Guy (; born c. 1012) was the duke of Sorrento from 1035, the brother of

Guaimar IV of Salerno Guaimar IV (c. 1013 – 2, 3 or 4 June 1052) was Prince of Salerno (1027–1052), Duke of Amalfi (1039–1052), Duke of Gaeta (1040–1041), and Prince of Capua (1038–1047) in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052 ...

, father-in-law of

William Iron Arm William I of Hauteville (before 1010 – 1046), known as William Iron Arm,Guillaume Bras-de-fer in French, Guglielmo Braccio di Ferro in Italian and Gugghiermu Vrazzu di Ferru in Sicilian. was a Norman adventurer who was the founder of the ...

and William of the Principate, and brother-in-law of Humphrey of Hauteville. He was the son of Guaimar III and

Gaitelgrima {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Gaitelgrima is a Lombard feminine name. There are several notable Gaitelgrimas in history. The identities of these six women (as well as some others of the same name) are often confused because they were all cl ...

. Guy's place in history is secured primarily through his relations (by blood and marriage), though his own actions were not inconsequential. According to John Julius Norwich, he was a "selfless" prince, exhibiting a "moral sense rare for istime and position." His brother conquered Sorrento in 1035 and bestowed it on him as a duchy. He was a constant supporter of his brother and the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

during the former's reign and he counted the mercenaries as allies when, upon the assassination of Guaimar, his family, including his nephew, the Salernitan heir, was rounded up by the assassins and imprisoned, he being the only one to escape. He quickly flew to the Normans of

Melfi Melfi ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Geographically, it is midway between Naples and Bari. In 2015 it had a population of 17,768. Geography On ...

, whom he paid highly for aid. He brought them back with his own Sorrentine army to besiege Salerno, wherein the conspirators had fortified themselves. Guy had soon captured all of the conspirators' families and had negotiated the release of his nephew, Gisulf. Guy accepted their surrender soon after and promised them no harm. The Normans, not bound, they said, by Guy's oath, massacred the four brothers and 36 others, one for each stab wound found in Guaimar's body. Guy enthroned his nephew and he and his Normans, who would have preferred Guy as prince, did immediate homage to him. Nevertheless, Gisulf was thankless to his Norman vassals and grew to be a piratical neighbour to all in Southern Italy. His principality was constantly picked away and he ignored the advice of his uncle Guy counselling moderation. Guy remained forever loyal to the Hauteville leadership, however. In 1073, he captured the rebel

Herman Herman may refer to: People * Herman (name), list of people with this name * Saint Herman (disambiguation) * Peter Noone (born 1947), known by the mononym Herman Places in the United States * Herman, Arkansas * Herman, Michigan * Herman, Min ...

, his own nephew, and handed him over to Robert Guiscard, his nephew-in-law. Guy died amidst the breakup of the great principality his brother had forged and he had preserved. With his death, Sorrento became independent once more.

Issue

His children were: * Guida, wife of

, * Maria, wife of William of the Principate.

Notes and references

11th-century Lombard people Lombard warriors {{Europe-noble-stub