William Iron Arm

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William Iron Arm^[1] (born before 1010 – died 1046) was a Norman adventurer, founder of the fortunes of the Hauteville family. He was a son of Tancred of Hauteville, who, along with his younger brother Drogo, journeyed to the Mezzogiorno in the first half of the eleventh century (c.1035) in response to calls of aid from fellow Normans under Rainulf Drengot, count of Aversa.

Between 1038 and 1040, he fought in Sicily. It was there that he won his nickname Iron Arm, by single-handedly killing the emir of Syracuse during a sally at the siege of Syracuse while fighting for the Greeks. When the Greek general Giorgio Maniace publicly humiliated the Salernitan leader, Arduin, the Lombards, along with their mercenary Normans and the Varangian Guard contingent, left. Maniace was consequently disgraced by the emperor in Constantinople and the new catepan of Italy, Michael Doukeianos, appointed Arduin ruler at Melfi. The Normans of William followed him and soon they were all in revolt with the Apulian Lombards. First Atenulf, Prince of Benevento, and then Argyrus, the nominal leaders of the revolt, were bought off by the Greeks and the Normans elected their own leader, ignoring Arduin. The revolt, originally Lombard, had become Norman in character and leadership.

In September 1042, William was elected by Normans as their "count" after the defection of Argyrus. He and the other leaders, chief among them Drogo and Peter, petitioned Guaimar IV, Prince of Salerno, for recognition of their conquests. They received the lands around Melfi as a fief and proclaimed Guaimar "Duke of Apulia and Calabria". At Melfi in 1043, Guaimar divided the region (except for Melfi itself) into twelve baronies for the benefit of the Norman leaders: Asclettin received Acerenza, Tristan received Montepeloso, Hugh Tubœuf received Monopoli, Peter received Trani, and Drogo received Venosa. William himself, predominant among the Norman leaders, received the lordship of Ascoli. He was married to Guida, daughter of Guy, duke of Sorrento, and niece of Guaimar.

During his reign, William and Guaimar began the conquest of Calabria in 1044 and built the great castle of Stridula, probably near Squillace. In 1045, he was defeated near Taranto by Argyrus. He died in early 1046 and was succeeded by his brother Drogo.

His titles were never confirmed by the Holy Roman Emperor. Drogo would be legally called "Count of the Normans in all Apulia and Calabria" (Comes Normannorum totius Apuliae e Calabriae), and so William is usually titled likewise.

[edit] Notes

^ Guillaume Bras-de-fer in French, Guglielmo Braccio di Ferro in Italian and Gugghiermu Vrazzu di Ferru in Sicilian.

[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.