Robert Guiscard (redirected from Robert Giuscard)

Robert Guiscard (gēskär`), c.1015–1085, Norman conqueror of S Italy, a son of Tancred de Hauteville (see Normans). Robert joined (c.1046) his brothers in S Italy and fought with them to expel the Byzantines. In 1057 he succeeded his brother Humphrey as count of Apulia, and in 1059 Pope Nicholas II invested him at Melfi with Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily. However, most of these lands remained to be conquered, and Robert set himself to the task with the help of his younger brother Roger, who wrested (1061–91) Sicily from the Arabs (see Roger I). Calabria was occupied by 1060; Bari fell in 1071, Salerno in 1076. Robert's attacks on the duchy of Benevento, a papal fief, resulted in his excommunication (1074), but a reconciliation was brought about because the pope, Gregory VII, needed Norman assistance against Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV, who had invaded Rome (1081). Ultimately, virtually all of Benevento except the city itself fell to Robert; he then turned his eyes to the Byzantine Empire. Championing the cause of the deposed emperor, Michael VII, he sailed in 1081, conquered Corfu, and defeated (1082) Emperor Alexius I. In 1083 he returned to aid Gregory VII, who was besieged in the Castel Sant' Angelo. Robert's troops sacked Rome for three days (1084), but were again expelled by those of Henry IV. Robert, with his elder son Bohemond I, resumed his conquests in the east. Robert died of fever during the siege of Cephalonia and was succeeded in Apulia by his younger son, Roger.

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Robert Guiscard

(born c. 1015, Normandy—died July 17, 1085, near Cephalonia, Greece, Byzantine Empire) Norman adventurer and duke of Apulia (1059–85). Born into a family of Norman knights, he joined his brothers and half brothers in southern Italy, defeating the Byzantines, Lombards, and papacy (1053) and taking over Apulia. He allied with the papacy (1059), agreeing to oppose the Byzantines and expel the Arabs from Sicily. His brother Roger (later Roger I) helped him to conquer Sicily and Calabria, and he gained control of Salerno in 1076, making it the capital of his duchy. Robert made an abortive attempt to gain the Byzantine throne (1083) but returned to Italy to defend Pope Gregory VII from his enemies.

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Guiscard, Robert 

Born circa 1015; died July 17, 1085, on the island of Cephalonia. One of the leaders of the Norman invasions of Italy.

Robert fought in wars against the Byzantines for possession of southern Italy and in 1053 defeated the forces of Pope Leo IX at Civitate. In 1057 he became count of Apulia. Pope Nicholas II legalized Robert’s conquests (future as well as actual), confirming him as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily in 1059, and Robert took an oath of fealty to the pope. By 1072 he ruled southern Italy and Sicily (conquered from the Arabs), laying the foundations for the Kingdom of Sicily.

In an attempt to halt Robert’s conquests, Pope Gregory VII excommunicated him in 1074; in 1080 he lifted the excommunication and gave Robert all the lands he had conquered, including Amalfi and Salerno, as fiefdoms, in the hope of securing Robert’s aid in the struggle against Emperor Henry IV. Still at war with Byzantium, Robert invaded the Balkan Peninsula, defeating the forces of Alexius I Comnenus at Dyrrachium in 1081. In 1084 he went to the aid of Pope Gregory, who was besieged in Rome by Henry. Robert drove Henry out of Rome, sacking the city in the process. Robert died at the height of the renewed war with Byzantium.