Normans in Italy 525In 1035 William “Iron Arm” of Hauteville (d. 1046)
began with his brothers the military conquest of Apulia
and Calabria. The Norman entrance into Italy was tied to
several events and causes, including LOMBARDweakness
from dynastic struggles in the duchy of Benevento, possi-
bilities and consequences of the secession of the rich
principality of Salerno and the county of Capua from
BYZANTINEand Lombard control, and an anti-Byzantine
revolt in Bari. These struggles and problems were a real
attraction for these ambitious adventurers and skilled
warriors. Further incentives were the endless struggles
over land among the younger sons of Normandy’s feudal
aristocracy, whom primogeniture had deprived of the
right to inherit much at all.ESTABLISHMENT AND FURTHER CONQUEST
The Normans ultimately constructed their own territorial
lordships, oriented around the family of Hauteville. Their
military and administrative experience served them well.
Pope Leo IX (r. 1049–54) had already been allied with
the Lombards of Benevento and directed a defense against
the growing power of these immigrants, but was defeated