Guy of Hauteville (Italian ''Guido d'Altavilla''; died 5 July 1108) was an

Italo-Norman The Italo-Normans ( it, Italo-Normanni), or Siculo-Normans (''Siculo-Normanni'') when referring to Sicily and Southern Italy, are the Italian-born descendants of the first Norman conquerors to travel to southern Italy in the first half of th ...

soldier and diplomat who for a time served the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

. Guy was a younger son of Robert Guiscard,

Duke of Apulia The County of Apulia and Calabria (), later the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria (), was a Norman state founded by William of Hauteville in 1042 in the territories of Gargano, Capitanata, Apulia, Vulture, and most of Campania. It became a duchy whe ...

, and his second wife,

Sichelgaita Sikelgaita (also ''Sichelgaita'' or ''Sigelgaita'') (1040 – 16 April 1090) was a Lombard princess, the daughter of Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno and second wife of Duke Robert Guiscard of Apulia. She commanded troops in her own right. Life S ...

. During his father's expedition against the Byzantine Empire in 1081, he occupied

Vlorë Vlorë ( , ; sq-definite, Vlora) is the third most populous city of the Republic of Albania and seat of Vlorë County and Vlorë Municipality. Located in southwestern Albania, Vlorë sprawls on the Bay of Vlorë and is surrounded by the foo ...

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. He was present at his father's death in Greece on 17 July 1085.Raoul Manselli
"Altavilla, Guido d’"
''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', vol. 2 (Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1960). After his father's death, Guy entered the service of his erstwhile enemy, Emperor

Alexios I Komnenos Alexios I Komnenos ( grc-gre, Ἀλέξιος Κομνηνός, 1057 – 15 August 1118; Latinized Alexius I Comnenus) was Byzantine emperor from 1081 to 1118. Although he was not the first emperor of the Komnenian dynasty, it was during ...

. According to the emperor's daughter,

Anna Komnene Anna Komnene ( gr, Ἄννα Κομνηνή, Ánna Komnēnḗ; 1 December 1083 – 1153), commonly Latinized as Anna Comnena, was a Byzantine princess and author of the ''Alexiad'', an account of the reign of her father, the Byzantine emperor, ...

, he was drawn to Byzantine service by certain promises made by Alexios. At the Byzantine court, Guy became one of Alexios' most trusted councilors and was rewarded with the rank of ''

sebastos ( grc-gre, σεβαστός, sebastós, venerable one, Augustus, ; plural , ) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of . The female form of the title was (). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-ce ...

''. In August 1096, he helped negotiate between the Alexios and the leaders of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

, even serving as a hostage for the emperor's good faith during the dealings with

Godfrey of Bouillon Godfrey of Bouillon (, , , ; 18 September 1060 – 18 July 1100) was a French nobleman and pre-eminent leader of the First Crusade. First ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem from 1099 to 1100, he avoided the title of king, preferring that of princ ...

. Guy was with the Byzantine army campaigning in Asia Minor when, at Philomelium around 20 June 1098, it was met by the nominal leader of the Crusade,

Stephen, Count of Blois Stephen Henry (in French, ''Étienne Henri'', in Medieval French, ''Estienne Henri''; – 19 May 1102) was the Count of Blois and Count of Chartres. He led an army during the First Crusade, was at the surrender of the city of Nicaea, and direc ...

, who reported that the

siege of Antioch The siege of Antioch took place during the First Crusade in 1097 and 1098, on the crusaders' way to Jerusalem through Syria (region), Syria. Two sieges took place in succession. The first siege, by the crusaders against the city held by the Sel ...

was going very badly. In 1108, Guy was with his half-brother, Bohemond, when the latter attacked Byzantine Dyrrachium. Defeated, Bohemond sued for peace and during the negotiations Guy was entrusted with keeping the Byzantine hostages. He returned to Italy shortly after and died there on 5 July 1108, as recorded in the necrology of the Cathedral of San Matteo in Salerno.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hauteville, Guy Of 1108 deaths Italo-Normans Norman warriors 11th-century Byzantine people 11th-century Italian people 12th-century Italian people 11th-century Christians 12th-century Christians Christians of the First Crusade Sebastoi