Jordan of Hauteville
Encyclopedia
Jordan of Hauteville was the eldest son and bastard of Roger I of Sicily
Roger I of Sicily
Roger I , called Bosso and the Great Count, was the Norman Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was the last great leader of the Norman conquest of southern Italy.-Conquest of Calabria and Sicily:...

. A fighter, he took part, from an early age, in the conquests of his father in Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

.

In 1077, at the siege of Trapani
Trapani
Trapani is a city and comune on the west coast of Sicily in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the main gateway to the nearby Egadi Islands.-History:...

, one of two Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...

 strongholds remaining in the west of the island, Jordan led a sortie which successfully surprised the guards of the garrison's grazing animals. Its food supply now cut off, the city soon surrendered. He was present at the siege of Taormina
Taormina
Taormina is a comune and small town on the east coast of the island of Sicily, Italy, in the Province of Messina, about midway between Messina and Catania. Taormina has been a very popular tourist destination since the 19th century...

 in 1079 and, in 1081, with Robert of Sourdeval (or Sourval) and Elias Cartomi (a Saracen turncoat), he retook the city of Catania
Catania
Catania is an Italian city on the east coast of Sicily facing the Ionian Sea, between Messina and Syracuse. It is the capital of the homonymous province, and with 298,957 inhabitants it is the second-largest city in Sicily and the tenth in Italy.Catania is known to have a seismic history and...

 from the last emir
Emir
Emir , meaning "commander", "general", or "prince"; also transliterated as Amir, Aamir or Ameer) is a title of high office, used throughout the Muslim world...

 of Syracuse
Syracuse, Italy
Syracuse is a historic city in Sicily, the capital of the province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace of the preeminent mathematician and engineer Archimedes. This 2,700-year-old city played a key role in...

, Ibn Abbad, in another surprise attack. The next year, while his father was away helping Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard
Robert d'Hauteville, known as Guiscard, Duke of Apulia and Calabria, from Latin Viscardus and Old French Viscart, often rendered the Resourceful, the Cunning, the Wily, the Fox, or the Weasel was a Norman adventurer conspicuous in the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily...

, his brother the Duke of Apulia, Jordan was left in charge. But in the summer of 1083, Jordan led a few disaffected nobles in rebellion. His father returned and immediately blinded the leaders of the revolt, only pardoning his son at the last moment, to instill in him a healthy respect for authority. He was loyal ever thereafter.

On 22 May 1085, the fleet of his father anchored offshore of Jordan's own cavalry forces fifteen mile north of Syracuse. On May 25, the navies of the count and the emir engaged in the harbour and, the emir himself dying in battle, the forces of Roger landed ashore to find Jordan already besieging the city. The siege lasted throughout the summer, but the city eventually capitulated, leaving only Noto
Noto
Noto is a city and comune in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily . Its located 32 km southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains and gives its name to the surrounding valley, Val di Noto...

 still under Saracen dominion. In February 1091, Jordan was present at the siege of that city as well. Jordan was made lord of Noto and count of Syracuse and there he died, of fever, probably in 1092. Despite having inherited all the Hauteville attributes which had made their rule in the Mezzogiorno
Mezzogiorno
The Midday is a wide definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to a large number of minor islands...

 all but inevitable, he had not been in line for the succession on account of his illegitimacy until his brother Geoffrey
Geoffrey, Count of Ragusa
Geoffrey or Godfrey was the second eldest son of Roger I of Sicily. He was probably a bastard, like his elder brother Jordan, but he may have been legitimate, either the son of Judith of Évreux or Eremburga of Mortain. Either way, he stood no chance of inheriting, for he had leprosy , or some...

 became a leper, then he had been designated heir apparent. A stone recording his death can still be seen in the church of Santa Maria in Mili San Pietro, near Messina.

In 1089, his father arranged his marriage to a daughter of Boniface del Vasto
Boniface del Vasto
Boniface del Vasto was the margrave of Western Liguria from 1084 to 1125, the son and successor of Otto. He was of the Aleramici family, which also furnished the margraves of Montferrat...

. Roger married, at the same time, Adelaide del Vasto
Adelaide del Vasto
Adelaide del Vasto was the third wife of Roger I of Sicily and mother of Roger II of Sicily, as well as Queen consort of Jerusalem due to her later marriage to Baldwin I of Jerusalem, as his third wife.-Family:She was the daughter of Manfred del Vasto Adelaide del Vasto (Adelasia, Azalaïs) (c....

, another daughter of Manfred's.
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