Robert of Bassunvilla (also Basunvilla and Bassonville) (''c.'' 1125 – died 15 September 1182) was the count of Conversano (from 1138) and

Loritello Loritello was an Italo-Norman county along the Adriatic north of the Gargano, now called Rotello, in the Molise region. It was carved out of the eastern seaboard of the Principality of Benevento following the Battle of Civitate in 1053 by member ...

(from 1154, as Robert III). His family had a long history in

Vassonville Vassonville () is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region in north-western France. Geography A farming village situated by the banks of the river Scie in the Pays de Caux, some south of Dieppe on the D 57 road. Popul ...

, near Dieppe. Robert (II) was the son of

Robert I of Bassunvilla Robert I of Bassunvilla (also ''Basunvilla'' and ''Bassonville'') (died 1138 or 1140) was a Norman baron from Molise. His family originated in Vassonville, near Dieppe. In 1110, Robert married Judith, the youngest daughter of Roger I of Sicily and ...

, who had been granted Conversano by Roger II. Robert inherited this possession on his father's death. Roger II had cause later to confiscate the county of Loritello from William, his own relative. On his deathbed, he asked his son William I to appoint Robert count of Loritello, a quasi-autonomous post. Soon however, he was implicated (truly or falsely) in rebellion and fled first to the Holy Roman imperial court of

Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...

and then the Byzantine imperial court of Manuel I Comnenus. He may have laid claim to the throne, on the basis of a forged will. He had the assistance of John Ducas when he returned to lead the revolt of 1155–1156, but the Byzantine general Michael Palaeologus died at

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

and William defeated the imperial troops. By the Treaty of Benevento of 1156,

Pope Adrian IV Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...

guaranteed Robert's right to leave the kingdom peacefully, but he renewed instead his designs on the land of the

diocese of Penne The Archdiocese of Pescara-Penne ( la, Archidioecesis Piscariensis-Pinnensis) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory on the east coast in central Italy. It was promoted to the status of metropolitan archbishopric in 1982, and its name was ...

. In 1157 he was encouraged in his rebellious efforts by a new emissary of Manuel I. This was Alexius Axuch, the son of Manuel's chief advisor John Axuch.Norwich, p. 117. Though his

constable A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in criminal law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. A constable is commonly the rank of an officer within the police. Other peop ...

Richard of Mandra Richard of Mandra (died ca. 1170) was a Norman nobleman in the Kingdom of Sicily appointed count of Molise and chancellor by the queen regent Margaret of Navarre. Richard was son of Hugues II, Count of Molise and Clemenza, an illegitimate daughter ...

, was captured, he evaded the royal army and continued in defiance of William I's authority. In 1161, he conquered much territory to the south. William responded by chasing him from Taranto and almost razing

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

. In 1163, however, he was forced to flee again to Barbarossa. In 1167, he was with the army of Rainald of Dassel at the Battle of Monte Porzio on 29 May, when a great Roman army was defeated. In 1169, Margaret of Navarre, regent of William II and widow of William I, and her council of advisors restored Robert to all his former possessions. His widow Adelisa, daughter of Roger II, inherited Conversano.

Notes

Sources

''Lexikon des Mittelalters''.
* Norwich, John Julius. ''The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194''. Longman: London, 1970. *Norwich, John Julius. ''Byzantium: The Decline and Fall''. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1996. *Matthew, Donald. ''The Norman Kingdom of Sicily''. Cambridge University Press: 1992. *Houben, Hubert. ''Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West''. Trans. G. A. Loud and Diane Milbourne. Cambridge University Press: 2002.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robert 03 Of Loritello Italo-Normans Norman warriors 1182 deaths Counts of Conversano Counts of Loritello Year of birth unknown Italian rebels Medieval rebels