House of Hauteville

The House of Hauteville (Italian: Altavilla, Sicilian: Autaviḍḍa) was a Norman family, originally of petty lords, from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy.^[7]

Hauteville Altavilla, Autavilla
Noble house
Coat of arms of the Hauteville family
Country	Normandy, Southern Italy
Founded	11th century
Founder	Hiallt
Final ruler	Constance of Sicily (died 1198)
Titles	List Count of Apulia (1042–1059) Duke of Apulia (1059–1130) King of Sicily (1130–1198) Prince of Antioch (1098–1163)
Motto	Dextera Domini fecit virtutem, Dextera Domini exaltavit me (God's right-hand made wonders, God's right-hand exalted me)
Cadet branches	List Guarna / Avarna family [it][1][2][3] Gesualdo family [it][4] Rosso family [it][5] Mazzarino family [it] Loffredo[6] Ventimiglia of Geraci

The Hautevilles rose to prominence through their part in the Norman conquest of southern Italy. In 1130, Roger II of Hauteville, was made the first King of Sicily. His male-line descendants ruled the kingdom until 1194. The Hauteville also took part in the First Crusade and ruled of the independent Principality of Antioch (1098).^[8]

Origins

Tradition traces the family’s origins to Hiallt, a 10th-century Viking who supposedly founded the village of Hialtus villa, from which the family’s name originates.^[9][10][11] Hiallt, however, is probably just a legendary eponymous ancestor: the Latin form of Hauteville, Altavilla, simply means "high estate".^[11]

The first well-documented member of the family is Tancred of Hauteville, petty lord of Hauteville-la-Guichard. Tancred had many sons by his two wives, Muriella and Fressenda, and his small patrimony was hardly enough to accommodate all of his children. They were thus forced to seek fortune elsewhere, namely in Southern Italy.^[8]

Southern Italy

See also: Norman conquest of southern Italy

William Iron Arm and Drogo were the first of Tancred’s sons to arrive in Southern Italy, sometime around 1035. They distinguished themselves in a rebellion against the Byzantines, and in 1042 William Iron Arm was named the first Count of Apulia. In 1046 he was succeded by Drogo, whose titles were confirmed by Emperor Henry III. Drogo was succeded by another brother, Humphrey, who in 1053 defeated Pope Leo IX in the Battle of Civitate, strengthening the Hautevilles’ power.^[8]

Humphrey was succeded by a fourth brother, Robert Guiscard. In 1059, Robert was made the first Duke of Apulia and Calabria, and also Lord of Sicily, by Pope Nicholas II. Together with his younger brother, Roger I, he started the to conquer Sicily, at the time occupied by the Saracens. Guiscard was succeded by his son Roger Borsa, which in turn was succeded by his son William II. When William died childless, all of the Hauteville family’s domains were inherited by Roger II, son of Roger I.^[8][12]

Kingdom of Sicily

After unifying all of the Hauteville family’s domains, Roger II supported Antipope Anacletus II, and on Christmas of 1130, he was made King of Sicily. Roger spent the majority of his first decade of reign fending off invaders and suppressing rebellions. In 1139, with the Treaty of Mignano, his kingship was recognized by the legitimate Pope, Innocent II. Through the actions of his admiral George of Antioch, Roger also proceeded to conquer the Mahdia, taling the unofficial title of “King of Africa”.

Roger's son and successor was William I the Bad. His nickname derives primarily from his lack of popularity within the chroniclers, who supported the baronial revolts that William crushed. In 1166 he was succeded by his son William II the Good, who was still a minor. During his regency, that lasted until 1166, the real was subject to turmoils, which almost broke it apart. Eventually peace won, and William II’s reign is remembered as peaceful and prosperous.

William II died without heirs in 1189, and there was a succession dispute. William’s only legitimate heir was his aunt Constance, but she had married Emperor Henry VI, and Sicilian officials didn’t want a German ruler. An illegitimate cousin of William, Tancred of Lecce, seized the throne. He initially had to fight against a revolt of Roger of Andria, a former contender. In 1190 he managed to kill him, and in 1191 he was able to repel an invasion of Constance and Henry VI. After he died in 1194, however, the kingdom passed to Constance anyway, and was afterwards ruled by the Hohenstaufen. Constance and Henry’s son and successor was Emperor Frederick II.

Crusades

The eldest son of Robert Guiscard, Bohemond, didn’t inherit the majority of his father possessions because he wasn’t consider legitimate, as his parents’ marriage was annulled for consanguinity. He thus had find land elsewhere. In 1097 he joined a band of Crusaders, on their way to the first Crusade, along with his nephew, Tancred of Galilee. Bohemond took the city of Antioch, and remained there for the duration of the Crusade, carving out the independent Principality of Antioch for himself. He was succeded by his son Bohemond II, who in turn was succeded by his daughter Constance, who ruled the principality until 1163. Bohemond’s nephew, Tancred, also had luck in carving the Principality of Galilee, a vassal fief of the Kingdom of Jerusalem.

Cadet branches

Different Italian noble families are scions of the House of Hauteville. Among these, there are the Gesualdo family [it],^[4] the Rosso family [it],^[5] and the Guarna / Avarna family [it].^[1][2][3]

Supposed members of the House of Hauteville also appear in England. According to Goffredo Malaterra, one of Tancred’s sons, Aubrey or Alverard, remained in Normandy. The Domesday Book, written in 1086, records that a certain Aluericus Halsvilla had previously held lands in Compton Martin, in the County of Somerset. His kinsman, Ralf Halsvilla is mentioned as a tenant in Burbage and Wolfhall, in Wiltshire.^{[citation needed]}

Genealogy

Here follows the family tree of the main branch of the Hauteville family:^{[13][14][15][16][17]}

Tancred of Hauteville - Seigneur of Hauteville-la-Guichard 1.⚭ Muriella, 2.⚭ Fressenda
		(1) Serlo - Seigneur of Hauteville-la-Guichard
				Serlo
		(1) Geoffrey - Count of the Capitanate
				Robert I - Count of Loritello
						offspring?[a]
				Drogo "Tassio"
						Robert
						William
				Ralph - Count of Catanzaro
						Geoffrey - Count of Catanzaro
						Raymond - Count of Catanzaro
								Clementia ⚭ a certain Hugh → (issue)
				William
						Ugone Rosso (“Hugh the Red”)[5]
								Rosso (family) [it][5]
				Tancred
		(1) William Iron Arm - Count of Apulia ⚭ Guida of Sorrento
		(1) Drogo - Count of Apulia 1.⚭ Altrude, 2.⚭ Gaitelgrima of Salerno
				(1) Richard ⚭ Alberada (former wife of Robert Guiscard)
				(1) Rocca ⚭ a certain Hubert → (issue)
				(1) Eremburga
		(1) Humphrey - Count of Apulia ⚭ Gaitelgrima of Sorrento
				Geoffrey[b]
				Joscelin[c]
				Abelard
				Herman
				a daughter ⚭ a certain Gradilon[d]
		(2) Robert Guiscard - Duke of Apulia 1.⚭ Alberada, 2.⚭ Sikelgaita
				(1) Bohemond I - Prince of Antioch ⚭ Constance of France
						Bohemond II - Prince of Antioch ⚭ Alice of Jerusalem
								Constance - Princess of Antioch ⚭ Raymond of Poitiers → (issue)
						John[e]
				(1) Emma[f] ⚭ Odo the Good Marquis → (issue)
				(2) Matilda ⚭ Ramon Berenguer II → (issue)
				(2) Roger Borsa - Duke of Apulia ⚭ Adela of Flanders
						Louis[g]
						Guiscard[h]
						William II - Duke of Apulia ⚭ Gaitelgrima of Alife
						(ill.) William - Count of Gesualdo and Lucera ⚭ Alberada
								Gesualdo family[21]
				(2) Mabel (or Mabilia) ⚭ William de Grandmesnil
				(2) a Daughter[i] ⚭ Hugh V of Maine
				(2) Robert Scalio
				(2) Guy
				(2) Sybilla ⚭ Ebles II of Roucy
				(2) Olympias (Helena) ⚭(betrothed) Constantine Doukas
				(2) Cecile
				(2) Gaitelgrima ⚭ Humphrey, Count of Sarno
		(2) Mauger - Count of the Capitanate
		(2) Fressenda ⚭ Richard I of Capua → (issue)
		(2) William I - Count of the Principate ⚭ Maria of Sorrento
				Robert - Count of the Principate ⚭ Gilia
						William II - Count of the Principate
								Nicholas - Count of the Principate
								William III - Count of the Principate
				Richard - participant of the First Crusade ⚭ Altrude (daughter of Emma and Odo)
						Roger - Regent of Antioch
						Maria[j] ⚭ Joscelin I of Edessa
				Ranulf (also Rainald)
				Tancred - Count of Syracuse
				a daughter ⚭(betrothed) to Domenico, son of Domenico Selvo (doge)
				William
		(2) Aubrey (also Alvered)
		(2) Hubert (also Humbert)
		(2) Tancred
		(2) Frumentin[k]
		(2) Roger I - Count of Sicily 1.⚭ Judith, 2.⚭ Eremburga, 3.⚭Adelaide
				(1) a daughter ⚭ Hugh of Gercé, Count of Catania
				(1) Matilda ⚭ Raymond IV of Toulouse
				(1) Emma[l] 1.⚭ William VI of Auvergne → (issue), 2.⚭ Rudolf of Montescaglioso
				(1) Adela ⚭ Henry of Monte Sant’Angelo
				(ill.) Jordan
				(2) Felicia[m] ⚭ Coloman, King of Hungary → (issue)
				(2) Geoffrey the Leper
				(2) Mauger - Count of Troina
				(2) Constance ⚭ Conrad II of Italy
				(2) Matilda ⚭ Rainulf II of Alife → (issue)
				(2) Flandina ⚭ Henry del Vasto
				(2) a daughter[n] ⚭ Robert (son of Robert I of Burgundy)
				(2) Judith ⚭ Robert I of Conversano → (issue)
				(3) Simon - Count of Sicily
				(3) ROGER II - King of Sicily 1.⚭ Elvira, 2.⚭ Sibylla, 3.⚭ Beatrice
						(1) Roger III - Duke of Apulia ⚭ Elizabeth of Blois
								(ill.) TANCRED - King of Sicily ⚭ Sibylla
										ROGER III - Co-king of Sicily ⚭ Irene Angelina
										WILLIAM III - King of Sicily
										a daughter ⚭(betrothed) Arthur I of Brittany
										Madania (or Sybilla) ⚭ Robert, Count of Montescaglioso
										Elvira 1.⚭ Walter III of Brienne, 2.⚭ James Sanseverino, Count of Tricarico
										Constance ⚭ Pietro Ziani, Doge of Venice
										Valdrada[o] ⚭ Jacopo Tiepolo, Doge of Venice
								(ill.) William
						(1) Tancred - Prince of Bari
						(1) Alfonso - Prince of Capua
						(1) a daughter
						(1) WILLIAM I THE BAD - King of Sicily ⚭ Margaret of Navarre
								Roger IV - Duke of Apulia
								Robert III - Prince of Capua
								WILLIAM II THE GOOD - King of Sicily ⚭ Joan of England
								Bohemond[p] - Duke of Apulia
						Henry - Prince of Capua
						(ill.) two illegitimate daugthers?[q]
				(1) Henry
				(2) Henry[r]
				(2) stillborn child
				(3) CONSTANCE - Queen of Sicily ⚭ Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor → (issue)
				(ill.) Simon - Prince of Taranto
				(ill.) a daughter ⚭ a certain Adam
				(ill.) a daughter ⚭ Henry (Rodrigo) of Montescaglioso
				(ill.) a daughter ⚭ Hugh II, Count of Molise
				(ill.) Adela 1.⚭ Joscelin, Count of Loreto, 2.⚭ Robert III of Loritello
		(3) Maximilla[s]
		(ill.) Geoffrey - Count of Ragusa ⚭ Rogalia
				Bartholomew
				Silvester I - Count of Marsico
						William - Count of Marsico ⚭ Stephanie
						Matilda[t]
						Geoffrey
								Silvester II - Count of Marsico
								Desiderata [u] ⚭ Bartholomew of Lucy, Count of Paternò → (issue)
				Geoffrey
				Roger
				Airolda[v]
				Guarna / Avarna family [it][1][2][3]
		two other daughters[w]

Notes

1. Robert possibly had offsprings who were also counts of Loritello, but the sources for their parentage remain obscure^[16]
2. The Gesta Roberti Wiscardi names, in order. "Gosfridus, Gocelinus, Abagelardus" as sons of "Unfredi"^[18]
3. The Gesta Roberti Wiscardi names, in order. "Gosfridus, Gocelinus, Abagelardus" as sons of "Unfredi"^[19]
4. Amatus of Montecassino records that Robert Guiscard pursued "Abelard and Gradilon, the husband of his sister" after the former's rebellion in 1078^[20]
5. died young^[16]
6. In some instances, Emma is given as Robert's sister rather than his daughter. Guibert of Nogent, however, calls her son, Tancred of Galilee, the nephew of Bohemond I of Antioch, thus making her a daughter of Robert Guiscard. From a chronological perspective, it is also more probable that Emma was Guiscard's daughter.^[16]
7. died young^[16]
8. died young^[16]
9. Sometimes given the name Héria^[16]
10. the primary source for her name is not known^[16]
11. The name Frumentinus bears resemblance to the name Hubertus. Frumentin and Hubert may thus be the same person^[16]
12. John Julius Norwich identifies the Emma who married William of Auvergne and the Emma who married Rudolf of Montescaglioso as two different daughters of Roger I who bore the same name.
13. (this daughter of Roger I is called Felicia in the Europäische Stammtafeln, but other sources do not give her name. She is also sometimes mistakenly called Busilla, but this is thought to be a misinterpretation of the French word pucelle, meaning young lady or virgin.^[16])
14. Patrick van Kerrebrouck says that her name could be Sibylla and that she was born from Roger’s third marriage. However, chronologically, it is more probable that she was born from Roger’s second marriage^[16]
15. Valdrada is only named in one source, “The dogaressas of Venice” by Edgcumbe Staley^[22]
16. predeceased his father^[16]
17. The claim for these two daughters exsisting is made in Snorri Sturluson's Heimskringla, which records: "William king of Sicily…had three daughters…his second daughter married the Duke of Kipr [ Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus ]...his third daughter, Margaret, was married to the chief of the corsairs [a certain Margaritone, admiral of Sicily]". However, the Heimskringla also records that William had no sons, and that a daughter of his married an "emperor Henry who killed his brothers in law". Therefore, it can't be trusted.^[16]
18. died an infant^[15]
19. this daughter is only named in one source^[23]
20. lived three months^[16]
21. Rocco Pirri records her as this Geoffrey's daughter. Carlo Alberto Garufi, on the other hand, records her as daughter of a certain Geoffrey of Lecce, Count of Montescaglioso.^[16]
22. this daughter is only named in one source^[24]
23. The Annales of Romuald Guarna state that Tancred had three daughters, but without naming them or stating by which marriage they were born. One of these daughters is the Fressenda named above. One of the two remaining daughters is sometimes given the name Beatrice, and has been erroneously identified as the mother of Geoffrey, Count of Conversano. All of the informations regarding her are dubious^[25][26]

References

1. Annuario della nobiltà italiana (in Italian). Presso la direzione del Giornale araldico. 1878.
2. Summonte, Giovanni Antonio (1748). Historia della cittá e regno di Napoli ... (in Italian). R. Gessari.
3. Ebner, Pietro (1979). Economia e società nel Cilento medievale (in Italian). Ed. di Storia e Letteratura.
4. I conti Viscido di Nocera: una famiglia longobarda consanguinea dei principi di Salerno della prima dinastia pagina 58 (in Italian). Rubbettino Editore srl, 2003. 2003. ISBN 978-88-498-0491-1. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
5. Teatro genologico delle famiglie nobili titolate feudatarie ed antiche nobili del fidelissimo Regno di Sicilia viuenti ed estinte. Del s. don Filadelfo Mugnos. Parte prima [-terza]. . (in Italian). nella stamparia di Giacomo Mattei. 1670.
6. Archivio storico per le province napoletane, Volume 108, Parte 1 - Volume 109, parte 1, pag. 149 (in Italian). Deputazione napoletana di storia patria, Napoli. 1959. ISBN 978-88-498-0491-1. Retrieved 17 March 2010.
7. Kauffmann, Martin (2003). "Hauteville, house of family". Grove Art Online. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/gao/9781884446054.article.t036942. ISBN 978-1-884446-05-4.
8. Norwich, John Julius; Rospigliosi, Elena Lante (2021-11-11). I normanni nel Sud: 1016-1130 (in Italian). Sellerio Editore. ISBN 978-88-389-4288-4.
9. Hill, James S. (1914). The place-names of Somerset. Bristol: St. Stephen's printing works. p. 256. hdl:2027/coo1.ark:/13960/t9w09nb22. OCLC 685182654.
10. Revue de l'Avranchin et du pays de Granville (in French). 31 (174, pts. 3-4). Avranches: Société d'archéologie, de littérature, sciences et arts. 1941. ISSN 0035-1342. OCLC 473239154. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)^{[title missing][page needed]}
11. Beaurepaire, François de (1986). Les noms des communes et anciennes paroisses de la Manche [The names of the communes and former parishes of La Manche] (in French). Paris: A. et J. Picard. pp. 133–135. ISBN 978-2-7084-0299-7. OCLC 15314425.
12. Malaterra, Goffredo; Kenneth Baxter Wolf (2005). The Deeds of Count Roger of Calabria and Sicily and of His Brother Duke Robert Guiscard. USA: The University of Michigan Press. pp. 151. ISBN 0-472-11459-X.
13. Loud, G. A. (2000). The Age of Robert Guiscard: Southern Italy and the Norman Conquest. Longman. ISBN 978-0-582-04529-3.
14. Norwich, John Julius; Rospigliosi, Elena Lante (2021-11-11). I normanni nel Sud: 1016-1130 (in Italian). Sellerio Editore. ISBN 978-88-389-4288-4.
15. Norwich, John Julius (2022-10-31). Il regno nel sole: 1130-1194 (in Italian). Sellerio Editore srl. ISBN 978-88-389-4483-3.
16. "SICILY". fmg.ac. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
17. "CENTRAL ITALY". fmg.ac. Retrieved 2024-10-15.
18. Gesta Roberti Wiscardi II, MGH SS IX, p. 263.
19. Gesta Roberti Wiscardi II, MGH SS IX, p. 263.
20. Amatus VII.25, p. 177, footnote 49 stating that the name Gradilon suggests that he was of Slav ancestry.
21. Crollalanza, Giovanni Battista di (1886). Dizionario storico-blasonico delle famiglie nobili e notabili italiane estinte e fiorenti (in Italian). Presso la direzione del Giornale araldico.
22. Staley, Edgcumbe. The dogaressas of Venice (PDF). Charles Scribner's Sons.
23. 2002: Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler Between East and West, ISBN 978-0-521-65573-6. ISBN 0-521-65573-0
24. . 2011-07-24 https://web.archive.org/web/20110724064746/http://www.danilo.sitoweb.net/default.asp?http://www.scapellato.com/danilo/ragusa.asp. Archived from the original on 2011-07-24. Retrieved 2024-10-19. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
25. Romoaldi Annales 1057, MGH SS XIX, p. 405
26. Guerrieri, G. ´I conti normanni di Bardò e di Brindisi (1092-1130)´, Archivio storico per le province Napoletane, Anno XXVI, Fascicolo II (Naples, 1901), p. 285.

Sources

• European Commission presentation of The Normans Norman Heritage, 10th-12th century.
• Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.
• Norwich, John Julius. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: London, 1970.
• Pierre Aubé, Roger II de Sicile. 2001.
• Matthew, Donald. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily. Cambridge University Press: 1992.
• Houben, Hubert. Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West. Trans. G. A. Loud and Diane Milbourne. Cambridge University Press: 2002.
• Medieval Sourcebook: Alexiad—complete text, translated Elizabeth A. Dawes
• Ralph of Caen. Gesta Tancredi. trans. Bernard S. and David S. Bachrach. Ashgate Publishing, 2005.