ROBERT "Guiscard/Weasel" de Hauteville, son of TANCRED de Hauteville & his second wife Fressenda -[1]
Amatus records that "a man from Normandy…Robert…later called Guiscard" arrived in southern Italy "in aid of his brother whom he asked to give him some land as a benefice, but his brother did not give him any aid or counsel", dated to 1047 ...
at first, he joined "Pandulf", Prince of Capua, who promised him his daughter in marriage ...
Malaterra records that Robert was given the command of the garrison of Scribla near Cosenza by his half-brother Drogo Count of Apulia, dated to 1049 ...
Amatus records that Robert´s brother gave him "in the very limits of Calabria…a very secure mount which was well supplied with timber" … San Marco Argentano, between Malvito and Bisignano and "put him in possession of the whole of Calabria" ...
Robert´s bandit activities in the region earned him his nickname, "le Guiscard" or "the Weasel"
Robert came to power after the papacy sent Hildebrand of Sovana (later Gregory VII) to ask the Norman mercenaries for military might. They obliged and Robert was eventually greased down with some perks. One of them was the title of duke of Sicily.[2]
Robert went on to pledge allegiance to the papacy and supported Gregory VII, laying the foundation for the Vatican to establish itself as an authoritarian government. The brainchild of Gregory VII, the pope didn't live to see his design. His term came to an abrupt end when Robert's troops went on to sack Rome after staving off the forces of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1084 A.D.[2]
↑ Roger's eldest son predeceased him. His second son, Geoffrey, may have been a bastard, but may also have been a son of his first or second wife. Whatever the case, he was a leper with no chance of inheriting.
Amatus II.45, p. 85
Malaterra I.12, 16, pp. 14 and 16.
Chalandon (1907), Tome I, p. 119.
Amatus III.7, p. 88.
Wikipedia contributors, "Hauteville family," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, [1] (accessed March 24, 2016).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikelgaita