Robert Guiscard

Robert "Guiscard" de Hauteville, sometimes Robert "the Guiscard" ( , Modern ; – 17 July 1085), also nicknamed “Terror Mundi” (Latin: “Terror of the World”), was a Norman adventurer remembered for his conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, the sixth son of Tancred de Hauteville and his wife Fressenda. Through his mother, he was possibly a grandson of Richard the Fearless. He inherited the County of Apulia and Calabria in 1057, and in 1059 he was made Duke of Apulia and Calabria and Lord of Sicily by Pope Nicholas II. He was also briefly Prince of Benevento (1078–1081), before returning the title to the papacy. Robert's sobriquet, in contemporary Latin and Old French , is often rendered "the Resourceful", "the Cunning", "the Wily", "the Fox", or "the Weasel". In Italian sources he is often identified as Roberto il Guiscardo or Roberto d'Altavilla (meaning Robert de Hauteville), while medieval Arabic sources call him simply Abārt al-dūqa (Duke Robert). Historical background From 999 to 1042, the Normans began migrating to Italy, where they mainly worked as mercenaries, serving at various times the Byzantines and a number of Lombard nobles. The first of the independent Norman lords was Rainulf Drengot, who established himself in the fortress of Aversa, becoming Count of Aversa and Duke of Gaeta.