Full Description
The Normans originally came to Italy and Sicily in the 11th and 12th centuries looking for adventure or a livelihood, but once there, found opportunity for fame and fortune. The story of the Norman conquest in Italy and Sicily is indeed one of knights and adventurers, great battles and lowly pillage, opportunism and statesmanship, and crusade and coexistence.
This rich and often dramatic study focuses on the eight sons of Tancred of Hauteville, especially Robert Guiscard, who has been called "the most dazzling military ruler between Julius Caesar and Napoleon," and his youngest brother Roger, who conquered Sicily. It discusses how they expanded their lands throughout southern Italy, and then took Sicily from its Muslim rulers. The brothers, often in conflict with each other, challenged both the Papacy and the Byzantine Empire, became the main supporters of the reformed Papacy, and founded a rich, sophisticated kingdom that lasted until the nineteenth century.
Contents
Table of Contents
Preface
Introduction
Civitate
The Adventurers
Tancred of Hauteville
Mercenaries for the Basileus
Rebels
Warlords in Apulia
Count of Apulia
The Pope's Wrath
Consolidation
Guiscard
Calabria
Sicily
Cerami
Rebellion
Victory
The Duke and the Pope
Salerno
Carrying War to the Enemy
The Pope's Savior
Terror of the World
The Quest for Glory
The End of the Beginning
Chronology
Genealogical Table—Sons and Grandsons of Tancred of Hauteville
Bibliography
Index
