Robert Guiscard | |
---|---|
Duke of Apulia and Calabria | |
Reign | 23 August 1059 – 17 July 1085 |
Predecessor | title created |
Successor | Roger Borsa |
Count of Apulia and Calabria | |
Reign | August 1057 – 23 August 1059 |
Predecessor | Humphrey of Hauteville |
Lord of Sicily | |
Reign | Invested on 23 August 1059 |
Successor | Roger I (as count) |
Prince of Benevento | |
Reign | 1078 - 1081 |
Predecessor | Landulf VI |
Successor | title extinct |
Born | c. 1015 Hauteville-la-Guichard or somewhere else in Cotentin, Normandy |
Died | 17 July 1085 Cephalonia | (aged 69–70)
Burial | |
Spouses | Alberada of Buonalbergo Sikelgaita |
Issue | see below |
Noble family | Hauteville |
Father | Tancred of Hauteville |
Mother | Fressenda |
Religion | Catholic |
Robert Guiscard (/ɡiːˈskɑːr/ ghee-SKAR,[1] Modern French: [ɡiskaʁ]; c. 1015 – 17 July 1085), also referred to as Robert de Hauteville, was a Norman adventurer remembered for his conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century.[2]
Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, the sixth son of Tancred de Hauteville and his wife Fressenda. He inherited the County of Apulia and Calabria from his brother in 1057, and in 1059 he was made Duke of Apulia and Calabria and Lord of Sicily by Pope Nicholas II. He was also briefly Prince of Benevento (1078–1081), before returning the title to the papacy.[2]