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

Conversano Conversano ( Barese: ) is an ancient town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia, south-eastern Italy. It is southeast of Bari and from the Adriatic coast, at above sea level. The counts of Conversano owned a stud that they us ...

(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 members ...

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

Dieppe Dieppe (; Norman: ''Dgieppe'') is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newha ...

. Robert (II) was the son of Robert I of Bassunvilla, who had been granted Conversano by

Roger II Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in ...

. Robert inherited this possession on his father's death. Roger II had cause later to confiscate the county of Loritello from

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, his own relative. On his deathbed, he asked his son

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

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 Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine empero ...

. 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 The Treaty of Benevento or Concordat of Benevento (18 June 1156) was an important treaty between the papacy of Adrian IV and the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. After years of turbulent relations, the popes finally settled down to a peace with the Hautev ...

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. 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 John Axouch or Axouchos, also transliterated as Axuch ( el, , flourished circa 1087 – circa 1150) was the commander-in-chief ('' megas domestikos'') of the Byzantine army during the reign of Emperor John II Komnenos (r. 1118–1143), and duri ...

.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 Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...

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 Rainald of Dassel (c. 1120 – 14 August 1167) was Archbishop of Cologne and Archchancellor of Italy from 1159 until his death. A close advisor to the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick Barbarossa, he had an important influence on Imperial polit ...

at the

Battle of Monte Porzio The Battle of Monte Porzio (also called the Battle of Tusculum) was fought on 29 May 1167 between the Holy Roman Empire and the Commune of Rome. The communal Roman army, which one historian has called the "greatest army which Rome had sent int ...

on 29 May, when a great Roman army was defeated. In 1169,

Margaret of Navarre Margaret of Navarre (french: Marguerite, es, Margarita, it, Margherita) (c. 1135 – 12 August 1183) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of William I (1154–1166) and the regent during the minority of her son, William II. Queen consort Margaret ...

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

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 London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, 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 Cambridge University Press is the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII of England, King Henry VIII in 1534, it is the oldest university press A university press is an academic publishing hou ...

: 1992. *Houben, Hubert. ''Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West''. Trans. G. A. Loud and Diane Milbourne.

: 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