The Norman conquest of southern Italy lasted from 999 to 1194, involving many battles and independent conquerors.
The stone castle at Melfi was constructed by the Normans where no fortress had previously stood. The present castle includes additions to a simple, rectangular Norman keep.
Roger I of Sicily at the 1063 Battle of Cerami, where he was victorious over 35,000 Saracens according to Goffredo Malaterra.
Roger I receiving the keys of Palermo in 1071
Varangian Guard
Videos
The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army from the tenth to the fourteenth century who served as personal bodyguards to the Byzantine emperors. The Varangian Guard was known for being primarily composed of recruits from northern Europe, including mainly Norsemen from Scandinavia but also Anglo-Saxons from England. The recruitment of distant foreigners from outside Byzantium to serve as the emperor's personal guard was pursued as a deliberate policy, as they lacked local political loyalties and could be counted upon to suppress revolts by disloyal Byzantine factions.
Depiction of the Varangian Guard (above) in the 11th century chronicle of John Skylitzes
An illumination of a scene from the Skylitzes Chronicle, depicting a Thracesian woman killing a Varangian who tried to rape her, whereupon his comrades praised her and gave her his possessions
Seal of Michael, Grand Interpreter (megas diermeneutes) of the Guard
Piraeus Lion drawing of curved lindworm. The runes on the lion tell of Swedish warriors, likely Varangians, mercenaries in the service of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor.