Four Wars and Some Funerals
Being a King is a Ruthless Job
That thought was going on in Bohemond’s head as he ordered death of Bernardo d’Este, a less then a year old toddler. The poor baby, being smothered to death by his accomplice, was unable to offer any resistance and died quietly. His mother, struck by grief and poison, followed him a week after. All that because Azzo d’Este, child’s father and mother’s husband, would be a free man again. It was Azzo who had come to court of Palermo, invited by Bohemond, hoping that King would help him to gain his rightful Duchy. Rightful meaning that someone couldn’t bare the burden of being the second son and was hoping to be called Duke. His dreams were almost true- he was married matrilineally to Lesceline de Hauteville, and when there would be son, he would be the next Duke. Just... Azzo hadn’t realized that he must die to achieve that.
Mother and son, victims of ruthless dynastic wars
The same fate awaited Folkmar von Lenzburg, but this time, luckily, with no babies. Still, he arrived in Palermo, his current wife met an unfortunate accident and he was married matrilineally to another de Hauteville. With these 2 breeding machines in place, at least Lombardia and Corsica would soon be Sicilian and Norman invasion to rich lands of Sicily would continue. After some more blood being shed- some people must die so that others can rule far away lands.
Was it heavenly revenge on baby-killing, bad karma, or just a coincidence, we can never tell. About a month after the death of Bernanrdo, Petronella Branas, Queen of Sicily, took ill and after a few days of struggle, died. Bohemond grieved, but remarried quickly, with another de Hauteville, Cundo, daughter of Duke of Jerusalem and a cousin of Bohemond. Babies arrived later, and none of them had pigs tails, so no inbreeding.
War for Hellas, 1183-1184
It was Petronella’s inheritance that triggered the next war. She had a claim on a county of Hellas, part of the Duchy of Athens, for her mother was the countess and Branas dynasty had ruled there for more then a 100 years. Now, it was time for a change, for Oswulf de Hauteville, second son of King Bohemond and Petronella, had just became 16, wanted a land of his own to govern and the Hellas was just there, ripe for the taking. Few years back, Bohemond perhaps would have not undertaken such a venture, for fighting with the Byzantines for this small tract of land would be pointless and dangerous, but Doux Ioannes, ruler of Athens, had just fought his independence from Empire and was enjoying first signs of freedom.
Half a year after winning the war against Byzantines and gaining his precious freedom, he learned out the hard way that freedom has its consequences. Consequences were 12 000 Normans sailing to Hellas in September 1183 and sieging the castle there.
Same time, Bohemond, firstborn of Bohemond, was given county of Malta to rule until it would be his time to take the throne of Sicily.
Naupaktos, the first castle, was also the strongest. Bohemond did not rush with the siege this time, but waited patiently for half a year and then ordered reinforcements from his demesne and with 17 000 men, he stormed the castle and took it. Last of the castles fell in March 1184 and Norman army marched towards Athens, where they attacked Athenian army of over 2000 men that was soundly beaten. In April, Doux Ioannes finally gave up third of his new freedom. Bohemond had on the other hand taken first step towards the Byzantine lands.
War for Attaleia, 1184-1185
It was more then 100 years ago, when Odo, fourth son of Duke Robert, founder of de Hautevilles, married Chrysogone, sole child of Duke Manuel I of Samos. She had lost his father when she was still a child and she had already agreed to take the hand of Odo in marriage when she was just a small child. Their children were de Hautevilles, though greek to the bone, were still proud of their family and carried de Hauteville name with pride. Isaakios I, current Doux of Samos and grand-grand-grandchild of Odo was already 54 years old.
Duke Isaakios of Samos, grand-grand-grand-grand-grandchild of Robert Guiscard de Hauteville, Duke of Apulia
Just like many other rulers in Byzantine, he had used the situation in Empire to gain freedom and like many others, he used his freedom to do the most sensible thing- attack his neighbours to gain more land. This time, the target was Attaleia, a province in the Anatolia. Since de Hautevilles of Byzantine and Sicily had always gotten on well, he asked King Bohemond for his support- and support was given.
Bohemond joined the war in April 1184, before the Hellas war was even over. When the war ended, Sicilian fleet did not sail the warriors home, but instead, sailed them to Eastern Mediterranean. They arrived in the end of May and sieged the province there. With more then 2000 defenders, Bohemond did not dare to assault at the first possible moment. Only in September, the assault took the city and later, in March 1185, the Normans took another just as well-defended city. Then, the enemy had given up, Attaleia was safely in the hands of Greek de Hautevilles and for time, Bohemond’s adventures in Byzantion came to an end.
... and target of Isaakios's ambitions
War for Istria, 1185
Count Lambert von Zähringen had lost almost everything. In his quest for freedom, he had broken free of the Holy Roman Empire, leaving him a vulnerable target. He was Duke of Carinthia back then, but fighting with his counts and a quick war with the Emperor left him nothing but a Count of Istria- and he was about to lose that as well, for Bohemond has the claim. Or rather, will have the claim after Gottfried von Zähringen, another courtier dies under mysterious circumstances.
In was in June when Gottfried died and his son, Raymond de Hauteville, inherited the claim. It was also the same day when Bohemond declared war on Lambert. 13 000 Normans landed in Istria, took their usual stance when attacking European castles- full assault and in the last day of July, Istria was under Sicilian hands and Lambert had truly lost everything. Raymond on the other hand gained a county and Bohemond took yet another province from sovereign lands of the Holy Roman Empire. The war had lasted only 1,5 month.
The events that started and ended the war
War for Ancona, 1186
Prince Adelard, a third son of Bohemond, came also to an age and was married to Princess Romilda of the Holy Roman Empire. Bohemond did not think that through- it also meant that he and Emperor were allies and the direct result was that Emperor Otto IV asked him to help with the war with Padua- just when Normans were preparing an assault on Empire. Bohemond was forced to agree.
Bohemond did not lift a finger to help the Emperor, but nevertheless, war ended in May 1186. The 10-year truce with Emperor ended in March and as soon as the embarrassing business of being allies was over, Bohemond went to war with the Empire, to make use of his very expensive claim of Ancona.
By the end of June, Norman main force had arrived in Ancona, taken the province and marched on to Spoleto. Bohemond did not use full army of his demesne, for the lands of Italy were not rich enough to sustain such an army- instead, he took only 12 000 from Palermo and rest were kept in reserve. 12 000 Normans was more then enough though to win all the sieges with ease.
In the same time, African troops, bolstered by Genoan forces, landed in Lucca. Thus begun the quick siege game again- province after province fell into Norman hands while the Emperor was gathering troops in the north. By the end of December, the Sicilians held enough land in the Italy to force Emperor to sign peace, making Ancona yet another conquest of the Normans.
Situation in October- Normans running loose on Italy with no Germans to stop them
Prince Adelard was nominated as a doge of Ancona and he moved there with Princess Romilda of the Holy Roman Empire. How the poor Romilda must have felt, moving into land just conquered from her father, history remains silent.
Yet Another War?
The 4 wars had all something in common- no major battles were fought. Either Normans moved so quickly that there would be no time to gather armies or the forces of the enemy were just too small to even mention. Or enemy just feared Normans and tried to avoid open conflict with them.
All the wars were fast, lasting mainly under a year, with quick assaults and rapid expansion. The Germans started to call the Norman way of war Blitzkrieg, for Normans were quick, came unexpected and when need arose, they could gather their armies to pull a deadly blow to the enemy.
It was in November 1186, when the war with the Empire was still underway, when Gerbert I, Duke of Galilee and grandson of the greatest King of Sicily, Asclettin, did something unexpected- and unexpectedly stupid. He raised his flags and his troops, claiming to be rightful King of Sicily and was planning to fight Bohemond for the Kingdom. It was the first time ever Sicily would be caught in civil war.
Wonder if he really hopes to win this war?