Rainulf Drengot
Encyclopedia
Rainulf Drengot was a Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 adventurer and the first count of Aversa (1030–1045).

When one of Rainulf's numerous brothers, Osmond
Osmond Drengot
Osmond Drengot was one of the first Norman adventurers in the Mezzogiorno. He was the son of a petty, but rich, lord of Carreaux, near Avesnes-en-Bray in the region of Rouen. Carreaux gives his family the alternate name of de Quarrel.In 1016, Osmond took part in a hunt with Duke Richard II of...

, was exiled by Richard I of Normandy
Richard I of Normandy
Richard I of Normandy , also known as Richard the Fearless , was the Duke of Normandy from 942 to 996; he is considered the first to have held that title.-Birth:He was born to William I of Normandy, ruler of Normandy, and Sprota...

 for the murder of one of his kin, Rainulf, Osmond, and their brothers Gilbert Buatère
Gilbert Buatère
Gilbert Buatère was one of the first Norman adventurers in the Mezzogiorno. He was the eldest son of a petty, but rich, lord of Carreaux, near Avesnes-en-Bray in the region of Rouen...

, Asclettin
Asclettin of Acerenza
Asclettin was the first count of Acerenza, one of the twelve leaders of the Norman mercenaries of Guaimar IV of Salerno who conquered much of Apulia between 1038 and 1042. In the latter year, the division of the conquests twelvefold was made and Asclettin received his portion.Asclettin arrived in...

 (later count of Acerenza
Acerenza
Acerenza is a town and comune in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata.-History:With its strategic position 800 m above sea-level, Acerenza has been sacked by a series of invaders....

), and Raulf
Ralph Drengot
Rudolph Drengot was one of the Drengot family of Norman adventureres who came to Southern Italy with his brothers, Gilbert, Asclettin, Osmond, and Ranulf....

 went on a pilgrimage to the shrine of the soldier-archangel, Michael, at Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano in the Byzantine Catepanate of Italy. They brought with them a band of 250 warriors, formed of other exiles, landless cadets and similar adventurers.

In 1017 they arrived 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...

, which was in a state of virtual anarchy. Establishing a stronghold at Monte Gargano
Monte Gargano
Gargano is a historical and geographical Italian sub-region situated in Apulia, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming the backbone of the Gargano Promontory projecting into the Adriatic Sea. The high point is Monte Calvo at . Most of the upland...

 in Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

, they joined forces with the Lombard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 Melus of Bari
Melus of Bari
Melus was a Lombard nobleman from the Apulian town of Bari, whose ambition to carve for himself an autonomous territory from the Byzantine catapanate of Italy in the early 11th century inadvertently sparked the Norman presence in southern Italy.Melus and his brother-in-law Dattus rebelled in 1009...

, who had rebelled against his Byzantine overlords but who was currently on the run. Their first major engagement with the army of the Byzantine catepan Basil Boioannes
Basil Boioannes
Basil III, called Boioannes in Greek and Bugiano in Italian, was the Byzantine catapan of Italy and one of the greatest Byzantine generals of his time. His accomplishments enabled the Empire to reestablish itself as a major force in southern Italy after centuries of decline...

, fought at Canne della Battaglia
Battle of Cannae (1018)
The second Battle of Cannae took place in 1018 between the Byzantines under the Catepan of Italy Basil Boioannes and the Lombards under Melus of Bari. The Lombards had also hired some Norman mercenaries under their leader Gilbert Buatère...

, an ancient Apulian villa
Villa
A villa was originally an ancient Roman upper-class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became small farming compounds, which were increasingly fortified in Late Antiquity,...

, was a disaster for the Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

. They were decimated and their leader, Rainulf's brother Gilbert, was killed. Rainulf, who now came to the fore as the undisputed leader and withdrew with the remnants of the band from Apulia to Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...

, where, according to Amatus of Montecassino
Amatus of Montecassino
Amatus of Montecassino , a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Montecassino is one of three Italo-Norman chroniclers, the others being William of Apulia and Goffredo Malaterra...

, though surrounded by enemies they were able to take advantage of dissension among the undisciplined Lombard lords.

They took to protecting, at a price, bands of pilgrims headed for the shrine of St Michael from the depredations of other marauders. Rainulf also served the Lombard Pandulf IV of Capua
Pandulf IV of Capua
Pandulf IV was the Prince of Capua on three separate occasions.From February 1016 to 1022 he ruled in association with his cousin Pandulf II. In 1018, the Byzantine catapan Boiannes destroyed the Lombard army of Melus of Bari and his Norman allies at Cannae...

. "Under his protection," Amatus reports, "they hastened to plunder the neighboring places and to harass his enemies. But since human thoughts are inclined to greed and money always triumphs in the end, from time to time they abandoned him... They sold their services as they could, according to circumstances, offering most to him who gave most." Soon the balance of power in Lombard Campania lay in Norman hands: "For the Normans never desired any of the Lombards to win a decisive victory, in case this should be to their disadvantage. But now supporting the one and then aiding the other, they prevented anyone being completely ruined."

Norman reinforcements and local miscreants, who found a welcome in Rainulf's encampment with no questions asked, swelled the numbers at Rainulf's command. There Norman language
Old Norman
Old Norman, also called Old Northern French or Old Norman French, was one of many langues d'oïl dialects. It was spoken throughout the region of what is now called Normandy and spread into England, Southern Italy, Sicily, and the Levant. It is the ancestor of modern Norman, including the insular...

 and Norman customs welded a disparate group into the semblance of a nation, as Amatus observed.

Rainulf eventually switched his allegiance to Sergius IV of Naples
Sergius IV of Naples
Sergius IV was Duke of Naples from 1002 to 1036. He was one of the prime catalysts in the growth of Norman power in the Mezzogiorno in the first half of the eleventh century...

, with whom he achieved some success. In 1030, Duke Sergius gave him the former Byzantine stronghold of Aversa
Aversa
Aversa is a town and comune in the Province of Caserta in Campania southern Italy, about 15 kilometres north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the agro aversano, producing wine and cheese...

 north of Naples, with the title of count and his sister in marriage. In 1034, this first wife died, and Rainulf married the daughter of the duke
Duke
A duke or duchess is a member of the nobility, historically of highest rank below the monarch, and historically controlling a duchy...

 of Amalfi
Amalfi
Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, c. 35 km southeast of Naples. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto , surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery...

, who was also the niece of Sergius' inveterate enemy, Pandulf IV of Capua; He expanded his territory at the expense of the abbey of Montecassino. His title to Aversa was recognised in 1037 by Emperor Conrad II. After vanquishing the Byzantines in battle in 1038, he declared himself prince, formalizing his independence from Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

 and from his former Lombard allies. He conquered his neighbour Pandulf's principality, and Conrad approved the union of the two domains, which formed the largest polity in southern Italy. In 1039, he was at the side of Guaimar IV of Salerno
Guaimar IV of Salerno
Guaimar IV was Prince of Salerno , Duke of Amalfi , Duke of Gaeta , and Prince of Capua in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052. He was an important figure in the final phase of Byzantine authority in the Mezzogiorno and the commencement of Norman power...

 and the emperor Conrad.

Ranulf was one of the leader of the anti-Byzantine coalition which rebelled in southern Italy in 1040. He took part in the decisive victory at the battle of Olivento
Battle of Olivento
The Battle of Olivento was fought on 17 March 1041 between the Byzantine Empire and the Normans of southern Italy near the Olivento river, in Apulia, southern Italy.-History:...

 in March 1041. In 1042, after the victory of his Norman ally Wiliam of Hauteville
William Iron Arm
William Iron Arm was a Norman adventurer, founder of the fortunes of the Hauteville family. One of twelve sons of Tancred of Hauteville, he journeyed to the Mezzogiorno with his younger brother Drogo in the first half of the eleventh century , in response to requests for help made by fellow...

, he received, from the erstwhile Byzantine territories, suzerainty over Siponto
Siponto
Siponto was an ancient port town of Apulia in southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a frazione of the comune of Manfredonia, in the province of Foggia...

 and Monte Gargano. He died in June 1045 and was succeeded by his nephew, Asclettin, son of Asclettin of Acerenza.

The historians Amatus of Montecassino
Amatus of Montecassino
Amatus of Montecassino , a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Montecassino is one of three Italo-Norman chroniclers, the others being William of Apulia and Goffredo Malaterra...

 and William of Apulia
William of Apulia
William of Apulia was a chronicler of the Normans, writing in the 1090s. His Latin epic, Gesta Roberti Wiscardi , written in hexameters, is one of the principal contemporary sources for the Norman conquest of southern Italy, especially the career of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia . It was composed...

 are the main contemporary sources for the career of Rainulf.

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