first count of Apulia and Calabria, in 1047, the Emperor Henry III took away Guaimars ducal title. He christened Williams brother and successor Drogo Dux et Magister Italiae comesque Normannorum totius Apuliae et Calabriae and it was thereafter used intermittently as a title for the heir apparent. Roger II 1127–34, also king of Sicily Roger III 1134–48, son of previous and it may have been revived for a short-lived son of William II. It was revived by King Tancred for his eldest son in 1189, bohemond 1181 Roger V 1189–93 Province of Apulia and Calabria Chalandon, Ferdinand. Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile, Roger II of Sicily, Ruler between East and West. The Normans in the South 1016–1130, the Kingdom in the Sun 1130–1194. The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily
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Canon law
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Canon law is the body of laws and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority, for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. The way that such law is legislated, interpreted and at times adjudicated varies widely among these three bodies of churches. In all three traditions, a canon was originally a rule adopted by a council, these canons formed the foundation of canon law. Greek kanon / Ancient Greek, κανών, Arabic Qanun / قانون, Hebrew kaneh / קנה, straight, a rule, code, standard, or measure, the root meaning in all these languages is reed. In the Fourth century the First Council of Nicaea calls canons the disciplinary measures of the Church, the canon, κανὠν, means in Greek. There is an early distinction between the rules enacted by the Church and the legislative measures taken by the State called leges. The actual subject material of the canons is not just doctrinal or moral in nature, west Syrian Rite which includes the Maronite Church, Syriac Catholic Church and the Syro-Malankara Church. Armenian Rite Church which includes the Armenian Catholic Church, east Syrian Rite Churches which includes the Chaldean Church and Syro-Malabar Church. All of these groups are in full communion with the Supreme Pontiff and are subject to the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches. The history of Latin canon law can be divided into four periods, the jus antiquum, the jus novum, the jus novissimum, in relation to the Code, history can be divided into the jus vetus and the jus novum. The academic degrees in law are the J. C. B. Because of its nature, advanced degrees in civil law or theology are normal prerequisites for the study of canon law. Much of the style was adapted from the Roman Law Code of Justinian. This is in contrast to the form of proceeding found in the common law system of English and U. S. law. The institutions and practices of canon law paralleled the development of much of Europe. Sampel explains that law has significant influence in contemporary society. Canonical jurisprudential theory generally follows the principles of Aristotelian-Thomistic legal philosophy, each had its own special law, in which custom still played an important part. In 1929 Pius XI informed the Eastern Churches of his intention to work out a Code for the whole of the Eastern Church, the publication of these Codes for the Eastern Churches regarding the law of persons was made between 1949 through 1958 but finalized nearly 30 years later
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Sikelgaita
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Sikelgaita was a Lombard princess, the daughter of Guaimar IV, Prince of Salerno, and second wife of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia. She commanded troops in her own right and she married Robert in 1058, after Robert divorced his first wife Alberada, due to supposed consanguinity. Her sister Gaitelgrima had earlier married Roberts half-brother Drogo, the divorce from Alberada and the marriage to Sikelgaita were probably part of a strategy of alliance with the remaining Lombard princes, of whom Guaimar was chief. Alberada, for her part, appears to have had no qualms about dissolving her marriage, Sikelgaita frequently accompanied Robert on his conquests. She conducted the siege of Trani while Robert moved against Taranto, although at first she tried to persuade him not to attack the Byzantine Empire, she nevertheless brought troops and accompanied him on his campaign against them. As a middle-aged woman with a family, it is unlikely that she was a combatant although obviously close to the action. According to the Byzantine historian Anna Comnena, she was like another Pallas, if not a second Athena, in 1083, Sikelgaita returned to Italy with Robert to defend Pope Gregory VII against the Emperor Henry IV. She accompanied him on a campaign against the Byzantines, during which Robert died on Kefalonia in 1085 with Sikelgaita at his side. Early in 1086, Sikelgaita was in Salerno making a donation of the town of Centraro in his honour to Montecassino, Sikelgaita donated a large amount of silver for her health while she was ill on another occasion. Supposedly, she tried to poison Roberts son Bohemond by his first wife, with her son she put the Jews of Bari under that citys archbishop. On her death, she was, at her own request, journal of Medieval Military History 3, pp. 72–87. The Normans in the South 1016-1130, the Age of Robert Guiscard, Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest. Loud, Graham A. Coinage, Wealth and Plunder in the Age of Robert Guiscard, the English Historical Review, Vol.114, No.458. Monte Cassino, Byzantium, and the West in the Earlier Middle Ages, Sikelgaita of Salerno, Gender, and the Norman Conquest of Italy
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One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Barker, Ernest (1911). "Bohemund". In Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopædia Britannica. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 135–136.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the 
