Battle of Civitate

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Civitate
partof=


caption=Battle plan of the Battle of Civitale. Red: Normans. Blue: Papal coalition.
date=18 June 1053
place=Civitella del Fortore (near Foggia), Italy
result=Norman victory
combatant1=Normans
combatant2=Papal coalition Swabians, Italians, Lombards
commander1=Humphrey of Hauteville
commander2=Rudolf of Benevento
strength1=3,000 horsemen "c." 500 infantry
strength2="c." 6,000, infantry and horsemen
casualties1=
casualties2=

The Battle of Civitate (also known as Battle of Civitella del Fortore) was fought on 18 June 1053 in Southern Italy, between the Normans, led by the Count of Apulia Humphrey of Hauteville, and a Swabian-Italian-Lombard army, coalized by Pope Leo IX and led on the battlefield by Gerard, Duke of Lorraine, and Rudolf, Prince of Benevento. The Norman victory over the coalized army marked the start of a conflict that ended with the recognition of the Norman conquest in South Italy.

Background

The arrival of the Normans in Southern Italy

The Normans had arrived in Italy in 1017, in a pilgrimage to the sanctuary of St. Michael Archangel in Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano (Apulia).These warriors had been used to counter the threat posed by the Saracens, who, from their bases in Sicily, raided South Italy without much resistance from the Lombard and Byzantine rulers of the affected lands.

The availability of this mercenary force (the Normans were famous for being "militariter lucrum quaerens", "looking for their payback with the military service") could not escape the Christian rulers of South Italy, who employed the Normans in their internal wars. And the Normans looked for their own payback in these turmoils: in 1030, Rainulf Drengot obtained the County of Aversa.

After this first success, many other Normans looked for gainings in Southern Italy. Among the most important of them, there were the members of the Hauteville family. In short time, the Hauteville created their own state: William of Hauteville became, in 1042, Count of Apulia.

The anti-Norman coalition

The Norman advances in southern Italy had alarmed the Pope. In 1052, Leo met Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor and his relative, in Saxony, and asked for aid in curbing the Normans. Aid was refused and Leo returned to Rome in March 1053 with only 700 Swabian infantry.

But there were others worried about the Norman power, in particular the Italian and Lombard rulers in the south. The Prince of Benevento, Rudolf, the Duke of Gaeta, the Counts of Aquino and Teano, the Archbishop and the citizens of Amalfi — together with men from Apulia, Molise, Campania, Abruzzo and Latium — answered the call of the Pope, and formed a coalized army that moved against the Normans.

The Pope had also another friendly power, the Byzantine Empire ruled by Constantine X. At first, the Byzantines, established in Apulia, had tried to buy off the Normans and press them into service within their own largely mercenary army; since the Normans were famous for their avarice. ["Semper gens normannica prona est ad avaritiam." William of Apulia, "Gesta Roberti Wiscardi", ii.] So, the Byzantine commander, the Lombard "dux Italiae" [Commander of Italy.] Argyrus, offered money to disperse as mercenaries to the Eastern frontiers of the Empire, but the Normans rejected the proposal, explicitly stating that their aim was the conquest of southern Italy. Thus spurned, Argyrus contacted the Pope, and when Leo and his army moved from Rome to Apulia to engage the Normans in battle, a Byzantine army led by Argyrus personally moved from Apulia with the same plan, catching the Normans in a pinch.

The Normans understood the danger and collected all available men and formed a single army under the command of the Count of Apulia, Humphrey of Hauteville, the Count Richard of Aversa, and other Hautevilles, among which was Robert, later known under the name of Robert Guiscard.

The battle

Leo moved to Apulia, and reached the Fortore river near the city of Civitate (or Civitella, northwest of Foggia). The Normans went forth to intercept the Papal army near Civitella and prevent its union with the Byzantine army, led by Argyrus. The Normans were short on supplies and had fewer men than their enemies, with no more than 3,000 horsemen and a few infantry against 6,000 horsemen and infantry. They asked for a truce, but before the negotiations ended, they attacked the Papal army.

The two armies were divided by a small hill. The Normans put their horsemen in three formations, with the men of Richard on the right, Humphrey in the center, and Robert Guiscard, with his horsemen and his infantry (the "sclavos", the Slavic infantry), on the left. In front of them, the Papal army was divided into two parts, with the Swabian horsemen (able to fight even on foot) on a thin and long line on the right, and the Italians amassed on the left, under the command of Rudolf. Pope Leo was in the city, but his standard, the "vexillum sancti Petri" [St. Peter's standard.] , was within the coalized army.

The battle started with the attack of the Count of Aversa against the Italians. After moving across the plain, they arrived in front their opponents, who broke formation and fled without even trying to resist; the Normans killed many of them and moved further towards the Papal field-camp.

The Swabians, in the mean time, had moved to the hill, and came into contact with the Norman center, overwhelming it despite a numerical disadvantage. Robert Guiscard, seeing his brother in danger, moved with the left wing to the hill, and succeeded in easing the Swabian pressure, and also displayed his personal bravery.

The situation on the center was balanced. The day was decided by the return of Richard, which resulted in the defeat of the Swabians and of the Papal coalition.

Aftermath

The Pope was taken prisoner by the victorious Normans.

There is some uncertainty over how this happened. Papal sources say that Leo left Civitate and surrendered himself to prevent further bloodshed. Other sources indicate that the inhabitants of Civitate handed the Pope over. He was treated respectfully but was imprisoned at Benevento for almost nine months, and forced to ratify a number of treaties favorable to the Normans.

After six years — and three more anti-Norman Popes — the Treaty of Melfi (1059) marked the recognition of the Norman power in South Italy. The reason for this change in the Papal politics was double.

First, the Normans had showed to be a strong (and close by) enemy, while the Emperor a weak (and far away) ally. Second, Pope Nicholas II had decided to cut the bonds between the Roman Church and the Holy Roman Emperors, reclaiming for the Roman cardinals the right to elect the Pope, thus reducing the importance of the Emperor. And in the foreseeable struggle against the Empire, a strong ally was more important than a strong enemy.

References

*Meschini, Marco, "Battaglie Medievali", pp. 13--36.

ources

* Goffredo Malaterra, "De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabriae et Siciliae comitis et Roberti Guiscardi ducis fratris eius".
* William of Apulia, "Gesta Roberti Wiscardi".

Notes