GIII3GABD, ROBERT, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, the sixth in order of seniority of the twelve sons of Tancred de Hantevilie, was born in the year 1015. Tancred's estates in Lower Normandy being insufficient to support such a numerous family, his three eldest sons, William, Dagobert, and Humphrey. determined to seek their fortunes in the wars of Italy. By good-fortune, courage, and wiles, William gained possession of Apulia; and Robert, desirous of sharhig his brothers' fortunes, followed them to Italy with a small band of adventurers. Here he di,tinguished himself so highly in various battles, that, after the death of William and Humphrey, lie was proclaimed count of Apulia. Guiscnrd next conquered Calabria, in the possession of which lie was confirmed by pope Nicholas II., who, but a short time before, had excommunicated him on account of his many acts of violence. Guiscard, from motives of gratitude, bound himself to pay an annual tribute to the Roman see. The feudal superiority still claimed by the papal see over Naples dates from this period. Guiscard now dispatched his youngest brother Roger, at the head of 300 warriors to conquer Sicily, the possession of which had been promised to him by the pope. Roger, in 1060, took Messina. and in the following year the two brothers defeated the Saracens at Enna. Roger eventually conquered the whole island, and became first count of Sicily. Meanwhile, Robert gradually gained possession of the towns that still remained in the hands of the Saracens, among others, Salerno and Bari, and thus established what was till 1860 the kingdom of Naples. He
would have carried his victorious standard in other directions, bad he not been excom municated by Gregory VII.. on account of his inroad into Beneventum. Having become involved in the affairs of Greece by the marriage of his daughter Helena with Constan tine Ducas, son and heir of Michael VII., he dispatched his son Bohemond to undertake the conquest of Corfu, while he himself hastened to Durazzo, and before the walls of that city gained a brilliant victory over the Greek emperor, Alexius He now marched through Epirus to Thessalonica, and had nearly reached Constantinople, when he received information that the emperor Henry 1V. had made an inroad into Italy. lie immediately hastened back, after intrusting the chief command to Bohe moud, compelled Henry to retreat, and liberated the pope, who was besieged in the castle of St. Angelo. He then returned to Epirus, defeated the Greeks in several engagements, took possession of some islands in the archipelago, and was on the point of advancing a second time to Constantinople, when he died at Cephalonia, July 17, 1085. His remains were buried at Venusa; his sons Bohemond and Roger inherited his possessions: the former received Tareutum; the latter, Apulia. Guiscard was not only a hero and a conqueror, but a patron of the arts and sciences.—Compare Gaultier d'Are, Ilistoire des Conquetes des Normands en Italic, en Sidle, et en (Paris, 1830).