The Treachery of Greeks
The Betrayal
Things were not going well for the Fatimids. Quite the opposite, actually. Byzantine Empire had taken Delta and parts of Sinai. Also, one province of Alexandria. Jukondarids, a Coptic realm from Upper Egypt, had taken most of Upper Egypt. They still controlled Palestine, Pyramids and Alexandria and that was about it.
In March 1105, Bohemond decided to make the burden of ruling even more lighter to Caliph Badr. He declared war, claiming the two remaining provinces of Alexandria. Norman forces gathered in Cyrenaica, marched through the Byzantine territories and then, put the city of Alexander the Great under siege.
Fatimids, down on their luck
It was all going so well. Not an enemy army in sight. Alexandria’s walls crumbling until in February 1106, the city fell and Bohemond bagging the big prize- Emir Sharif of Alexandria himself after the siege. It was all pure bliss.
Then, on 11th February 1106, Doux Romanos II of Epirus happened. He had been married to late Princess Matilda of Sicily, daughter of Robert Guiscard and aunt of Bohemond, in order to cement an alliance between Robert and Doux Nikephoros, father of Romanos. Nikephoros was moderately useful to Robert during his war with Matilda of Tuscany, but after that... After the death of Nikephoros, Romanos was given two counties, while his elder brother held the Duchy. Two times, Robert Guiscard sailed over Adriatic to defend Romanos, back then just a count, from his brother, then Doux of Epirus, from taking his lands. Third time, Robert sailed to make Romanos II the new Doux. In short, Romanos stayed in power because of the Normans. And Romanos became the Doux because of the Normans. The debt of gratitude he owned to Robert Guiscard and his descendents was enormous.
How did the fine Doux repay his debt, you ask? Well, he managed to make an alliance with four other Douxes of the Byzantine Empire- Ioannes II of Kiburrhaiotai (around 1500 soldiers), Kosmin Miroslavitč of Syrmia (1200 soldiers), Doux Konstantinos of Dyrrachion (whopping 4200 soldiers and finally Doux Michal of Krete (1300 soldiers).
With the alliances, Romanos II was confident enough to repay his debt of gratitude by trying to enforce the claim of Dorotheos, third son of Romanos and Matilda, on the Sicilan throne. The timing was right as well. Bohemond, just taken Alexandria, had just decided his army was too big and sent about 1500 soldiers marching back to Cyrenaica, where they were to be disbanded and sent home. Confident that his current troops would be enough to win the war- and for a reason too, for Fatimids were low on both money and soldiers. He was just about to give the order to march to Giza and from there, to Cairo.
Treachery of the greatest magnitude
The treacherous Doux and his offspring
The four allies
Now, he was in a bind. He called his war council and that also gave conflicting advice- should the Normans keep on going after Fatimids? Should they march to holdings of Krete, Tobruk and Sullum? Or should the Normans take the fight to the enemy? Or should the Normans try to make peace with Caliph and deal with the other threat?
Bohemond slept uneasily that night, weighing his options as he tried to sleep. He finally came to two conclusions- first, the timing of Romanos was a mistake. On part of Romanos, that is. While on paper, the best time to backstab Bohemond was when he was at war with the Great Caliph of the Fatimids, Romanos apparently did not get the memo that Fatimid military might was not what it once was, he also ignored the fact that Caliph Bard was involved in two other wars, neither going in his favor. If Romanos counted that the Fatimids would keep the Normans busy, he was sadly mistaken. Second conclusion was that Fatimids would wait. The priority is to crash the Five Doux
The early rays of sun were already peaking through the curtains of palace of Alexandria as Bohemond, not gotten a wink of sleep that night, rose from the comfortable bed of Emir Sharif (who had exchanged his bed into not so comfortable bed in the dungeons below), ordered his commanders to him and right there, in his nightgown, proclaimed:
“I have decided. We shall be visiting our friend, Doux Romanos. Gather the soldiers, get the boats, make it happen.”
Off we go
War of Five Doux
At the end of April, Normans landed in Nicpolis and Arta, the capital of Romanos, under siege. Secondary army started the siege of Epirus, but since they lacked any siege equipment, it was not even expected to make any progress. Rather, the armies just plundered the countryside.
Hello Epirus. Once again, Normans are coming!
The enemy armies steered clear of the Normans. Instead, they seemed to be taking interest in Pomorje, the sole province Normans had in the Balkans.
Nicopolis fell in August. As a bonus, Bohemond captured quite a loot. Tryphon, firstborn of Nikephoros, firstborn of Romanos. Kanyava, wife of Nikephoros. Demetrios and Pavlina, children of Romanos. Anthousa, new wife of Romanos. Apparently, the Norman attack came as a surprise. Not a soul expected Bohemond to react so quickly and therefore, they found half of the family of Romanos trapped well inside. A lucky break for Bohemond.
The biggest catch
Then, it was time to decide the further course of action. Continue sieges and destroying the personal demesne of Romanos? While there was some pleasure to see his lands burn, Bohemond decided instead to focus on relieving Pomorje and fighting an open battle. So, he combined his armies and marched northwards, towards the enemy.
Normans marching north. Not the most pleasant journey
It was not easy. His march went through the hostile lands of Greeks. First, the lands of Epirus. Then, the lands of Doux Konstantinos of Dyrrachion. The enemy was indeed there, around Pomorje. About a 1000 more soldiers then Bohemond had. The thing is though- each of the enemy armies was separate. Each controlled by their proper owner. Each not acting in coordination. Quite the opposite- news of the Normans arriving started maneuverings, with each Doux trying to make sure the other Doux would face the Normans first. Allowing Bohemond a choice of his targets.
Bohemond picked the army of Dyrrachion. Mostly because the spies told that their supplies were getting low and therefore, the morale of the enemy was not so great. And Bohemond could use any advantage he would get.
Now, the other Douxes had two options. Come and march to the rescue or wait until Bohemond finishes with Dyrracion and then picks them off one by one. Wisely, they chose the former. As the Normans and Greeks clashed, reinforcements started pouring in.
Normans descending upon army of Dyrrachion
In this battle, the Normans really showed what they were made of. The leadership of Bohemond, the bravery of the Normans. The Greeks were crushed, without mercy. The core of the Norman army was not big. 13 knights and their retinues. But their impact was great, as the cream of the Kingdom of Sicily crushed into Greek ranks. In the end, it was they who decided the fate of the battle. Günther alone raked over 168 kills, with William of Lanciano getting 125 and Arnald of Calabria 101. The Greeks scattered and ran. The Battle of Drivast showed a clear Norman superiority.
Günther. The most amazing knight.
Bohemond marched south again. In Dyrrachion, he found an army of Doux Michal of Krete, all alone and without any friends nearby. Without hesitation, the Normans attacked. After that, there was no army of Krete no more.
Slaughter of Kretan forces
Normans started the siege of Avlonas, the northernmost county of Romanos. Meanwhile, the Douxes started creeping back towards Pomorje- but this was of no consequence no more. By the end of May 1107, the Avlonas well. This was enough. Romanos was forced to beg for peace, emptying his treasury as reparations and giving up all the claims on Sicily.
I hope you learned your lesson, Romanos
Learning an important lesson in the progress: you do not mess with the Normans.
Finalizing the war
The war with Fatimids was still ongoing. Nothing had happened in Egypt during the 17 month Bohemond was absent. Well, nothing much on the Norman front. Fatimids had managed to lose Cairo to Jukondarids. Their capital, now under Coptic rule.
Change of ownership of Cairo
To Normans, that meant less trouble. The Normans besieged Giza, the new capital of the Caliphate. It was over by February 1109.
Bohemond created the Duchy of Alexandria and gave the title to Alfons de Hauteville, son of Count Tomasz and aunt Mabel.
New Duke of Alexandria
Royal Matters
Melisende, a wife of Uncle Robert, was killed by an unfortunate accident with a poisonous spider entering her bedchamber. Although everyone agreed that this was unnatural, not a single finger pointed at Bohemond and Uncle Robert was forced to marry again. Hopefully proving to be more successful in producing a proper male heir this time.
Sorry, Melisende, for hurrying up the "until death does you apart" part
Queen Griselda created her very own branch of the Hauteville dynasty, called Hauteville-Montanejos, in March 1106. Bohemond was not sure how she would uphold her family motto- “No Cruelty”, but otherwise, felt happy for her sister.
New House
Next was Prince Guy, who created House of Hauteville-Tunis in December 1106. “Labor, Courage, Friendship!” was his motto. Only to die a month later due to wounds received in the battlefield- at age of 45. His son Roger took over as the Duke, and his other two sons received a county each.
Guy, dying about a month after creating the House of Hauteville-Tunis
Then, it was time for Giselle of Pomorje to get her own House. She decided to be more creative and called it House Bourcq. With being sole Norman enclave in the Byzantine lands, some protection from God would be due indeed.
When it rains, it pours
Princess Muriella of Sicily and Prince Mikulaš Premyslid were betrothed in June 1107. Bohemond gained an alliance with King Ota the Handsome of Bohemia, though the intention of Bohemond was not to get Mikulaš not because his father was the King, but because his father was Handsome and that stuck to Mikulaš as well. Oh well, this was the first proper alliance since the times of Robert Guiscard and Solomon of Hungary.
I like you because you're beautiful, not because you're a king!
Bohemond celebrated his victories by ordering construction of a church in Calatafimi, Palermo. Massive undertaking, but it would be well worth the money spent. Also, seeing as the local peasantry had been really exhausted by the recent wars, Bohemond decided it is time for a break.
New church. And no offensive wars in the near future