Everything about Hauteville Family totally explained
The family of the
Hauteville (
French:
Maison de Hauteville,
Italian:
Casa d'Altavilla) was a petty baronial
Norman family from the
Cotentin which rose to prominence in Europe, Asia, and Africa through its conquests in the
Mediterranean, especially
Southern Italy and
Sicily. They also participated in the
Norman Conquest of
England.
Origins
The familial origins had roots from the Norwegian
Vikings (
Norsemen)who had settled in Normandy in the 10th century. From just which village of Hauteville, which may simply mean "high town", the family drew its name is hard to identify with certainty, though modern scholarship favours
Hauteville-la-Guichard.
The first of the family well known to us is
Tancred of Hauteville, the founder of the eponymous villa. He remained until his death (c.
1041) a minor baron of Normandy, but he'd twelve sons and at least two daughters by two wives, Muriel and Fressenda. 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.
Mezzogiorno
The eldest of the twelve sons,
William and
Drogo, were the first to arrive in the south sometime around
1035. They soon distinguished themselves against the
Greeks that William was inaugurated as
count of Apulia and Calabria and lord of
Ascoli, Drogo as lord of
Venosa. In
1047, Drogo was confirmed by the
Emperor Henry III as William's 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, making the Hauteville power the highest in the region. He was in turn succeeded by a fourth brother, the first by Tancred's second wife,
Robert Guiscard.
It was Robert who began the conquest of Sicily which was to yield a kingdom seventy years later and he renewed the war against Byzantium with vigour. In
1059, he was created duke by the pope and invested with as yet unconquered Sicily, which he gave, in
1071, to the youngest of the brothers,
Roger Bosso, with the title of count. The Guiscard's 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 and refused to allow religious differences to spoil his conquests. He 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 (then under Borsa's son
William II) and
Taranto (which had been given to Bohemond as a consolation for being deprived of Apulia) with his own Sicily.
Kingdom of Sicily
On William's death in
1127, the union of the duchy and the county was effected and Roger's quest for a crown began. 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.
Roger spent most of the decade beginning with his coronation and ending with his great
Assizes of Ariano fending off one invader or other and quelling rebellions by his premier vassals:
Grimoald of Bari,
Robert of Capua,
Ranulf of Alife,
Sergius of Naples, etc. In
1139, by the
Treaty of Mignano, Roger received the recognition of his kingship from the legitimate pope. 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."
Roger's son and successor was
William the Bad, though his nickname derives primarily from his lack of popularity with the chroniclers, who supported the baronial revolts William crushed. His reign ended in peace (
1166), but his son,
William the Good, was a minor. During the boy regency until
1172, the kingdom saw turmoil which almost brought the ruling family down, but eventually the realm settled down and the reign of the second William is remembered as two decades of almost continual peace and prosperity. For this more than anything, he's nicknamed "the Good." His death without heirs in
1189 threw the realm into chaos, however.
Tancred of Lecce seized the throne but had to contend with the revolt of his distant cousin
Roger of Andria and the invasion of
Henry VI of Germany on behalf of his wife,
Constance, the daughter of Roger II. Constance and Henry eventually prevailed and the kingdom fell in
1194 to the
Hohenstaufen. Through Constance, however, the Hauteville blood was passed to the great
Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor.
Crusades
The aforementioned Bohemond received in
1088, as a consolation, the principality of Taranto distinct from the duchy of Apulia which fell as per their father's will to his brother Roger Borsa. Bohemond didn't long remain to enjoy his new principality, for while besieging
Amalfi with his uncle and brother, he joined a passing band of Crusaders on their way to
Palestine. Among his army was a nephew of his, a young man named
Tancred.
Bohemond was the natural leader of the crusading host but, through a trick, he took
Antioch and didn't continue on to
Jerusalem with the rest of the army, instead remaining in the newly-conquered city to carve out a principality for himself there. Tancred also left the main Crusade at
Heraclea Cybistra to fight for territory in
Cilicia. A great state like the one his cousins were forging in Europe, however, was impossible for Bohemond. He was defeated badly at the
Battle of Harran and forced later to sign the
Treaty of Devol with Byzantium. Nevertheless, his son
Bohemond II inherited the Crusader state. He in turn gave it to his only daughter,
Constance, who ruled it until
1163.
Tancred had great luck in carving out a
principality around Galilee with the grants of
Godfrey of Bouillon, but he relinquished this in
1101.
Genealogy
Tancred and his first wife Muriel (or Muriella) had the following issue:
- William Iron Arm, count of Apulia (1042-1046)
- Drogo, count of Apulia (1046-1051)
- Richard of Salerno, regent of the County of Edessa (1104-1108, d.1114)
- Humphrey, count of Apulia (1051-1057)
- Geoffrey, count of the Capitanate (d.1071)
Tancred and his second wife Fressenda (or Fedesenda) had the following issue:
- Robert Guiscard, count (1057-1059) and duke of Apulia (1059-1085)
- Bohemond I, prince of Taranto (1088-1111) and Antioch (1098-1111)
- Bohemond II, prince of Taranto (1111-1128) and Antioch (1111-1131)
- Roger Borsa, duke of Apulia (1085-1111)
- Guy, duke of Amalfi and Sorrento (d.1107)
- Robert Scalio (d.1110)
- Emma of Apulia
- Mauger, count of the Capitanate (1056-1059)
- William, count of the Principate (1056-1080)
- Aubrey (also Alberic, Alberad, Alvered, Alvred, or Alfred), stayed in Normandy
- Hubert (also Humbert), stayed in Normandy
- Tancred, stayed in Normandy
- Roger Bosso, count of Sicily (1071-1101)
Sources
- European Commission presentation of The Normans
Norman Heritage, 10th-12th century.
- Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.
- Norwich, John Julius. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: London, 1970.
- Pierre Aubé, Roger II de Sicilie. 2001.
- Matthew, Donald. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily. Cambridge University Press: 1992.
- Houben, Hubert. Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West. Trans. G. A. Loud and Diane Milbourne. Cambridge University Press: 2002.
- Medieval Sourcebook: Alexiad—complete text, translated Elizabeth A. Dawes
- Ralph of Caen. Gesta Tancredi. trans. Bernard S. and David S. Bachrach. Ashgate Publishing, 2005.
Further Information
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