Robert Guiscard

Soon after his succession, probably in 1058, Guiscard's marriage to Alberada was annulled due to consanguinity. It was the first time that a marriage was annulled for this cause. Alberada then married Richard de Hauteville, son of Drogo.

Robert Guiscard and Sikelgaita welcoming Constantine the african to court

After separating from Alberada, Robert married Sichelgaita, the sister of Gisulf II of Salerno, and daughter Guaimar IV. In return for giving him his sister's hand, Gisulf demanded that Guiscard destroy two castles of his brother William, count of the Principate, which had encroached on Gisulf's territory.

This secured an alliance between Lombards and Normans, and opened the doors of aristocracy to the Hauteville family.

The reformist Papacy, at odds with the Holy Roman Emperor (due to the Investiture Controversy) and the Roman nobility itself, resolved to recognize the Normans and secure them as allies. Therefore, in the Treaty of Melfi, on 23 August 1059, Pope Nicholas II invested Guiscard as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily.[20] Guiscard, now "by the Grace of God and St Peter duke of Apulia and Calabria and, if either aid me, future lord of Sicily", agreed to hold his titles and lands by annual rent of the Holy See and to maintain its cause. In the next twenty years he undertook a series of conquests, winning his Sicilian dukedom.

In the 20 years after the treaty of Melfi, Robert was engaged in a large series of conquests in southern Italy, mainly in Calabria and, with the help of his brother Roger I, in Sicily.

Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger

At the time of the opening of the Melfitan council in June, Guiscard had been leading an army in Calabria. This was the first strong attempt to subjugate the province (still held by the byzantines) since the campaigns of William Iron-Arm and Guaimar IV. After attending the synod for his investiture, Guiscard returned to Calabria, where his army was besieging Cariati. With his arrival, Cariati submitted and, before winter was out, Rossano and Gerace followed.

Only Reggio was left in Byzantine hands when Guiscard returned to Apulia. In Apulia, he worked to remove the Byzantine garrisons from Taranto and Brindisi, before, largely in preparation for his planned Sicilian expedition, he returned again to Calabria, where Roger was waiting with siege engines. The fall of Reggio, after a long and arduous siege, and the subsequent capitulation of Scilla, an island citadel to which the Reggian garrison had fled, opened up the way to Sicily.

Norman progress in Sicily during Robert's expeditions to the Balkans: Capua, Apulia and Calabria, and the County of Sicily are Norman. The Emirate of Sicily, the Duchy of Naples and lands in the Abruzzo (in the southern Duchy of Spoleto) are not yet conquered.

Roger initially led a tiny force to attack Messina, but he was easily repulsed by the Saracen garrison. The large invading force that could have been expected did not materialise, because Guiscard was recalled by a new Byzantine army, sent by emperor Constantine X, ravaging Apulia. In January 1061, Melfi itself was under siege, and Roger too was recalled, but the full weight of Guiscard's army forced the Byzantines to retreat. By May, Apulia was calm.

Messina was finally conquered in 1061 with comparable ease, for they landed unsighted during the night, when the city was already abandoned, and surprised the Saracen army.[21] This success gave them control over the Strait of Messina.[21] After the conquest, Guiscard immediately fortified the city and allied himself with Ibn al-Timnah, the emir of Syracuse, against Ibn al-Hawas, the emir of Enna (at the time called Castrogiovanni)

The armies of Robert, Roger, and their muslim ally marched into central Sicily through Rometta, which had remained loyal to al-Timnah. They passed through Frazzanò and the pianura di Maniace, where George Maniakes and the first Hautevilles had distinguished themselves 21 years prior. Guiscard assaulted the town of Centuripe, but their resistance was too strong, and he moved on. Paternò fell, and Guiscard brought his army to Enna, a formidable fortress. The Saracens sallied forth and were defeated, but Enna itself did not fall. Guiscard then turned back, leaving a fortress at San Marco d'Alunzio named after his first stronghold in Calabria. He returned to Apulia with Sichelgaita for Christmas. He then returned to Sicily in 1064, but he bypassed Enna, going straight for Palermo. His campsite, however, was infested with tarantulas, and had to be abandoned.

The surrender of Palermo by the Muslims, Giuseppe Patania, Palazzo dei Normanni

In 1071, Guiscard’s brother Roger was made Grand Count of Sicily, and the year later, through a later campaign, Palermo finally fell. The rest of Sicily was gradually conquered. A last resistance was attempted by emir Benavert, who lost the war at Syracuse in 1086. The last Muslim holding in Sicily, Noto, fell in 1091. As a result of his Sicilian campaign, Guiscard was referred to as "Black Shirt Robert" because throughout the campaign he wore elegant clothing with imported dyes that ran together resulting in black clothing.[22]

Statue of Robert Guiscard, 1700-1749, Lorenzo Ottoni.

Before conquering Palermo, Robert had to fight against the Byzantine forces wandering in Apulia, the heart of his domains. They had occupied Bari on request of Abelard of Hauteville, Guiscard’s nephew, who claimed his uncle’s throne. Robert besieged the city by land and by water for four years before the people decided to surrender. He, though, did repay the damages done by the siege. With the fall of Bari in 1071, the Greeks were finally ousted from southern Italy, and Robert focused himself on the various independent Lombard principalities that still held a significant part of the territory.

The first target was the Principality of Salerno. Salerno was besieged and fell in December 1076, but Gisulf II (Guiscard’s brother in law) abandoned his castle with his court only in May 1077.

The only territories that weren’t under Guiscard’s control at this point were the Principality of Capua, held by the Drengot family, the Duchy of Naples and the Principality of Benevento. Robert decided to attack and take Benevento in 1078, and Pope Gregory VII was alarmed, because it was considered a feud of the Holy See. However, the pope didn’t want to enter in conflict with the Normans, as he already was busy with Emperor Henry IV due to the investiture controversy question. He summoned Robert at Ceprano in June 1080 and he confirmed his claim on the southern Abruzzi, on the March of Fermo, on Salerno and on Amalfi. He even obtained the confirm of his possession of Benevento, which had been independent for over 500 years. Benevento was, however, returned to the papacy in 1081.

In his last enterprise, Guiscard mounted an attack on the Byzantine Empire, taking up the cause of Raiktor, a monk pretending to be Michael VII,[23] who had been deposed in 1078. Robert believed he had the right to rule in the empire, because Constantine, Michael VII’s son, had been proposed to his daughter Olympias. It was then clear that Raiktor was not in fact Micheal, but this still was an opportunity Guiscard could not resist.

He sailed with 16,000 men, including 1,300 Norman knights, against the empire in May 1081. He defeated Emperor Alexius I Comnenus at the Battle of Dyrrhachium in October 1081, and by February 1082 he had occupied Corfu and Durazzo. He was recalled to the aid of Gregory VII, however, who was besieged in Castel Sant'Angelo by Henry IV, in June 1083. Also in 1083, Guiscard destroyed the town of Cannae, leaving only the cathedral and bishop's residence.[24] Guiscard was ally to kingdom of Duklja and Constantine Bodin. In 1081 he married his vassal's daughter Jaquinta of Bari to Constantine.

Hauteville family mausoleum, where Robert Guiscard was buried. Trinity Abbey in Venosa, Italy.

In May 1084, Guiscard marched north with 36,000 men, entered Rome, and forced Henry to retreat. A rebellion, or seditious tumult (émeute), of the citizens led to a three-day sack of the city, after which Guiscard escorted the pope to Rome. Guiscard's son Bohemund, for a time master of Thessaly, had now lost the Byzantine conquests. Guiscard returned with 150 ships to restore them, and he occupied Corfu and Kefalonia with the help of Ragusa and the Dalmatian cities (which were under the rule of Demetrius Zvonimir of Croatia).[25] On 17 July 1085, Guiscard died of fever in Kefalonia, at Atheras, north of Lixouri, along with 500 Norman knights.[26][27] He was buried in the Hauteville family mausoleum of the Abbey of the Santissima Trinità at Venosa. The town of Fiscardo on Kefalonia is named after him.

At his death Guiscard was duke of Apulia and Calabria and Lord of Sicily. His successes had been due not only to his great qualities but to the "entente" with the Papal See. He created and enforced a strong ducal power, which was nevertheless met by many baronial revolts, including one in 1078, when he demanded from the Apulian vassals an "aid" on the betrothal of his daughter. In conquering such wide territories he had little time to organize them internally. In the history of the Norman kingdom of Italy, Guiscard remains essentially the hero and founder, though his career ended in "something of a dead end,"[28] while his nephew Roger II was the statesman and organizer.