(Author's note: The content of this chapter is excerpted from "Norman Storm". Robert Guiscard is Roger I's brother, the father of Bohemond I, and the uncle of Roger II, the protagonist of this book.)

The oldest of Tancred's sons from his second marriage, Robert, decided to go to Italy in 1047 to follow in the footsteps of his half-brothers.

He received a cold reception in Italy.

Drogo particularly disliked his father's second wife and hated her children, so he sent Robert and a small entourage to garrison at a border fortress deep in Calabria under Byzantine rule, at the heel of the Italian peninsula.

The castle overlooks the coastal plain and the ancient city of Sybaris can be seen.

This small, dank castle is located in a sparsely populated area of ​​Italy, malaria-ridden, dark and lifeless.

Calabria is even more backward. Due to its mountainous location and high forest coverage, there is almost no land suitable for agricultural development.

For hundreds of years, malaria has been rampant in the coastal area and it has been invaded by the Saracens, so it is sparsely populated.

Since the local population was thoroughly Hellenized and more loyal to the Byzantines, it was unlikely that they would welcome the Normans to save themselves.

In order to survive, Robert had to rely on cunning tactics and violent actions to carry out his life.

His favorite tactic was to set fire to crops and then collect money to put out the fires.

The plan did little to win over local hearts and minds.

Soon people began to call him "Guiscard," which means "the cunning one."

He gained a reputation among the Norman community and became a figure worthy of their attention.

He is shrewd enough to understand that a good leader must be feared by his enemies and loved by his allies.

For this reason, he shared weal and woe with the soldiers, sharing food and accommodation, but he was also extremely generous.

Wealth is always just a means to him.

A visiting Norman bishop once suggested that he was building a church in his hometown, so Robert offered his help.

Although supplies were exhausted, he donated all his property.

As a result, public relations income cannot make up for the financial expenditure.

The bishop returned to Normandy and promoted the wealthy and generous Calabrian knight everywhere, while Robert, who had been short of major generals for a long time, was busy recruiting new soldiers.

However, before taking the opportunity to expand his power, he fell into a larger conflict.

When the Normans entered Italy, they were warmly welcomed by the Lombards, who were eager to get rid of the Byzantine tax collectors and regarded the Normans as liberators.

As time went by, they discovered that the Normans were greedy, brutally suppressed the independence movement, and drained the wealth of various places, making them worse than the Byzantines before them.

Later, in order to shake the Norman rule over Apulia and eliminate its threat to Calabria, Byzantium sent spies.

Once these people entered Apulia, they found themselves popular with the local residents.

They hatched a huge conspiracy to assassinate all important Normans in Italy.

This plan was implemented in 1051 AD.

Drogo was attacked and killed while entering a private church, and by evening the whole of Apulia was in riots.

The surviving Normans, who still did not fully understand the extent of the public rebellion, believed that a show of force would restore the status quo, and brutally suppressed all involved and their region.

Such behavior was intolerable, and Pope Leo IX, the most powerful figure in Italy, was also angered.

Over the years, sad stories of rapes, murders, and robberies in southern Italy have spread throughout the Holy See, and everyone has asked the Holy See to lend a helping hand against the unruly, lawless, and force-loving Norman mercenaries.

This kind of thing should have been directly responsible for the local secular government, but Leo went out of his way and took charge personally.

In an era when successive popes were sophisticated, his holiness was known far and wide, and his charisma and popularity were enough to unite the scattered forces of all parties in Italy.

The bloodshed and death of the war did not deter him - during his tenure as bishop, he led the troops of the German Emperor Conrad II (rad 2) to launch a raid in northern Italy.

Therefore, he believes that the new title is not a reason to prevent him from going to war again.

Leo had crossed paths with the Normans.

Because the Normans were so annoying, Leo refused William the Conqueror's marriage request as a humiliation.

If measures are not taken to stop these lawless and unruly Normans, they will invade Vatican territory.

If the Pope cannot make them surrender, his reputation will be affected, and he will be besieged by thousands of Norman troops, facing real danger.

His first consideration was to awe the Normans into surrender, so he went to southern Italy to summon Drogo of Hauteville.

The pope, dressed in full official robes, coldly ordered him to take care of his men.

Drogo seemed to repent, but was assassinated a few months later.

Southern Italy is in chaos.

For Leo, this was the perfect time to send troops.

The Norman crowd was leaderless, demoralized and in chaos.

From Abruzzo to Calabria, almost all the non-Norman nobles in southern Italy revolted.

But Leo had to act quickly while the momentum was building.

He wrote to the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IX, proposing an alliance, and then went to Germany to discuss the war with his cousin Henry III.

He gained royal support for the anti-Norman alliance and immediately sent Italian troops to march into Apulia, claiming to end the "Norman threat".

The news that the pope himself was coming with his troops finally made the Normans aware of the current danger.

They eagerly summoned all able-bodied men, and Robert hurried back from Calabria.

The situation is critical, and everyone is willing to put aside past differences and unite.

They elected the upright and brave Humphrey, the eldest member of the Otterwell family, as their leader.

The first thing Humphrey did was to send a message to Leo to seek truce negotiations.

But the Pope had no intention of listening to his plea.

The enemy was right where Leo wanted to see it most, and he certainly didn't want to let the tiger go back to the mountain.

Humphrey and Robert held hurried talks to determine how to proceed.

They were at an absolute disadvantage in numbers, and the Pope's personal conquest made them even more uneasy.

If they continue to delay, the bad situation will only get worse.

A Byzantine army is marching towards the coast, and if they join forces with the Pope, the possibility is quite high.

The Normans also faced severe food shortages: even though they were not yet ripe, local residents harvested all the crops, leaving no grain to satisfy their hunger.

If they don't attack, they will face the threat of famine.

The Normans actually had no choice but to march towards the Fortore River adjacent to the small town of Civitella and send envoys to meet the Pope again.

However, this mission was just a ruse to hide the truth from others.

During the negotiations the Normans suddenly launched an attack.

The Pope's Lombard allies were deeply surprised and fled in panic, and then the main force quickly evacuated.

Only the Pope's German legion stood firm and resisted tenaciously, but now they were outnumbered and completely wiped out, leaving only the only survivor - the Pope.

Wearing a glossy, silky white robe, he stood on the top of a mountain not far away. He saw his side's complete defeat and became increasingly frightened.

With his defeat already certain, he fled on horseback to a small neighboring town, anxiously requesting asylum.

However, the townspeople understood the situation and did not want to offend the victor.

As soon as a Norman cavalry arrived at the city gate, they threw Leo out unceremoniously.

The pope accepted his defeat with grace and proudly stepped out to face his enemies, and those who witnessed the scene from the city walls must have wondered who had won the war.

The Normans fell to the ground, begged him for forgiveness, and swore that they were devout Christians.

Some people knelt down and kissed his ring, some ran to lead his horse, and some brought him tea.

After the pope finished his meal, the Normans escorted him to Benevento (beo)—but always at a respectful distance—and arranged for him to live in the best apartment in the city.

Their courtesy was not disrespectful, but not all respect could conceal the fact that Leo had become a prisoner. The news quickly spread throughout Europe: the Pope had become a prisoner of the Normans.

The victory was more complete than they knew.

The Pope was humiliated and his prestige was completely lost. Even if he wanted to challenge him again, it would be impossible.

A few months after the war ended, the Holy See of Rome and Constantinople began to split. As hopes for cooperation between Eastern and Western Christians faded, so did the threat of the anti-Norman alliance.

Now the only threat to the Normans was the rapidly simmering tension between siblings.

Humphrey tolerated his younger brother Robert better than Drogo, but gradually lost his patience.

Robert was enjoying himself in Apulia and did not want to rush back to the poor and backward Calabria.

At a banquet hosted by Humphrey, the situation came to a head.

Humphrey accused Robert of delaying, and the latter drew his sword in a rage that even his friends had no time to stop.

The angry Robert was deeply humiliated, returned to Calabria, and began to actively expand his power.

Fortunately, Robert's situation improved greatly while he was away.

Byzantine power in Italy was crumbling, state finances were deteriorating, rulers were indecisive, and local residents felt abandoned.
To be continued...