- Arduin the Lombard
Arduin was a Greek-speaking Lombard nobleman who fought originally for the Byzantines on
Sicily and later against them as the leader of a band of Norman mercenaries.He was the leader of the troops committed by
Guaimar IV of Salerno toGiorgio Maniace 's Sicilian expedition in1038 . According toAmatus of Montecassino , he refused to surrender a captured horse to the Byzantine general and Maniace consequently had him stripped and beaten. Whatever happened, Arduin and his Salernitan contingent along with the Normans (also sent by Guaimar) and theVarangian s (sent by EmperorConstantine IX ) abandoned Sicily and returned to the mainland.On the peninsula, the Byzantine catepan of Italy,
Michael Doukeianos , appointed him "topoterites " ofMelfi . He soon revolted against Greek authority inApulia and he and his Normans joined the rebellion-in-progress ofArgyrus . First, the nominal leader of the insurrection,Atenulf, Prince of Benevento , defected to the Greeks and then Argyrus, his successor. The Normans, bypassing Arduin (who may also have been bought off by the Greeks), chose their own successor to Argyrus,William Iron Arm , and Arduin faded completely out of view.ources
*Norwich, John Julius. "The Normans in the South 1016-1130". London: Longman, 1967.
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