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.
Lixouri
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Lixouri is the main town on the peninsula of Paliki in the island of Kefalonia, one of the Ionian Islands of western Greece. Lixouri is the second largest community in Kefalonia after Argostoli and before Sami and is the capital of the small peninsula and it is located south of Fiskardo, west of Argostoli. The city was founded when citizens of Pale/Pali found a new location for a town, the old city was abandoned completely by the 16th century. The oldest document which contains the name Lixouri was sent in 1534 by local authorities to the Senate of Venice, in the 19th century Lixouri was a popular tourist destination, Richard Strauss visited the town. Many houses were destroyed in the earthquakes on January 23,1867, in the early 1950s the Royal Family of Greece sent their children for summer holidays to Lixouri. In the 1990s Lixouri became again a popular tourist destination and some hotels were built south of the town near the beaches. Lixouri is the town of the poet and satirical author Andreas Laskaratos. Kay Cicellis book Death of a Town begins in Lixouri and describes the time of the earthquake, in 1720 Petros Katsaitis, who lived in Lixouri, wrote his play Iphigenia, Spyros Evangelatos edition of the play in 1995 retitled it Iphigenia in Lixouri. Ilka Chase in The Varied Airs of Spring and Georges Haldas in A la recherche du rameau dor wrote also about the town, Lixouri has a few schools and few lyceums or middle schools, a few gymnasia or high schools and a college. The public library is located at the Iakovateios building, on the Lixouri campus of the Technological Educational Institute of the Ionian Islands two faculties are established, business administration and acustics. Since 2003 Lixouri also has a theatre, Lixouri has a small port with a ferry line with services to Argostoli that is used for vehicles under 5 tons. Other services are in summer to Patras and Killini on the mainland, the KTEL bus service has a station in Lixouri and offers routes ending in Patras and Athens. Some Hotels offer own bus services e. g. from Lixouri to the XI-Beach, one bus line is driving twice a day through all villages of the peninsula Paliki but it is not very often used
3.
Venosa
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Venosa is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the southern Italian region of Basilicata, in the Vulture area. It is bounded by the comuni of Barile, Ginestra, Lavello, Maschito, Montemilone, Palazzo San Gervasio, the city was known as Venusia to the Romans, who credited its establishment—as Aphrodisia —to the Homeric hero Diomedes. The town was taken by the Romans after the Third Samnite War in 291 BC, no fewer than 20,000 men were sent there, owing to its military importance. Throughout the Hannibalic wars it remained faithful to Rome, and had a contingent of colonists sent in 200 BC to replace its losses in war. In 190 BC the Appian way was extended to the town, some coins of Venusia of this period exist. Horace was born here in 65 BC, the Lombards made it a gastaldate in 570/590. In 842 Venosa was sacked by the Saracens, who were ousted by Emperor Louis II. Next rulers in the 9th century were the Byzantines, who lost control of it after their defeat in 1041 by the Normans, under the latter, Venosa was assigned to Drogo of Hauteville. In 1133 the town was sacked and set on fire by Roger II of Sicily and his later successor Frederick II had a castle built here where a Lombard outpost existed before, which was to house the Treasury of the Kingdom of Sicily. Fredericks son, Manfred of Sicily, was here in 1232. After the latters fall, the Hohenstaufens were replaced by the Angevines, after a series of different feudal lords, Venosa became a possession of the Orsini in 1453. Count Pirro Del Balzo, who had married Donata Orsini, built a new castle, then, under the Aragonese domination, followed the Gesualdo family, amongst their number was the famous prince, musician and murderer Carlo Gesualdo. Venosa took part in the revolt of Masaniello in 1647, the Gesualdos were in turn followed by the Ludovisi and the Caracciolo families. Home to a strong republican tradition, Venosa had a role in the peasant revolts. A true civil war between baronal powers and supporters of the peasants rights broke out in 1849, being suppressed by the Neapolitan troops. The Aragonese castle, built in 1470 by Pirro del Balzo Orsini and it has a square plan with four cylindrical towers. The shining sun, the del Balzo coat of arms, is visible on the western towers and it was turned into a residence by Carlo and Emanuele Gesualdo, who added also an internal loggia, the north-western wing and bastions used as prisons. From 1612 it was the seat of the Accademia dei Rinascenti and it is now home to the National Museum of Venosa, inaugurated in 1991, with ancient Roman and other findings up to the 9th century
4.
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
5.
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
6.
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
7.
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
8.
Bohemund I of Antioch
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Bohemond I was the Prince of Taranto from 1089 to 1111 and the Prince of Antioch from 1098 to 1111. He was a leader of the First Crusade, which was governed by a committee of nobles, the Norman monarchy he founded in Antioch arguably outlasted those of England and of Sicily. Bohemond was the son of Robert Guiscard, Count of Apulia and Calabria and he was born between 1050 and 1058—in 1054 according to historian John Julius Norwich. He was baptised Mark, possibly because he was born at his fathers castle at San Marco Argentano in Calabria and he was nicknamed Bohemond after a legendary giant. His parents were related within the degree of kinship that made their marriage invalid under canon law, with the annulment of his parents marriage, Bohemond became a bastard. Before long, Alberada married Robert Guiscards nephew, Richard of Hauteville and she arranged for a knightly education for Bohemond. Robert Guiscard was taken ill in early 1073. Fearing that he was dying, Sikelgaita held an assembly in Bari, Roberts nephew, Abelard of Hauteville, was the only baron to protest, because he regarded himself Roberts lawful heir. Bohemond fought in his fathers army during the rebellion of Jordan I of Capua, Geoffrey of Conversano and his father dispatched him at the head of an advance guard against the Byzantine Empire in early 1081 and he captured Valona. He sailed to Corfu, but did not invade the island since the local garrison outnumbered his army and he withdrew to Butrinto to await the arrival of his fathers forces. After Robert Guiscard arrived in the half of May, they laid siege to Durazzo. The Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos came to the rescue of the town but, on 18 October, Bohemond commanded the left flank, which defeated the Emperors largely Anglo-Saxon Varangian Guard. The Normans captured Durazzo on 21 February 1082 and they marched along the Via Egnatia as far as Kastoria, but Alexioss agents stirred up a rebellion in Southern Italy, forcing Robert Guiscard to return to his realm in April. He charged Bohemond with the command of his army in the Balkans, Bohemond defeated the Byzantines at Ioannina and at Arta, taking control of most of Macedonia and Thessaly, however, the six-month siege of Larissa was unsuccessful. Supply and pay problems undermined the morale of the Norman army, during his absence, most of the Norman commanders deserted to the Byzantines and a Venetian fleet recaptured Durazzo and Corfu. Bohemond accompanied his father to the Byzantine Empire again in 1084, an epidemic decimated the Normans and Bohemond, who was taken seriously ill, was forced to return to Italy in December 1084. Robert Guiscard died at Cephalonia on 17 July 1085 and she persuaded the army to acclaim Roger Borsa his fathers successor and they hurried back to Southern Italy. Two months later, the assembly of the Norman barons confirmed the succession and he made an alliance with Jordan of Capua, and captured Oria and Otranto
9.
Tancred of Hauteville
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Tancred of Hauteville was an 11th-century Norman petty lord about whom little is known. His historical importance comes entirely from the accomplishments of his sons and he was a minor noble near Coutances in the Cotentin. Various legends arose about Tancred which have no supporting evidence that has survived the ages. The Hauteville family was said by later traditions to descend from Hiallt, a Norseman active in 920, Tancred is a supposed descendant of Hiallt, from whom the village of Hauteville and the family drew their name. This cannot be identified with certainty, and some modern scholarship favours Hauteville-la-Guichard over Hauteville in Cotentin, with his two wives, he had twelve sons and several daughters, almost all of whom left Normandy for Southern Italy and acquired some prominence there
10.
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
11.
Norman conquest of southern Italy
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The Norman conquest of southern Italy spanned most of the 11th and 12th centuries, involving many battles and independent conquerors. Itinerant Norman knights arrived in the Mezzogiorno as mercenaries in the service of Lombard and Byzantine factions and these groups gathered in several places, establishing fiefdoms and states of their own, uniting and elevating their status to de facto independence within fifty years of their arrival. Unlike the Norman conquest of England, which took a few years after one battle, the conquest of southern Italy was the product of decades. Many territories were conquered independently, and only later were unified into a single state, compared to the conquest of England it was unplanned and disorganised, but equally complete. The earliest reported date of the arrival of Norman knights in southern Italy is 999, in that year, according to several sources, Norman pilgrims returning from the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem via Apulia stayed with Prince Guaimar III in Salerno. The city and its environs were attacked by Saracens from Africa demanding payment of an annual tribute. While Guaimar began to collect the tribute the Normans ridiculed him and his Lombard subjects for cowardice, the Saracens fled, booty was confiscated and a grateful Guaimar asked the Normans to stay. They refused, but promised to bring his rich gifts to their compatriots in Normandy, some sources have Guaimar sending emissaries to Normandy to bring back knights, and this account of the arrival of the Normans is sometimes known as the Salerno tradition. The Salerno tradition was first recorded by Amatus of Montecassino in his Ystoire de li Normant between 1071 and 1086. Much of this information was borrowed from Amatus by Peter the Deacon for his continuation of the Chronicon Monasterii Casinensis of Leo of Ostia, beginning with the Annales Ecclesiastici of Baronius in the 17th century, the Salernitan story became the accepted history. Although its factual accuracy was questioned periodically during the following centuries, another historical account of the arrival of the first Normans in Italy, the Gargano tradition, appears in primary chronicles without reference to any previous Norman presence. Some scholars have combined the Salerno and Gargano tales, and John Julius Norwich suggested that the meeting between Melus and the Normans had been arranged by Guaimar, Melus had been in Salerno just before his visit to Monte Gargano. Another story involves the exile of a group of brothers from the Drengot family, one of the brothers, Osmund or Gilbert, murdered William Repostel in the presence of Robert I, Duke of Normandy after Repostel allegedly boasted about dishonouring his murderers daughter. Threatened with death, the Drengot brother fled with his siblings to Rome, Amatus dates the story to after 1027, and does not mention the pope. According to him, Gilberts brothers were Osmund, Ranulf, Asclettin, repostels murder is dated by all the chronicles to the reign of Robert the Magnificent and after 1027, although some scholars believe Robert was a scribal error for Richard. The earlier date is necessary if the emigration of the first Normans was connected to the Drengots, in the Histories of Ralph Glaber, Rodulfus leaves Normandy after displeasing Count Richard. The sources disagree about which brother was the leader on the southern trip, orderic and William of Jumièges, in the latters Gesta Normannorum Ducum, name Osmund, Glaber names Rudolph, and Leo, Amatus and Adhemar of Chabannes name Gilbert. According to most southern-Italian sources, the leader of the Norman contingent at the Battle of Cannae in 1018 was Gilbert, if Rudolf is identified with the Rudolf of Amatus history as a Drengot brother, he may have been the leader at Cannae
12.
Normandy
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Normandy is one of the regions of France, roughly corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy. Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and it covers 30,627 km², forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France, Normans is the name given to the inhabitants of Normandy, and the region is the homeland of the Norman language. The historical region of Normandy comprised the region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements, or departments of Mayenne. For a century and a following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman. Archaeological finds, such as paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times. Celts invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC, when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Celtic tribes living in Normandy. The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the methods, Roman roads. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy, in the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates, Christianity also began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast, the Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy. As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis, the Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of the 9th century. As early as 841, a Viking fleet appeared at the mouth of the Seine, after attacking and destroying monasteries, including one at Jumièges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagnes empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian Viking leader Hrólfr Ragnvaldsson, Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he, the name Normandy reflects Rollos Viking origins. The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and they became the Normans – a Norman-speaking mixture of Saxons and indigenous Franks and Celts. Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, Rainulf Drengot and Guimond de Moulins played important parts in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Crusades. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor, the 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands
13.
List of Counts 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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Counts and dukes 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
15.
List of monarchs 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
16.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
17.
Old French
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Old French was the Gallo-Romance dialect continuum spoken from the 9th century to the 14th century. In the 14th century, these came to be collectively known as the langues doïl. The mid-14th century is taken as the period to Middle French. The areal of Old French in contemporary terms corresponded to the parts of the Kingdom of France, Upper Burgundy. As part of the emerging Gallo-Romance dialect continuum, the langues doïl were contrasted with the langue doc, in these examples, we notice a clear consequence of bilingualism, that sometimes even changed the first syllable of the Latin words. Pope estimated that perhaps still 15% of the vocabulary of modern French derives from Germanic sources, at the third Council of Tours in 813, priests were ordered to preach in the vernacular language, since the common people could no longer understand formal Latin. The second-oldest document in Old French is the Eulalia sequence, which is important for reconstruction of Old French pronunciation due to its consistent spelling. The Capetians langue doïl, the forerunner of modern standard French, did not begin to become the common speech of all of France, however, until after the French Revolution. In the Late Middle Ages, the Old French dialects diverged into a number of distinct langues doïl, during the Early Modern period, French now becomes established as the official language of the Kingdom of France throughout the realm, also including the langue doc-speaking territories in the south. Old French gives way to Middle French in the mid-14th century, the earliest extant French literary texts date from the ninth century, but very few texts before the 11th century have survived. The first literary works written in Old French were saints lives, the Canticle of Saint Eulalie, written in the second half of the 9th century, is generally accepted as the first such text. The first of these is the area of the chansons de geste. More than one hundred chansons de geste have survived in three hundred manuscripts. The oldest and most celebrated of the chansons de geste is The Song of Roland, a fourth grouping, not listed by Bertrand, is the Crusade cycle, dealing with the First Crusade and its immediate aftermath. Jean Bodels other two categories—the Matter of Rome and the Matter of Britain—concern the French romance or roman, around a hundred verse romances survive from the period 1150–1220. From around 1200 on, the tendency was increasingly to write the romances in prose, the most important romance of the 13th century is the Romance of the Rose which breaks considerably from the conventions of the chivalric adventure story. The Occitan or Provençal poets were called troubadours, from the word trobar to find, lyric poets in Old French are called trouvères. By the late 13th century, the tradition in France had begun to develop in ways that differed significantly from the troubadour poets
18.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
19.
Lombards
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The Lombards or Longobards were a Germanic people who ruled large parts of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. In the 1st century AD, they formed part of the Suebi, the Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552, his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, by late 569 they had conquered all north of Italy and the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and they established a Lombard Kingdom in north and central Italy, later named Regnum Italicum, which reached its zenith under the 8th-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, however, Lombard nobles continued to rule southern parts of the Italian peninsula, well into the 11th century when they were conquered by the Normans and added to their County of Sicily. In this period, the part of Italy still under Longobardic domination was known by the name Langbarðaland in the Norse runestones. Their legacy is apparent in the regional name Lombardy. The fullest account of Lombard origins, history, and practices is the Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon, pauls chief source for Lombard origins, however, is the 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum. The Origo Gentis Langobardorum tells the story of a tribe called the Winnili dwelling in southern Scandinavia. The Winnili were split into three groups and one part left their land to seek foreign fields. The reason for the exodus was probably overpopulation, the departing people were led by the brothers Ybor and Aio and their mother Gambara and arrived in the lands of Scoringa, perhaps the Baltic coast or the Bardengau on the banks of the Elbe. Scoringa was ruled by the Vandals and their chieftains, the brothers Ambri and Assi, the Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute. The Vandals prepared for war and consulted Godan, who answered that he would give the victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise. The Winnili were fewer in number and Gambara sought help from Frea, at sunrise, Frea turned her husbands bed so that he was facing east, and woke him. So Godan spotted the Winnili first and asked, Who are these long-beards. and Frea replied, My lord, thou hast given them the name, from that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the Longbeards. When Paul the Deacon wrote the Historia between 787 and 796 he was a Catholic monk and devoted Christian and he thought the pagan stories of his people silly and laughable. Paul explained that the name Langobard came from the length of their beards, a modern theory suggests that the name Langobard comes from Langbarðr, a name of Odin. Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to Lombards, they changed their old agricultural fertility cult to a cult of Odin
20.
Rainulf Drengot
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Rainulf Drengot was a Norman adventurer and mercenary in southern Italy. In 1030 he became the first count of Aversa and he was a member of the Drengot family. When Rainulf was exiled by Richard II of Normandy for a violent criminal act and they brought with them a band of 250 warriors, formed of other exiles, landless cadets and similar adventurers. In 1017 they arrived in the Mezzogiorno, which was in a state of virtual anarchy, establishing a stronghold at Monte Gargano in Apulia, they joined forces with the Lombard Melus of Bari, who had rebelled against his Byzantine overlords but who was currently on the run. Their first major engagement with the army of the Byzantine catepan Basil Boioannes, fought at the Battle of Cannae and they were decimated and their leader, Rainulfs brother Gilbert, was killed. They took to protecting, at a price, bands of pilgrims headed for the shrine of St Michael from the depredations of other marauders, Rainulf also served the Lombard Pandulf IV of Capua. Under his protection, Amatus reports, they hastened to plunder the neighboring places, but since human thoughts are inclined to greed and money always triumphs in the end, from time to time they abandoned him. They sold their services as they could, according to circumstances, soon the balance of power in Lombard Campania lay in Norman hands, For the Normans never desired any of the Lombards to win a decisive victory, in case this should be to their disadvantage. But now supporting the one and then aiding the other, they prevented anyone being completely ruined, Norman reinforcements and local miscreants, who found a welcome in Rainulfs encampment with no questions asked, swelled the numbers at Rainulfs command. Their Norman language and Norman customs welded a disparate group into the semblance of a nation, Rainulf eventually switched his allegiance to Sergius IV of Naples, with whom he achieved some success. In 1030, Duke Sergius gave him the former Byzantine stronghold of Aversa north of Naples, with the title of count and his title to Aversa was recognised in 1037 by Emperor Conrad II. After vanquishing the Byzantines in battle in 1038, he declared himself prince, formalizing his independence from Naples and he conquered his neighbour Pandulfs principality, and Conrad approved the union of the two domains, which formed the largest polity in southern Italy. In 1039, he was at the side of Guaimar IV of Salerno, ranulf was one of the leader of the anti-Byzantine coalition which rebelled in southern Italy in 1040. He took part in the victory at the battle of Olivento in March 1041. In 1042, after the victory of his Norman ally William Iron Arm, he received, from the erstwhile Byzantine territories, suzerainty over Siponto and he died in June 1045 and was succeeded by his nephew, Asclettin, son of Asclettin of Acerenza. The historians Amatus of Montecassino and William of Apulia are the contemporary sources for the career of Rainulf. Norman conquest of southern Italy Drengot family Norman World, The first Norman rulers Lexikon des Mittlealters vol
21.
Aversa
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Aversa is a city and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania, southern Italy, about 5 kilometres north of Naples. It is the centre of a district, the agro aversano, producing wine. Aversa is also the seat of the faculties of Architecture. Aversa is located near the city of Naples, from which it is separated by only 5 kilometres, and only 16 kilometres from Caserta, the capital of the province to which it belongs, the Caserta Province. It is located in a coastal plain north of Naples. The plain on which it sits was known in ancient Roman times as the Campania Felix, however, some say that the founding of the city took place with the Etruscans. In any case, because of malaria that ravaged the region. Only a small fortification, a castellum, still stands in the area. A. D. via the Roman road that ran towards Rome, see also List of Counts of Aversa. Aversa, which replaced the city of Atella that had been laid waste during the Gothic Wars, was the first of the Norman territories in the Mediterranean. In 1030, the site was ceded to Rainulf Drengot, a cadet of the lords of Quarrel near Alençon in Normandy, he was invested as count by Duke Sergius IV of Naples and confirmed by Emperor Conrad II. The diplomacy of Robert Guiscard, who built the fortifications, led to the investiture of a bishop responsible to the Pope at Aversa, one of the first bishops was the Norman Guitmund, a Benedictine monk, theologian, and opponent of Berengar of Tours. In particular Queen Joanna I chose Aversa for her preferred seat, there a group of nobles threw her husband Andrew from a window with a rope around his neck. His brother, King Louis I of Hungary, head of the Capetian House of Anjou, marched into Italy and at Aversa took his vengeance at a banquet of reconciliation, as Joanna escaped to Avignon. The presence of the court also benefitted Aversa by the institution of the Real Casa dellAnnunziata an orphanage, when Alfonso V of Aragon permanently enthroned the kingdom of Naples within the domains of the Crown of Aragon, Aversa continued to maintain the privileges it had enjoyed. Soon the epidemics and subdivisions of land caused it to be relegated as an urban center of Naples. In the fourteenth or fifteenth century the County of Aversa was taken over by a family from Valencia, in fact, the palace of the Count of Almenara in Almenara is also known as the palace of the Count of Aversa. Italian wine, both white and sparkling, under the Aversa DOC appellation comes from this area, viticulture in Aversa is unique for its use of growing the grapevines with poplar trees acting as trellises
22.
William Iron Arm
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William I of Hauteville, known as William Iron Arm, was a Norman adventurer who was the founder of the fortunes of the Hauteville family. Between 1038 and 1040, he and other Normans fought in Sicily along with the Lombards as mercenaries for the Byzantine Empire against the Saracens and it was there that he won his nickname Iron Arm by single-handedly killing the emir of Syracuse during a sally at the siege of Syracuse. When the Byzantine general George Maniakes publicly humiliated the Salernitan leader, Arduin, the Lombards withdrew from the campaign, along with the Normans, after Maniakes was recalled to Constantinople, the new catapan of Italy, Michael Doukeianos, appointed Arduin the ruler of Melfi. Melfi, however, soon joined other Apulian Lombards in a revolt against Byzantine rule, in which they were supported by William and the Normans. The Byzantines, however, managed to buy off the leaders of the revolt – first Atenulf, brother of Pandulf III of Benevento. In September 1042, the Normans elected their own leader, ignoring Arduin, the revolt, originally Lombard, had become Norman in character and leadership. William was elected by the Normans as their count after the defection of Argyrus and he 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, William himself, predominant among the Norman leaders, received the lordship of Ascoli. He was married to Guida, daughter of Guy, duke of Sorrento, during his reign, William and Guaimar began the conquest of Calabria in 1044 and built the great castle of Stridula, probably near Squillace. In 1045, he was defeated near Taranto by Argyrus and he died in early 1046 and was succeeded by his brother Drogo. His titles were never confirmed by the Holy Roman Emperor, Drogo would be legally called Count of the Normans in all Apulia and Calabria, and so William is usually titled likewise. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, II Albicante – Ammannati, gwatkin, H. M. Whitney, J. P. et al. The Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, the Normans in the South 1016–1130. Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie, the Normans, Warrior Knights and their Castles. A Norman-Italian Adventurer in the East, Richard of Salerno, leeds Medieval History Texts in Translation. Norman Centuries – A Norman History Podcast by Lars Brownworth
23.
Drogo of Hauteville
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Drogo of Hauteville was the second Count of Apulia and Calabria in southern Italy. Initially he was only the leader of those Normans in the service of Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno, Drogo was born in Normandy, a son of Tancred of Hauteville and his first wife, Muriella. Around 1035, he arrived with his elder brother William in southern Italy, with his brother, he took part in the campaign of the Byzantine catepan George Maniaches in Sicily and then in the campaign of Guaimar IV against the Byzantines in Apulia. In 1042, Drogo was one of the twelve Norman leaders who met at Melfi to elect his brother William their first count under Guaimars suzerainty, in the ensuing twelve-part division of the conquered territory in northern Apulia, Drogo received Venosa. In 1044–45, Drogo fought on behalf of his brother in Apulia, in 1045, he seized Bovino from the Byzantines. After Williams death in 1046, Drogo and Peter of Trani were vied to succeed him, having the support of Guaimar, Drogo was elected by his fellow Normans. In 1047, Drogo married Altrude of Salerno, a Lombard princess and he reached an agreement with the Abbey of Montecassino, which intervened on his behalf to convince Guaimar to release the Norman count of Aversa, Rainulf II, whom he had imprisoned. On 3 February 1047, while the Emperor Henry III was visiting southern Italy, he received Drogos homage, after this Drogo began using the title Duke and Master of all Italy and Count of all the Normans of Apulia and Calabria. Other newly arrived Normans also gave him trouble, Richard Drengot attacked him and was captured, only the intervention of Guaimar could secure Richards release late in 1047 or early in 1048. In 1051, Drogo met with Pope Leo IX, when the latter visited southern Italy at the command to re-establish the freedom of the church. Leo forced a promise from Drogo that he would stop the Normans from pillaging, Drogo was buried in the church of the Santissima Trinità in Venosa. Drogo was succeeded by his younger brother Humphrey after a brief interregnum, a certain Richard, who joined the First Crusade, has been identified as Drogos son. 2, Alberto Ghisalberti Rome, Istituto dellEnciclopedia italiana,1960, H. M. Gwatkin and J. P. Whitney, edd. The Normans in the South, 1016–1130, histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie. The Normans, Warrior Knights and their Castles, a Norman-Italian Adventurer in the East, Richard of Salerno
24.
Cotentin
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The Cotentin Peninsula, also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain, to its west lie the Channel Islands and to the southwest lies the Brittany Peninsula. The peninsula lies wholly within the department of Manche, in the region of Normandy, the Cotentin peninsula is part of the Armorican Massif and lies between the estuary of the Vire river and Mont Saint-Michel Bay. It is divided into three areas, the headland of Cap de la Hague, the Cotentin Pass, and the valley of the Saire River and it forms the bulk of the department of Manche. Its southern part, known as le Marais, crosses from east to west from just north west of Saint Lo and east of Lessay, the largest town in the peninsula is Cherbourg on the north coast, a major cross-channel port. The western coast of the peninsula, known as the Côte des Îles faces the Channel Islands, ferry links serve Carteret and the islands of Jersey, Guernsey and Alderney from Dielette. Off the east coast of the lies the island of Tatihou. The oldest stone in France is found in outcroppings on the coast of Cap de la Hague, Cotentin was almost an island at one time. Only a small strip of land in the heath of Lessay connected the peninsula with the mainland. Thanks to the so-called portes à flot, which close at flood and open at ebb and which were built in the west coast and in the Baie des Veys, on the east coast, the Côte des Havres lies between the Cape of Carteret and the Cape of Granville. To the northwest, there are two sand dune systems, one stretching between Siouville-Hague and Vauville, the other one stretching between Cap of Carteret and Baubigny, the peninsula formed part of the Roman geographical area of Armorica. The town known today as Coutances, capital of the Unelli, the base of the peninsula, called in Latin the pagus Constantinus, joined together with the pagus Coriovallensis centred upon Cherbourg to the north, subsequently became known as the Cotentin. Under the Carolingians it was administered by viscounts drawn successively from members of the Saint-Sauveur family, King Alan the Great of Brittany waged war successfully on the Norsemen. As the result of his conquests, the Cotentin Peninsula was included theoretically in the territory of the Duchy of Brittany, the Dukes of Brittany suffered continuing Norse invasions and Norman raids. Eventually the Cotentin Peninsula was lost to Brittany after only 70 years of political domination, meanwhile, Vikings settled on the Cotentin in the ninth and tenth centuries. There are indications of an industry there dating to the ninth century. They were followed by Anglo-Norse and Anglo-Danish people, who established as farmers and it became part of Normandy in the early tenth century. Many placenames there are derived from the Norse language, examples include La Hague from hagi meadow or enclosure and La Hougue from haugr meaning a hill or mound
25.
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
26.
Melfi
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Melfi is a town and comune in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. On a hill at the foot of Mount Vulture, Melfi is the most important town in Basilicatas Vulture, inhabited by the Daunians and Lucanians, under the Romans it was included in the area of the colony of Venusia, founded in 291 BC. After the fall of Western Roman Empire, Melfi gained importance in the Middle Ages as a point between areas controlled by the Byzantines and those controlled by the Lombards. Melfi was captured several times by the powers of the region. The Hauteville family started from here their conquest of southern Italy, in 1059 Melfi became the capital of the Duchy of Apulia. Papal councils were held in the city in the same year, in 1231, Emperor Frederick II proclaimed the Constitutions of Melfi here, reinforcing control over his ever-expanding territory. He created a bureaucracy of officials, who among other things imposed a tax system on the local feudal rulers. Later, the town shared the fate of the entire Kingdom of Naples, under the Angevin crown, Charles II ordered the castle to be renovated and enlarged, making it the official residence of his wife Mary of Hungary. Beating the French occupation, Charles V gave to Andrea Doria the title of Prince of Melfi and his family held the city until the end of the feudal system and maintained properties and estates until the agrarian reform in the middle of the 20th century. During the Parthenopean Republic, proclaimed in 1799, Melfi was controlled by the republicans until the arrival of the sanfedisti headed by the cardinal Fabrizio Ruffo on May 29 of the same year. Unlike other centers, Ruffo was able to prevent the sack of Melfi, although many died in prisons. During the Fascist regime, it was land of exile for antifascists such as Manlio Rossi-Doria, Franco Venturi, Eugenio Colorni, Melfi was devastated by an earthquake in 1930 and, during the Second World War, suffered a bombardment by the Allied Forces on September 26,1943. The city enjoyed a revival of sorts from the end of the 20th century, Melfi was candidated as a capital of an autonomous province for several times. The first proposal dates back to 1866 and many were advanced over the years, the Castle, dominates the whole town. It was probably constructed ex novo by the Normans, as no trace of pre-existing Byzantine or Lombard edifices has been found, originally, it was probably a simple rectangle with square towers, with further towers defending the main gate. One of the internal buildings was later turned into a baronial palace by enclosing the walls between the towers within new walls. Under the Angevine rule a new section was added on the descending to the Melfia stream. The Castle was chosen by King Charles IIs wife, Mary of Hungary, the Aragon kings gave it to the Caracciolo family, who rebuilt the side facing the city and dug a moat
27.
Humphrey of Hauteville
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Humphrey of Hauteville, surnamed Abagelard, was the Count of Apulia and Calabria from 1051 to his death. Humphrey was probably the youngest son of Tancred of Hauteville by his first wife Muriel, some sources make Geoffrey and Serlo his younger brothers. Around 1047, he was granted the lordship of Lavello by his brother Drogo, in his early years in Lavello, he employed a young Richard Drengot, who was later to serve him against the pope. In 1053, Humphrey received his three brothers, Geoffrey and their half-brothers Mauger and a younger William, on their arrival in Italy and he granted Mauger the Capitanate and William the Principate. His reign began amid the troubles which had ended his brothers, Humphrey vigorously punished the instigators of his brothers assassination, especially the principal murderer. Many Norman knights were in rebellion and pillaging papal lands, Guaimar IV of Salerno supported Humphreys succession, but he was soon assassinated. Pope Leo IX organised a coalition against the Normans and marched south, the popes forces and those of the Normans fought the Battle of Civitate near Civitate sul Fortore on 18 June 1053. Humphrey led the armies of the Hautevilles and Drengots against the forces of the Papacy. The Normans destroyed the army and captured the pope, whom they imprisoned in Benevento. They finally released him on 12 March 1054, in the aftermath of Civitate, the Normans under Humphrey took advantage of the severely weakened papacy to further their conquest. He took Oria, Nardò, and Lecce by the end of 1055, Robert Guiscard, the hero of Civitate, meanwhile conquered Minervino Murge, Otranto, and Gallipoli before Humphrey sent him back to Calabria in fear of his growing power and influence. Upon his death in 1057, Humphrey was succeeded as count by Robert, Humphrey had given Guiscard the guardianship of his young sons, but Guiscard confiscated their inheritance. Humphrey is buried in the Abbey of the Santissima Trinità in Venosa, Humphreys wife was called a sister of the Duke of Sorrento by Amatus of Montecassino. This would make her Gaitelgrima, a daughter of Guaimar III of Salerno and it is often stated that his wife was Gaitelgrima, the widow of his brother Drogo, however this is impossible. Abelard was fleeing Robert Guiscard with Gradilon, the husband of his sister in 1078 when in revolt against his uncle, Gradilon was captured by the Guiscards troops near Trevico in the summer of 1079 and blinded. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, II Albicante – Ammannati, gwatkin, H. M. Whitney, J. P. et al. The Cambridge Medieval History, Volume III, the Normans in the South 1016-1130. Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie, the Normans, Warrior Knights and their Castles
28.
Nuova Cronica
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The Nuova Cronica or New Chronicles is a 14th-century history of Florence created in a year-by-year linear format and written by the Florentine banker and official Giovanni Villani. In his Cronica, Villani described in detail the many building projects of the city, statistical information on population, ordinances, commerce and trade, education, and religious facilities. He also described several disasters such as famines, floods, fires, and the pandemic of the Black Death in 1348, Villanis work on the Cronica was continued by his brother and nephew after his death. It has been described as the first introduction of statistics as an element in history. The oldest manuscript is Vatican Library BAV Chigiano L VIII296, Giovanni Villanis Cronica is divided into twelve books, the first six deal with the largely legendary history of Florence, starting at conventionally Biblical times to 1264. The second phase, in six books, covers the history from 1264 until his own time, However, his description of such events as the Battle of Crécy in 1346 was fairly accurate according to historian Kelly De Vries. In his Cronica, Villani writes that the Guelph defeat by the Ghibellines at Montaperti in 1260 was a setback to the historical progress of the Republic of Florence. According to Villani, the Florentine Guelphs last stand was in defending the Carroccio, Villani describes the rebuilding of Florence after the 1293 rebellion of one Giano della Bella, he notes that by 1296 conditions were once again in a tranquil state. A new foundation was laid in September of that year, adding new marble, Villani mentions the cardinal legate sent by the Pope in Rome who laid the first stone of the foundation, a significant event since it was the first papal legate to visit Florence. On July 18,1334, work began on the new campanile of the cathedral, the first stone placed by the bishop of Florence in front of an audience of clergy, priors, and other magistrates. Villani notes that the commune chose our fellow-citizen Giotto as the designer of the tower, a man who was the most sovereign master of painting in his time. According to Villani, in 1299, the commune and people of Florence laid the foundation for the Palazzo Vecchio, according to Villani, the Uberti family was not even allowed to return to Florence. In planning for the large expanse of the plaza, the commune of Florence purchased the homes of such as the Foraboschi family. In fact, the tower of the Palazzo was built upon a previously existing tower of the Foraboschi family known as La Vacca or The Cow. Villani boasts of Florences pristine architecture in its monasteries and churches, as well as its ornate houses and his opinion is clear even in the title of the chapter he devotes to this topic, More on the greatness and status and magnificence of the city of Florence. Villani also describes the trend in the early 14th century of affluent Florentine citizens building large country homes far outside the walls of Florence. While holding the signoria of Florence, Robert of Naples had the part of the Bargello in Florence constructed. Villani reports that Florence did not turn away beggars, but cared for anyone who approached the city and was in need of immediate subsistence
29.
Pandulf IV of Capua
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Pandulf IV was the Prince of Capua on three separate occasions. From February 1016 to 1022 he ruled in association with his cousin Pandulf II, in 1018, the Byzantine catapan Boiannes destroyed the Lombard army of Melus of Bari and his Norman allies at Cannae. This victory brought the Byzantines recognition by all the princes of the Mezzogiorno, among these Pandulf was most ardent in his support of the Greeks. He assisted Boiannes in capturing Melus brother-in-law Dattus tower on the Garigliano in 1020, a detachment under Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne, marched down the Tyrrhenian coast and besieged Capua. In 1022 the prince was taken and a new prince, Pandulf, count of Teano, Pandulf IV was brought in chains to the Emperor Henry II, who almost executed him before Pilgrim intervened on his behalf. He was then imprisoned in Germany for two years and he was released by Emperor Conrad II in 1024 at the request of Prince Guaimar III of Salerno, who was hoping for a new ally. Assisted by Guaimar and the Norman adventurer Rainulf Drengott, Pandulf immediately besieged Capua, in 1025, Boiannes, who had been busy on a Sicilian expedition, joined them with a huge force. In 1026, after a siege of 18 months, the city fell, the count of Teano was given safe passage to Naples by the Greek commander. Pandulf resumed his rule and remained in power until 1038, next, Sergius moved against the abbot of Montecassino. The previous abbot, Atenulf, who had supported Pandulf, had fled from the imperial army in 1024. The new abbot, Theobald, had been the candidate of the Emperor, after inviting him to Capua, Pandulf threw him in prison, where he joined the deposed archbishop of Capua. In 1032, Pandulf turned his attention to Sergius old ally and he conquered Gaeta and took over the consular and ducal title of its ruler. For all this, he was called by the chronicler Aimé of Monte Cassino a fortissime lupe, the Wolf of the Abruzzi, a man of wily and wicked deeds. Subsequently, Guaimar IV of Salerno, the son of Guaimar III, arriving at Troia in 1038, He ordered Pandulf to restore stolen property to Monte Cassino. Pandulf sent his wife and son to ask for peace, giving 300 lbs of gold, the emperor accepted Pandulfs offer, but the filial hostage escaped and Pandulf took refuge in his outlying castle of SantAgata de Goti. Conrad took Capua and gave it to Guaimar with the title of Prince and he also recognised Aversa as a county of Salerno. Pandulf, meanwhile, fled to Constantinople, seeking the protection of his old Greek allies, the political dynamic having changed, however, Pandulf was imprisoned. Subsequently, Guaimar became an enemy of Emperor Michael IV and, before the latters death and he returned to Italy in 1042
30.
Guaimar IV of Salerno
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Guaimar IV was Prince of Salerno, Duke of Amalfi, Duke of Gaeta, and Prince of Capua in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052. He was an important figure in the phase of Byzantine authority in the Mezzogiorno. He was born around the year 1013, the eldest son of Guaimar III of Salerno by Gaitelgrima and his elder half-brother, the son of Porpora of Tabellaria, John reigned as co-prince from 1015. When he died in 1018, Guaimar was made co-prince, Pandulf was captured and Guaimar submitted, sending the younger Guaimar as a hostage. The emperor remanded him to Pope Benedict VIII and he was released, the younger Guaimar succeeded his father in Salerno in 1027. He embarked then on a lifelong quest to control the whole of the third of the Italian Peninsula. In 1036, he received word that his uncle and erstwhile ally, Pandulf of Capua, had attempted to rape his niece, the daughter of his wifes sister and he then received the homage of the defecting Rainulf Drengot, formerly a vassal of Pandulf. Thus, Guaimar won the support of the Normans in the Mezzogiorno, in 1037, Guaimar made the politically savvy request of arbitration to both the Holy Roman and Byzantine emperors over the issue of Pandulfs unfitness to rule. Emperor Conrad II accepted the invitation and traveled south in Spring 1038, however, the hostages escaped and Capua was promptly besieged. Having taken that principality, he gave it to Guaimar, who asked for a title of nobility for his new Norman vassal and this was granted and Rainulf officially became Count of Aversa and a vassal of Salerno. Guaimar set out to take possession of his new principality immediately, on 15 August, he conquered Rocca Vandra and gave it to the abbey of Monte Cassino. Meanwhile, the Normans of Aversa pacified the valley of the Sangro, after Pandulf fled to Constantinople, Guaimar turned his attention to Amalfi. In April 1039, in support of the deposed and blinded Manso II, Guaimar forced the abdication and exile of John II and his mother, Maria, then in July, he conquered Sorrento, which had been conquered by Pandulf in 1034. He gave it to his brother Guy with the title of duke and he also received the homage of the Duke of Naples, John V, who had brought the request for mediation to Constantinople in 1037. In the north, he brought Comino, Aquino, Traetto, Venafro, Pontecorvo, in June 1040, he took Gaeta, which had been conquered by Pandulf in 1032. After October 1041, Guaimar ceases to appear in the acts of Gaeta and it seems he was replaced by a popular usurper related to the old dynasty, by December 1042, however, Gaeta was in the hands of Rainulf, holding it from Guaimar. Soon after, he involved with the Hautevilles. The Byzantines, who had not responded to Guaimars earlier request for help, were preparing an expedition under the great general Giorgio Maniace
31.
Amatus of Montecassino
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Amatus of Montecassino, was a Benedictine monk of the Abbey of Montecassino who is best known for his historical chronicles of his era. His History of the Normans, is one of three primary sources for the Norman Conquest of southern Italy--the other two being the histories of William of Apulia and Geoffrey Malaterra. Amatus describes the Normans from the perspective of his abbey, one of the most important religious, nothing is known for certain about Amatus before he became a monk. Possibly having been born in Salerno, Graham Loud suggests that he might have served as the Bishop of Paestum in the 1050s and he wrote primarily while Desiderius ruled as abbot. Previous to the ascension of Desiderius, the relationship between Montecassino and the Normans in the area had been an antagonistic one. Desiderius election as abbot, however, coincided with Richard Drengots annexation of Capua, after which Dregnot became the protector and patron of the abbey, which heavily affected Amatus writings. Amatus LYstoire de li Normant chronicles the history of the Normans in Southern Italy, however, the work was not only translated, but also summarized and abridged at points. The History of the Normans by Amatus of Montecassino ISBN 1-84383-078-7 John Howe,2006, Amatus of Montecassino, The History of the Normans English Historical Review CXXI, 268-269
32.
Scribla
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Spezzano Albanese is a municipality in the Province of Cosenza, Calabria, southern Italy. It is located on a 320-feet high hill commanding the plain of Sibari and it originated from Albanian emigration in the 15th century. Spezzano Albanese nelle vicende storiche sue e dellItalia
33.
Aluntium
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As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 2,155 and an area of 26.1 square kilometres. San Marco dAlunzio borders the municipalities, Alcara li Fusi, Capri Leone, Frazzanò, Longi, Militello Rosmarino. Aluntium or Haluntium was situated between Tyndaris and Calacte and its foundation was ascribed by some authors to Acarnanians led by Patron, some of whom settled here after guiding Aeneas across the Ionian Sea from Greece. If this legend is true the Acarnanian colonists probably were quickly assimilated by the Sicelian, no mention of it is found in Diodorus, nor is it noticed in history prior to the Roman conquest of Sicily. But in the time of Cicero it appears to have been a place of some importance and he mentions it as having suffered severely from the exactions of Verres, who, not content with ruinous extortions of corn, compelled the inhabitants to give up all their ornamental plate. We learn from inscriptions that it retained the rank of a municipium, the city sits atop a lofty hill of steep and difficult ascent, about 5 km from the Tyrrhenian Sea. Various inscriptions also are preserved at the site, or have discovered there. Cluverius, following Fazello, placed Aluntium at a spot near San Filadelfo, where the ruins of an ancient city were then visible and it must be admitted that this arrangement avoids some difficulties, but the above proofs in favour of the contrary hypothesis seem almost conclusive. Aluntium minted coins in antiquity, some of which survive and this article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain, Smith, William, ed. article name needed. Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography
34.
Reginald I, Count of Burgundy
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Reginald I, Count of Burgundy was the second Count of the Free County of Burgundy. Born in 986, he was the son of Otto-William, Count of Burgundy, in 1016, Reginald married Alice of Normandy. He succeeded to the County on his fathers death in 1026, Reginald was succeeded by his son, William I, on his death in 1057. He had to leave his county of Brionne and Vernon in Normandy, after being at the head of the coalition of the barons of Normandy, guy found refuge with his uncle Geoffrey II of Anjou. He later attempted to take over the county of Burgundy from his brother William, hugh, Viscount of Lons-le-Saunier, sire Montmorot, Navilly and Scey married to Aldeberge Scey. They had a son Montmorot Thibert, founder of the house Montmorot, alberada of Buonalbergo was Robert Guiscards first wife
35.
Alice of Normandy
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Alice or Adeliza, Adelaide or Aelis was a countess consort of Burgundy, the daughter of Richard II, Duke of Normandy and Judith of Brittany. He had to leave his county of Brionne and Vernon in Normandy, after being at the head of the coalition of the barons of Normandy, guy found refuge with his uncle Geoffrey II, Count of Anjou. He later attempted to take over the county of Burgundy from his brother William, hugh, Viscount of Lons-le-Saunier, sire Montmorot, Navilly and Scey married to Aldeberge Scey. They had a son Montmorot Thibert, founder of the house Montmorot, alberada of Buonalbergo was Robert Guiscards first wife
36.
Pope Leo IX
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Pope Leo IX, born Bruno of Egisheim-Dagsburg, was Pope from 12 February 1049 to his death in 1054. He was a German aristocrat and a ruler of central Italy while holding the papacy. He is regarded as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church, Leo IX is widely considered the most historically significant German Pope of the Middle Ages. His citing of the Donation of Constantine in a letter to the Patriarch of Constantinople brought about the Great Schism between the Catholic and Orthodox churches and he was born to Count Hugh and Heilwig and was a native of Eguisheim, Upper Alsace. His family was of rank, and his father, Count Hugh, was a cousin of Emperor Conrad II. He was educated at Toul, where he became canon and, in 1026. In the latter capacity he rendered important political services to his relative Conrad II and he became widely known as an earnest and reforming ecclesiastic by the zeal he showed in spreading the rule of the order of Cluny. On the death of Pope Damasus II in 1048, Bruno was selected as his successor by an assembly at Worms in December, both the Emperor and the Roman delegates concurred. Leo IX favored traditional morality in his reformation of the Catholic Church, One of his first public acts was to hold the well-known Easter synod of 1049, at which celibacy of the clergy was required anew. Also, the Easter synod was where the Pope at least succeeded in making clear his own convictions against every kind of simony. The greater part of the year that followed was occupied in one of those progresses through Italy, Germany, after presiding over a synod at Pavia, he joined Henry III in Saxony and accompanied him to Cologne and Aachen. He also summoned a meeting of the clergy in Reims in which several important reforming decrees were passed. At Mainz he held a council at which the Italian and French as well as the German clergy were represented, here too, simony and the marriage of the clergy were the principal matters dealt with. After his return to Rome he held another Easter synod on 29 April 1050 and it was occupied largely with the controversy about the teachings of Berengar of Tours. In 1052 he joined the Emperor at Pressburg and vainly sought to secure the submission of the Hungarians, at Regensburg, Bamberg and Worms, the papal presence was celebrated with various ecclesiastical solemnities. After a fourth Easter synod in 1053, Leo IX set out against the Normans in the south with an army of Italians, as fervent Christians the Normans were reluctant to fight their spiritual leader and tried to sue for peace but the Swabians mocked them – battle was inevitable. Leo IX led the army himself, but his forces suffered defeat at the Battle of Civitate on 15 June 1053. Nonetheless, on going out from the city to meet the enemy he was received with every token of submission, pleas for forgiveness and oaths of fidelity
37.
Battle of Civitate
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The Normans had arrived in Southern Italy in 1017, in a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of St. Michael Archangel in Monte SantAngelo sul Gargano. The availability of this force could not escape the notice of the Christian rulers of Southern Italy. The Normans took advantage of this turmoil, in 1030, Rainulf Drengot obtained the County of Aversa, after this first success, many other Normans sought to expand into Southern Italy. Among their most important leaders were Hauteville family members, in short time, the Hauteville created their own state, William Iron Arm became, in 1042, Count of Apulia. The Norman advances in southern Italy had alarmed the papacy for many years, at this point, Benevento was also the border and march land between Rome and the German Empire and the newly established Norman holdings. According to Malaterras account, the native Lombards were responsible for the plot, and he inflicted all sorts of tortures on his brothers murderer and his accomplices, and after a while the anger and grief he felt in his heart were quenched by their blood. Finally, in 1052, Leo met his relative Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor in Saxony, initially, substantial aid was refused and Leo returned to Rome in March 1053 with only 700 Swabian infantry. Adalbert II, Count of Winterthur, their leader, raised the 700 Swabian knights from the very House out of which the House of Kyburg would later emerge. The Duchy of Swabia, at the time, included an area that compromised the modern day German speaking Cantons of Switzerland, but there were others worried about the Norman power, in particular the Italian and Lombard rulers in the south. The Pope had also another friendly power, the Byzantine Empire ruled by Constantine IX. At first, the Byzantines, established in Apulia, had tried to buy off the Normans and press them into service within their own mercenary army. Despite several contemporary sources of the background and lead-up to the battle, to begin with, Leo moved to Apulia, and reached the Fortore River near the city of Civitate. The Normans went forth to intercept the Papal army near Civitella and prevent its union with the Byzantine army, led by Argyrus. The Normans were short on supplies because of the harvest season, the two armies were divided by a small hill. Pope Leo was in the city, but his standard, the vexillum sancti Petri, was with his allied army, the battle started with the attack of Richard of Aversa against the Italians on the left with a flanking movement and charge. After moving across the plain, they arrived in front their opponents, the Normans killed many of them as they retreated and moved further towards the Papal field-camp, before eventually attempting to return to the main engagement. The Swabians, in the meantime, had moved to the hill, and came into contact with the Norman center and the forces of Humphrey, skirmishing with arrows and archers before entering a general melee. Since they could not control the movements of their horses with their hands they were unable to inflict serious injuries with the lance and these swords were very long and keen, and they were often capable of cutting someone vertically in two
38.
Swabia
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Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. This territory would include all of the Alemannic German area, but the concept of Swabia is more restricted. Swabians are the natives of Swabia and speakers of Swabian German and their number was estimated at close to 0.8 million by SIL Ethnologue as of 2006, compared to a total population of 7.5 million in the regions of Tübingen, Stuttgart and Bavarian Swabia. Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabias borders are not clearly defined, like all of Southern Germany, Swabia was part of the La Tène culture, and as such has a Celtic substrate. In the Roman era, it was part of the Raetia province, in the third century, it was gradually settled by the Elbe Germanic Suebi and other components that came to make up the Alemanni. The Alemanni were ruled by independent kings throughout the fourth and fifth centuries, Swabia became a duchy under the Frankish Empire in 496, following the Battle of Tolbiac. Swabia was one of the stem duchies of East Francia. Due to the foundation of the important abbeys of St. Gallen and Reichenau, in the following years the original duchy gradually broke up into many smaller units. Rudolf I of Habsburg, elected in 1273 as emperor, tried to restore the duchy, but met the opposition of the higher nobility who aimed to limit the power of the emperor. The rural regions were merged into the Reichslandvogtei of Swabia, which was given as Imperial Pawn to Duke Leopold III of Austria in 1379 and again to Sigismund and he took the title of a Prince of Swabia and integrated the Landvogtei of Swabia in the realm of Further Austria. Charlemagnes family is known to have hailed from Swabia, the major dynasties that arose out of the region were the Habsburgs and the Hohenzollerns, who rose to prominence in Northern Germany. Also stemming from Swabia are the dynasties of the dukes of Württemberg. The Welf family went on to rule in Bavaria and Hanover, smaller feudal dynasties eventually disappeared, however, for example, branches of the Montforts and Hohenems lived until modern times, and the Fürstenberg survive still. The territory of Swabia as understood today emerges in the modern period. It corresponds to the Swabian Circle established in 1512, the Old Swiss Confederacy was de facto independent from Swabia from 1499 as a result of the Swabian War, while the Margraviate of Baden had been detached from Swabia since the twelfth century. Fearing the power of the princes, the cities and smaller secular rulers of Swabia joined to form the Swabian League in the fifteenth century. The region was divided by the Reformation. In the wake of the reorganization of the empire of 1803 by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss
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