Norman adventurer, founder of the fortunes of the Hauteville family
William I of Hauteville
(
c.
1000/1010 – 1046), known as
William Iron Arm
,
[1]
was a
Norman
adventurer who was the founder of the fortunes of the
Hauteville family
. One of twelve sons of
Tancred of Hauteville
, he journeyed to the
Mezzogiorno
with his younger brother
Drogo
in the first half of the eleventh century (c.1035), in response to requests for help made by fellow Normans under
Rainulf Drengot
,
count of Aversa
.
Between 1038 and 1040, he and other Normans fought in
Sicily
along with the
Lombards
as mercenaries for the
Byzantine Empire
against the
Kalbids
. 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 and the
Varangian Guard
contingent. 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 nominal leaders of the revolt ? first
Atenulf, brother of Pandulf III of Benevento
, and then
Argyrus
. 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. 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
". At Melfi in 1043, Guaimar divided the region (except for Melfi itself) into twelve
baronies
for the benefit of the Norman leaders:
Asclettin
received
Acerenza
,
Tristan
received
Montepeloso
,
Hugh Tubœuf
received
Monopoli
, Peter received
Trani
, and Drogo received
Venosa
. William himself, predominant among the Norman leaders, received the lordship of
Ascoli
. He was married to Guida, daughter of
Guy
, duke of
Sorrento
, and niece of Guaimar.
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. 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" (
Comes Normannorum totius Apuliae e Calabriae
), and so William is usually titled likewise.
References
[
edit
]
- Ghisalberti, Albert (ed).
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: II Albicante – Ammannati
.
Rome
, 1960.
- Gwatkin, H.M.
,
Whitney, J.P.
(ed) et al.
The Cambridge Medieval History: Volume III
.
Cambridge University Press
, 1926.
- Norwich, John Julius
.
The Normans in the South 1016?1130
.
Longmans
:
London
, 1967.
- Chalandon, Ferdinand
.
Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie
.
Paris
, 1907.
- Gravett, Christopher, and Nicolle, David.
The Normans: Warrior Knights and their Castles
.
Osprey Publishing
:
Oxford
, 2006.
- Beech, George.
A Norman-Italian Adventurer in the East: Richard of Salerno
. 1993.
Notes
[
edit
]
- ^
Guillaume Bras-de-fer
in
French
,
Guglielmo Braccio di Ferro
in
Italian
and
Gugghiermu Vrazzu di Ferru
in
Sicilian
.
External links
[
edit
]