Strenuitas. The Life and Times of Robert Guiscard and Bohemond of Taranto

Norman Power from the Mezzogiorno to Antioch 1016 – 1111 A.D.

By: Danny Chaplin

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

At the culmination of his extensive military career, the 11th-century Norman adventurer, mercenary, and warlord Robert Guiscard, alongside his younger brother Roger of Hauteville, achieved a remarkable feat: the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily, transforming the Mezzogiorno into a formidable new Norman state. As Guiscard ascended to power as Duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily, he compelled both the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor to capitulate, even launching an audacious invasion of the Byzantine Empire via the Balkans at the peak of his authority.

Guiscard's son, the larger-than-life Bohemond of Taranto, emerged as an equally towering figure. Among the few Crusader lords to survive the harrowing First Crusade, Bohemond was celebrated as a celebrity across medieval Europe and wedded a French princess. Yet, in a final bid to fulfill his father's grandiose ambition of seizing Constantinople and claiming the title of basileus, he gambled away his renown and marriage.

Together, Robert and Bohemond laid the groundwork for the remarkable Norman Kingdom of Sicily, which endured from 1130 to 1194. "Strenuitas" delves into the lives and legacies of these two titans of their era, vividly recounting their pivotal battles at Civitate (1053), Cerami (1063), Misilmeri (1068), Durazzo (1081), Dorylaeum (1097), and the sieges of Bari, Palermo, Syracuse, Nicea, and Antioch. The book also offers insights into the personalities and motivations of key figures of the 11th century, from Popes Nicholas II, Gregory VII, and Urban II to the Western Holy Roman Emperors and the basileis of Constantinople, alongside a diverse cast of Norman, Lombard, Greek, and Saracen princes, dukes, warlords, and generals.

Their collective saga, steeped in great "Strenuitas" (Latin, noun: vivacity, strenuous activity, ruthless determination), unfolds as an epic narrative drenched in fire and blood. Robert Guiscard and Roger 'The Great Count' of Sicily are both 29th great-grandfathers of the author, while Guiscard's son Bohemond is the author's 28th great-granduncle.