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Birth:          1052 
Death:          3 Mar 1111 Canossa, Italy

Notes
Crusader
a leader of the First Crusade
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemond_I_of_Antioch
Bohemond I (c.?1054 – 3 March 1111) was the Prince of Taranto from 1089 to 1111 
and the Prince of Antioch from 1098 to 1111. He was a leader of the First Crusade, 
which was governed by a committee of nobles.[1] The Norman monarchy he founded 
in Antioch arguably outlasted those of England and of Sicily.[2]
Early life[edit]

Childhood and youth[edit]

Bohemond was the son of Robert Guiscard, Count of Apulia and Calabria, and his first 
wife, Alberada of Buonalbergo.[3][4] He was born between 1050 and 1058—in 1054 
according to historian John Julius Norwich.[5][6] He was baptised Mark, possibly 
because he was born at his father's castle at San Marco Argentano in Calabria.[7][5] 
He was nicknamed Bohemond after a legendary giant.[5]

His parents were related within the degree of kinship that made their marriage invalid 
under canon law.[3] In 1058, Pope Nicholas II strengthened existing canon law 
against consanguinity and, on that basis, Guiscard repudiated Alberada in favour of a 
then more advantageous marriage to Sikelgaita, the sister of Gisulf, the Lombard 
Prince of Salerno.[4][8] With the annulment of his parents' marriage, Bohemond 
became a bastard.[4][9] Before long, Alberada married Robert Guiscard's nephew, 
Richard of Hauteville.[8] She arranged for a knightly education for Bohemond.[10]

Robert Guiscard was taken seriously ill in early 1073.[11][12] Fearing that he was 
dying, Sikelgaita held an assembly in Bari.[12] She persuaded Robert's vassals who 
were present to proclaim her eldest son, the thirteen-year-old Roger Borsa, Robert's 
heir, claiming that the half-Lombard Roger would be the ruler most acceptable to the 
Lombard nobles in Southern Italy.[11][13] Robert's nephew, Abelard of Hauteville, was 
the only baron to protest, because he regarded himself Robert's lawful heir.[14]

Byzantine wars[edit]

Bohemond fought in his father's army during the rebellion of Jordan I of Capua, 
Geoffrey of Conversano and other Norman barons in 1079.[10] His father dispatched 
him at the head of an advance guard against the Byzantine Empire in early 1081[15] 
and he captured Valona (now Vlorë in Albania).[15] He sailed to Corfu, but did not 
invade the island since the local garrison outnumbered his army.[16] He withdrew to 
Butrinto to await the arrival of his father's forces.[16] After Robert Guiscard arrived in 
the latter half of May, they laid siege to Durazzo (present-day Durrës).[16] The 
Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos came to the rescue of the town but, on 18 
October, his army suffered a crushing defeat.[17] Bohemond commanded the left 
flank, which defeated the Emperor's largely Anglo-Saxon "Varangian Guard".[17][18]

The Normans captured Durazzo on 21 February 1082.[19][20] They marched along the 
Via Egnatia as far as Kastoria, but Alexios's agents stirred up a rebellion in Southern 
Italy, forcing Robert Guiscard to return to his realm in April.[20][21] He charged 
Bohemond with the command of his army in the Balkans.[22] Bohemond defeated the 
Byzantines at Ioannina and at Arta, taking control of most of Macedonia and 
Thessaly;[23] however, the six-month siege of Larissa was unsuccessful.[23] Supply 
and pay problems (and the gifts promised to deserters by the Byzantines) undermined 
the morale of the Norman army,[23][24] so Bohemond returned to Italy for financial 
support.[24] During his absence, most of the Norman commanders deserted to the 
Byzantines and a Venetian fleet recaptured Durazzo and Corfu.[24]

Bohemond accompanied his father to the Byzantine Empire again in 1084,[15][24] 
when they defeated the Venetian fleet and captured Corfu.[15] An epidemic decimated 
the Normans[21] and Bohemond, who was taken seriously ill, was forced to return to 
Italy in December 1084.[21][25]

Succession crisis[edit]

Robert Guiscard died at Cephalonia on 17 July 1085.[25] Ordericus Vitalis, William of 
Malmesbury and other contemporaneous writers accused his widow, Sikelgaita, of 
having poisoned Robert to secure Apulia for her son, Roger Borsa, but failed to 
establish her guilt.[26] She persuaded the army to acclaim Roger Borsa his father's 
successor and they hurried back to Southern Italy.[27][28] Two months later, the 
assembly of the Norman barons confirmed the succession, but Bohemond regarded 
himself his father's lawful heir.[29] He made an alliance with Jordan of Capua, and 
captured Oria and Otranto.[30][31] Bohemond and Roger Borsa met at their father's 
tomb at Venosa to reach a compromise.[31] Under the terms of their agreement, 
Bohemond received Taranto, Oria, Otranto, Brindisi and Gallipoli, but acknowledged 
Roger Borsa's suzerainty.[31]

Bohemond renewed the war against his brother in the autumn of 1087.[32] The 
ensuing civil war prevented the Normans from supporting Pope Urban II, and enabled 
the brothers' uncle, Roger I of Sicily, to increase his power.[33][34] Bohemond 
captured Bari in 1090[35][36] and before long, took control of most lands to the south 
of Melfi.[33]

First Crusade[edit]

In 1097, Bohemond and his uncle Roger I of Sicily were attacking Amalfi, which had 
revolted against Duke Roger, when bands of crusaders began to pass on their way 
through Italy to Constantinople. The zeal of the crusader came upon Bohemond; it is 
possible, however, that he saw in the First Crusade nothing more than a chance to 
carve for himself an eastern principality.[37] Geoffrey Malaterra bluntly states that 
Bohemond took the Cross with the intention of plundering and conquering Greek 
lands.

He gathered a Norman army, perhaps one of the finest in the crusading host,
[according to whom?] at the head of which he crossed the Adriatic Sea and 
penetrated to Constantinople along the route he had tried to follow in 1082–1084. He 
was careful to observe a "correct" attitude towards Alexius and, when he arrived at 
Constantinople in April 1097, did homage to the Emperor. He may have negotiated 
with Alexius about a principality at Antioch; if he did so, he had little encouragement. 
From Constantinople to Antioch, Bohemond was the real leader of the First Crusade. It 
says much for his leadership that the First Crusade succeeded in crossing Asia Minor, 
in which the Crusades of 1101, 1147 and the 1189 all failed.[37]

The Emperor's daughter, Anna Comnena, leaves a portrait of him in her Alexiad. She 
met him for the first time when she was fourteen and was seemingly fascinated by him, 
leaving no similar portrait of any other Crusader prince. Of Bohemond, she wrote:

Now [Bohemond] was such as, to put it briefly, had never before been seen in the 
land of the Romans [that is, Greeks], be he either of the barbarians or of the Greeks 
(for he was a marvel for the eyes to behold, and his reputation was terrifying). Let me 
describe the barbarian's appearance more particularly – he was so tall in stature that 
he overtopped the tallest by nearly one cubit, narrow in the waist and loins, with broad 
shoulders and a deep chest and powerful arms. And in the whole build of the body he 
was neither too slender nor overweighted with flesh, but perfectly proportioned and, 
one might say, built in conformity with the canon of Polycleitus... His skin all over his 
body was very white, and in his face the white was tempered with red. His hair was 
yellowish, but did not hang down to his waist like that of the other barbarians; for the 
man was not inordinately vain of his hair, but had it cut short to the ears. Whether his 
beard was reddish, or any other colour I cannot say, for the razor had passed over it 
very closely and left a surface smoother than chalk... His blue eyes indicated both a 
high spirit and dignity; and his nose and nostrils breathed in the air freely; his chest 
corresponded to his nostrils and by his nostrils...the breadth of his chest. For by his 
nostrils nature had given free passage for the high spirit which bubbled up from his 
heart. A certain charm hung about this man but was partly marred by a general air of 
the horrible... He was so made in mind and body that both courage and passion reared 
their crests within him and both inclined to war. His wit was manifold and crafty and 
able to find a way of escape in every emergency. In conversation he was well 
informed, and the answers he gave were quite irrefutable. This man who was of such 
a size and such a character was inferior to the Emperor alone in fortune and 
eloquence and in other gifts of nature.

A politique, Bohemond was resolved to engineer the enthusiasm of the crusaders to 
his own ends. When his nephew Tancred left the main army at Heraclea Cybistra and 
attempted to establish a footing in Cilicia, the movement may have been already 
intended as a preparation for Bohemond's eastern principality. Bohemond was the first 
to take up a position before Antioch (October 1097) and he played a considerable part 
in the siege, beating off the Muslim attempts to relieve the city from the east, and 
connecting the besiegers on the west with the Genoese ships which lay in the port of 
St Simeon.[37]

Through his connection with Firouz, one of the commanders in the city, Bohemond 
captured Antioch, although he did not press the siege until possession of the city was 
assured him in May 1098, and only then on learning of the approach of Kerbogha with 
a relief army. He held the city with a reservation in favour of Alexius, if Alexius should 
fulfill his promise to aid the crusaders. Bohemond was not secure in the possession of 
Antioch, though, even after its surrender and the defeat of Kerbogha; he had to make 
good his claims against Raymond of Toulouse, who championed the rights of Alexius. 
He obtained full possession in January 1099 and stayed near Antioch to secure his 
position, while the other crusaders moved south to the capture of Jerusalem.[37]

Bohemond came to Jerusalem at Christmas 1099, and had Dagobert of Pisa elected as 
Patriarch, perhaps in order to check the growth of Lotharingian power in the city. 
Whilst Bohemond had the fine territory, good strategic position and strong army 
necessary to found a principality in Antioch to dwarf Jerusalem, he had to face two 
great forces—the Byzantine Empire, which claimed the whole of his territories and was 
supported in its claim by Raymond of Toulouse, and the strong Muslim principalities in 
the north-east of Syria. Against these two forces he failed.[37]

Wars between Antioch and the Byzantine Empire[edit]

By 1100, the town of Malatia, which guarded one of the Cilician Gates through the 
Taurus Mountains, had been captured by an Armenian soldier of fortune. He received 
reports that the Malik Ghazi Danishmend (Danishmend Emir), Ghazi Gümüstekin of 
Sivas, was preparing an expedition to capture Malatia. The Armenians sought help 
from Bohemond.[citation needed]

Afraid to weaken his forces at Antioch, but not wishing to avoid the chance to extend 
his domain northwards, in August 1100 Bohemond marched north with only 300 knights 
and a small force of foot soldiers. Failing to send scouting parties, they were 
ambushed by the Turks and completely encircled at the Battle of Melitene. Bohemond 
managed to send one soldier to seek help from Baldwin of Edessa but was captured. 
He was laden with chains and imprisoned in Neo-Caesarea (modern Niksar) until 
1103.[citation needed]

Alexius I was incensed that Bohemond had broken his sacred oath made in 
Constantinople and kept Antioch for himself. When he heard of Bohemond's capture, 
he offered to redeem the Norman commander for 260,000 dinars, if Ghazi Gumushtakin 
would hand the prisoner over to Byzantium. When Kilij Arslan I, the Seljuk overlord of 
the Emir, heard of the proposed payment threatened to attack unless given half the 
ransom. Bohemond proposed instead a ransom of 130,000 dinars paid just to the Emir. 
The bargain was concluded, and Ghazi and Bohemond exchanged oaths of friendship. 
Ransomed by Baldwin of Edessa, he returned in triumph to Antioch in August 1103.
[citation needed]

His nephew Tancred had taken his uncle's place for three years. During that time, he 
had attacked the Byzantines, and had added Tarsus, Adana and Massissa in Cilicia to 
his uncle's territory; he was now deprived of his lordship by Bohemond's return. During 
the summer of 1103, the northern Franks attacked Ridwan of Aleppo to gain supplies 
and compelled him to pay tribute. Meanwhile, Raymond had established himself in 
Tripoli with the aid of Alexius, and was able to check the expansion of Antioch to the 
south. Early in 1104, Baldwin and Bohemond passed Aleppo to move eastward and 
attack Harran.[citation needed]

Whilst leading the campaign against Harran, Bohemond was defeated at Balak, near 
Rakka on the Euphrates (see Battle of Harran). The defeat was decisive, making 
impossible the great eastern principality which Bohemond had contemplated. It was 
followed by a Greek attack on Cilicia and, despairing of his own resources, Bohemond 
returned to Europe for reinforcements in late 1104.[37] It is a matter of historical 
debate whether his "crusade" against the Byzantine empire was to gain the backing 
and indulgences of Pope Paschal II. Either way, he enthralled audiences across 
France with gifts of relics from the Holy Land and tales of heroism while fighting the 
infidel, gathering a large army in the process. Henry I of England famously prevented 
him from landing on English shores, since the king anticipated Bohemond's great 
attraction to the English nobility. His newfound status won him the hand of Constance, 
daughter of the French king, Philip I. Of this marriage wrote Abbot Suger:

Bohemond came to France to seek by any means he could the hand of the Lord Louis' 
sister Constance, a young lady of excellent breeding, elegant appearance and 
beautiful face. So great was the reputation for valour of the French kingdom and of 
the Lord Louis that even the Saracens were terrified by the prospect of that marriage. 
She was not engaged since she had broken off her agreement to wed Hugh, count of 
Troyes, and wished to avoid another unsuitable match. The prince of Antioch was 
experienced and rich both in gifts and promises; he fully deserved the marriage, which 
was celebrated with great pomp by the bishop of Chartres in the presence of the king, 
the Lord Louis, and many archbishops, bishops and noblemen of the realm.

Bohemond and Constance produced a son, Bohemond II of Antioch.[38]

Encouraged by his success, Bohemond resolved to use his army of 34,000 men not to 
defend Antioch against the Greeks, but to attack Alexius.[39] Alexius, aided by the 
Venetians, proved too strong and Bohemond had to submit to a humiliating peace. 
Under the Treaty of Devol in 1108, he became the vassal of Alexius with the title of 
sebastos, consented to receive Alexius' pay, and promised to cede disputed territories 
and to admit a Greek patriarch into Antioch. Henceforth, Bohemond was a broken 
man. He died six months later without returning to the East,[40] and was buried at 
Canosa in Apulia, in 1111.[37]

Bohemond I in literature and media[edit]

The anonymous Gesta Francorum was written by one of Bohemond's followers. The 
Alexiad of Anna Comnena is a primary authority for the whole of his life.[37] A 1924 
biography exists by Yewdale. See also the Gesta Tancredi by Ralph of Caen, which is 
a panegyric of Bohemond's second-in-command, Tancred. His career is discussed by 
B von Kügler, Bohemund und Tancred (1862); while L von Heinemann, Geschichte der 
Normannen in Sicilien und Unteritalien (1894), and R. Röhricht's Geschichte des 
ersten Kreuzzuges (1901) and Geschichte das Königreichs Jerusalem (1898) may also 
be consulted for his history.[37] The only major biography that exists in English is 
"Tancred : a study of his career and work in their relation to the First Crusade and the 
establishment of the Latin states in Syria and Palestine" by Robert Lawrence 
Nicholson. Details of his pre-crusade career can found in Geoffrey Malaterra's Deeds 
of Count Roger....

Count Bohemund by Alfred Duggan (1964) is an historical novel concerning the life of 
Bohemund and its events up to the fall of Jerusalem to the crusaders. Bohemond also 
appears in the historical novel Silver Leopard by F. Van Wyck Mason (1955), the short 
story "The Track of Bohemond" in the collection The Road of Azrael by Robert E. 
Howard (1979) and in the fantastical novel Pilgermann by Russell Hoban (1983).

The historical fiction novel Wine of Satan (1949) written by Laverne Gay gives an 
embellished accounting of the life of Bohemond.

Parents
DE HAUTEVILLE Robert I "Guiscard" (1015 - 17 Jul 1085)
____ Albereda (Alverade) (ABT 1032 - AFT Jul 1122)

Siblings
GUISCARD ----- (ABT 1049 - )
____ Bohemond I (1052 - 3 Mar 1111)

Marriage To ____ Constance (1078 - 14 Sep 1125)
    m. 1106 Chartres, France (his 2d)

Notes

Parents
____ Philip (Philippe) I (BEF 23 May 1053 - 29 Jul 1108)
OF HOLLAND Bertha (ABT 1054 - 15 Oct 1094)

Children by ____ Constance 1078 - 14 Sep 1125
____ Bohemond II (ABT 1107 - Feb 1130)

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