Humphrey of Hauteville

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Humphrey of Hauteville^[1] (d. 1057) succeeded his older brother Drogo as count of Apulia and Calabria in 1051. He was previously lord of Lavello. He is also usually said to have accompanied his brothers to the Mezzogiorno c. 1035, however, he may have arrived later, in 1044, during the reign of his eldest brother William.

By far the biggest event of his reign was the Battle of Civitate, fought near Civitate sul Fortore. Humphrey led the armies of the Hautevilles (along with his younger half-brother and heir, Robert Guiscard) and Drengots (along with Richard, count of Aversa) against the combined forces of the papacy and the Holy Roman Empire. The papal army was destroyed and the pope, Leo IX, was captured and imprisoned in Benevento.

Humphrey's inheritance passed to his younger brother of the half blood and hero of Civitate, Robert Guiscard upon his death in 1057. He gave Guiscard the guardianship of his young sons, but Guiscard confiscated their inheritance. Within two years, Guiscard would raise the county to the status of a duchy.

He was married to Gaitelgrima, a daughter of Prince Guaimar III of Salerno, former wife of his elder brother Drogo. Humphrey had two children:

Abagelard (Abélard or Abailardo), born after 1044 and died in Greece in 1081
Herman, born after 1045 and died in Byzantium in 1097

[edit] Notes

^ Called Onfroi de Hauteville in French and Umfredo d'Altavilla in Italian.

[edit] Sources

Ghisalberti, Albert (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: II Albicante – Ammannati. Rome, 1960.
Gwatkin, H.M., Whitney, J.P. (ed) et al. The Cambridge Medieval History: Volume III. Cambridge University Press, 1926.
Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.
Chalandon, Ferdinand. Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie. Paris, 1907.
Gravett, Christopher, and Nicolle, David. The Normans: Warrior Knights and their Castles. Osprey Publishing: Oxford, 2006.
Beech, George. A Norman-Italian Adventurer in the East: Richard of Salerno. 1993.