House Cleaning
Finalizing the Conquest
“Hello, my dear Perctarit,” said the Duke with a mischievous smile. “Still at my service, as I see?”
“Well, yes, sire,” said Perctarit, leader of the Longbeards Band, “Standard 3-year contract, paid upfront, yours until the time runs out.”
“Yes, I can see why this is profitable for you. The thing is, I’ve had more than enough reports of drunken, bored mercenaries. And while I approve of them spending their pre-earned gold in the local taverns and whorehouses and thus promoting local businesses, the ruckus is even starting to get on my nerves...” Robert indeed seemed to have some black rings under his eyes, hinting a slight lack of sleep.
“So, sire, what do you want? To ban my men from taverns?” asked Perctarit.
“That would create even more problems, I think,” said the Duke. “Bored and sober mercenaries seem to be a recipe for even bigger disasters. No, I have some other plans- to relieve you of boredom. Perctarit, go conquer Agrigento!”
“What, all alone?” Perctarit was shocked. “I have about 500 soldiers left, this is all...”
“Don’t worry,” said the Duke. “You still have twice more than they do”
To this argument, Perctarit had nothing to reply. So, in July of 1069, he and his mercenaries went to war against Wali Ali, who had less than 300 soldiers loyal to him.
Longbeards vs Agrigento
The biggest event during the war was the marriage of Emma de Hauteville, firstborn of Robert, and Prince David of Hungary. Taking place in January 1070, it was first held in Trani, then the couple travelled to Hewes in Hungary, where they had another celebration. Then, both of them stayed at the court of King Salamon. No title, but hey, at least an alliance. Robert was sad to see his firstborn leave, but that is the way of life. At least, David seemed like a good man. And some private discussion with the Duke left him with very clear impressions of what will happen if he dares to mistreat Emma.
Marriage of the firstborn. And hey, David is scared of Robert
By April 1070, the war was over. Wali Ali offered no real resistance and the Longbeards had lost less then 100 soldiers in the war. “Easiest conquest to date,” said Robert, who did not have to spend an extra soldier or an extra dime to get him one extra county. With this, the conquest of Sicily was done.
No surprises here
Surrounding Areas
As Perctarit and his merry band of Longbeards took Agriento, Count Roger of Messina started his own conquest. Of Malta. Though the island had little of wealth and value, consisting only of castle, it was part of Sicily and Robert was not happy. But hey, it was his brother after all. Since Malta had about the same military might as Agriento, the result of the war was clear to everyone. Now, Sicily, a five-province duchy, was divided between brothers- two counties for Roger, three for Robert Guiscard. Not something that really made Robert happy, for he planned to make Sicily as a core of his land, but something he wasn’t able to do anything about. Especially considering that when he found out, Roger’s troops were already besieging Malta. Too late.
Thanks, Robert
Instead, Robert bethored his third son, Guy, to the eldest daughter of Robert, Mathilda. Hoping to make sure that his lands will be his after the death of Robert. Unless Robert of course managed to produce a male heir- and the chances were good for that, for Robert was 39 and his wife, Judith (granddaughter of Duke Richard I of Normandy), was just 33. In short, Roger left the problem to his children to deal with, one way or the other.
Cousins
At the same time, Duke Landolf IV Landolfidi of Benevento, despite his adherence to Lollardy, received a Papal blessing to go to war against Dregnots of Capua. Or just ignored Alexander, his liege, and went to war. It is a bit unclear. The result was clear though- in April 1070, the Landolfidis took (back) the county of Capua, scattering the surviving Norman upstarts throughout the world. This was the fall of House Dregnot. First into Italy, first out.
In this place used to be Princedom of Capua, ruled by other Normans
Burn the Heretics!
Gisulf II of Salerno was still happily Lollarding about, when Robert Guiscard declared Holy War on him in April 1070. Hurrying up, because Gisulf, being a heretic, was free-for-all, and he preferred him to be doing the conquering, instead of his siblings or relatives or god forbid, some foreign power being lured by the riches of Salerno.
Sichelgaita, Gisulf’s sister and wife of Robert, did not mind much as well. She was abhorred that her brother would be a heretic and understood that Robert had to do what he had to do. Before someone else does it.
Gisulf wasn’t without allies. It was just too bad for him that the ally was Duke Vratislav of Bohemia. Sure, they marched to the rescue, but it is a long way from Bohemia to Mezzogiorno. Meanwhile, in the end of May, Robert Guiscard’s armies completely annihilated the Salernan army and by September, the city fell to Norman conquerors.
No big surprise here as well
Five month of war changed the status of Gisulf II from proud and powerful Prince of Capua to homeless vagrant, while Abelard of Camarda now enjoying lordship over one of the richest areas in Mezzogiorno.
Abelard, the future Duke of Salerno
Of all the states in Southern Italy and Sicily, only Napoli remained independent. Rest were mostly eaten up by the Normans, with the exception of Capua.
Mezzogiorno is looking much more green then it used to be
Norman Invasion
In the meanwhile, Normans were successful in their invasion of England. Former King Harold Godwinson had been disposed of and had fled to mainland Europe, in a desperate attempt to gain support for his re-re-conquest of England- but finding precious little support for his endeavors.
It was not all roses for House Normandie though. Duke Guilleaume had been killed in a battle in May 1069- when he was already winning the war. His son, now King Robert Normandie, finished the war and now calls himself the Conqueror.
All is nice and shiny for the new Norman King...
Even worse- though the Southern English lands were divided between conquerors like it is good and proper, the lands up North swore fealty to Duke Maredudd of Bryneich, making the Duke a ruler of all the lands north of Avon and Nene rivers. Basically, making the Duke a King within a Kingdom.
Well, apart from having one really powerful Duke of the North...
Fortunately for King Robert, Maredudd was currently in jail. Unfortunately for King Robert, the jail belonged to King Harald Hardarada. While Duke Guillaume and King Harold had been fighting each other in Southern England, no-one had bothered with Harald, who had been busy occupying and looting (perhaps not in that order) the lands in the North.
Then there's this...
Instead of resting on laurels, Robert has to keep on fighting. And even if he keeps on fighting and wins, Maredudd can cause him problems. It seems like Kingship comes with it’s own set of problems...
