Norman conquest of southern Italy

The Norman takeover of southern Italy stretched from 999 to 1194, a long series of fights led by various independent adventurers. In 1130, these scattered lands were pulled together into the Kingdom of Sicily, which covered the island of Sicily, the southern third of the Italian mainland (Benevento was part of it twice, but only for short periods), the Maltese islands, and some territory in North Africa. Norman fighters first showed up in the south as hired soldiers for Lombard and Byzantine rulers. They quickly sent word back to Normandy about the chances waiting in the Mediterranean. Within fifty years, these groups had gathered in different spots, carved out their own fiefs and small states, and made themselves effectively independent.

Unlike the Norman takeover of England in 1066—which wrapped up fast after one big battle—the conquest of southern Italy took decades and many fights, few of which settled things quickly. Different warlords seized different areas on their own, and only later were these pieces stitched into a single kingdom. It was a messy, unplanned affair compared to England, but just as thorough. Even after unification, the mainland kept its patchwork of counties, lordships, and deals among nobles. These local arrangements stayed central to how the twelfth-century kingdom ran its armies and governed its land.

There’s not much sign of Vikings in Italy before the Normans showed up in 999, though some raids are recorded. Around 860, according to the monk Dudo of Saint-Quentin, a Viking fleet led by Alstignus (likely Hastein) and Björn Ironside landed in Italy hoping to sack Rome. They came to the town of Luna, but its walls were too strong for a direct attack. So they tricked the local bishop into baptizing Hastein as a Christian. Then Hastein pretended to die, asking to be buried inside the town’s church. A small group of Vikings entered with hidden weapons in the funeral procession, surprised the guards, and opened the gates for the rest of the fleet. When they realized the town wasn’t Rome, they raided the countryside and sailed back to Frankia.

Many Norsemen fought as mercenaries in southern Italy. The Varangian Guard, led by Harald Hardrada (later king of Norway), helped conquer Sicily between 1038 and 1040, alongside Norman mercenaries under William de Hauteville (who got the nickname Iron Arm by beating the emir of Syracuse in single combat) and a Lombard force led by Arduin. The Varangians had first been hired in Italy against the Arabs in 936. Runestones in Sweden remember warriors who died in Langbarðaland, the Old Norse name for southern Italy. Later, some Anglo-Danish and Norwegian nobles joined the Norman conquest, like Edgar the Ætheling, who left England in 1086, and Jarl Erling Skakke, who earned his nickname (“bent head”) after a fight with Arabs in Sicily. On the other side, many Anglo-Danish rebels fleeing William the Conqueror fought for the Byzantines against Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia, in southern Italy.

The earliest known date for Norman knights arriving in southern Italy is 999, though they may have come earlier. According to a traditional story (first written down by Amatus of Montecassino between 1071 and 1086), Norman pilgrims returning from Jerusalem stopped in Salerno with Prince Guaimar III. Saracens from Africa attacked the city, demanding overdue tribute. While Guaimar started collecting the money, the Normans mocked him and his Lombard subjects for being cowards, then attacked the besiegers. The Saracens fled. The grateful Guaimar offered the Normans rewards to stay, but they refused, promising instead to take his gifts back to Normandy and spread the word about good pay for soldiers in Salerno. Some versions say Guaimar sent his own men to Normandy to recruit knights. This is called the “Salerno tradition.”

Another account, the “Gargano tradition,” appears in chronicles without mentioning any earlier Norman presence. It says that in 1016, Norman pilgrims at the shrine of Michael the Archangel on Monte Gargano met the Lombard Melus of Bari, who talked them into joining his attack on the Byzantine rulers of Apulia. This story comes from William of Apulia’s *Gesta Roberti Wiscardi* (written between 1088 and 1110) and a later monk’s chronicle based on William’s work.