Roussel de Bailleul

Roussel de Bailleul

Roussel de Bailleul (also Ursellus de Ballione in Latin or Roscelin or Roskelin de Baieul, called Urselius by Anna Comnena) (died 1077), also known as Phrangopoulos (literally "son-of-a-Frank"), was a Norman adventurer (or exile) who travelled to Byzantium and there received employ as a soldier and leader of men from the Emperor Romanus IV (ruled 1068–71).

Roussel was possibly a Frank, but certainly ventured with the Apulian Normans to Italy, settled in Terra d'Otranto and served under Roger de Hauteville in Sicily. According to Geoffrey Malaterra, Roussel distinguished himself with his bravery at the Battle of Cerami, where he urged Count Roger to pursue the fleeing Saracens. Aside from this brief account by Malaterra, The Alexiad of Anna Comnena is the main source for Roussel.

He was present at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, where he refused to join the fray, which proved to be a disastrous defeat for the Byzantines. Despite this treachery, he was kept in imperial service, where good generals were needed, and was sent into Asia Minor again with a force of 3,000 Franco-Norman heavy cavalry. There Roussel conquered some territory in Galatia and declared it an independent state, in 1073, with himself as prince, following the example set by his fellow Normans in the Mezzogiorno. His capital was Ankara, now the capital of Turkey. He defeated the Caesar John Ducas and sacked Chrysopolis, near Constantinople. He even supported a usurper candidate, but by formally ceding lands that the Seljuk Turks had actually conquered, the emperor Michael VII persuaded the Seljuk warlord Tutush I to remove Roussel. However, the Norman evaded imperial would-be captors and found refuge in Amasea, where the population so loved him that he made himself undisputed governor. He was given up by the people through a ploy of Alexius Comnenus (1074), then a general, later an emperor.

In 1077, he was released (for a ransom) from his Constantinopolitan imprisonment to lead a battalion against the rebel Nicephorus Botaniates. He defeated him handily, but then played the traitor and joined him. This time, the emperor called up the Seljuks again and they defeated and captured him at Nicomedia. He was given over to Byzantium and executed.

It is uncertain what exact relationship he might have had with the House of Balliol.

His life and career in Byzantine service was fictionalized in Alfred Duggan's novel The Lady for Ransom.

Sources

  • Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South, 1016–1130. London: Longmans, 1967.
  • Gravett, Christopher, and Nicolle, David. The Normans: Warrior Knights and their Castles. Oxford: Osprey Publishing, 2006.

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Roussel de bailleul — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Roussel. Roussel de Bailleul (ou Roscelin de Baieul ; de Roskelin) est un aventurier normand fondateur, dans les années 1070, d une éphémère principauté en Asie mineure. Biographie Bien qu il soit dit… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Roussel de Bailleul — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Roussel. Roussel de Bailleul (ou Ursellus de Ballione ou Roscelin de Baieul ; de Roskelin, parfois Oursel[1]) est un aventurier normand fondateur, dans les années 1070, d une éphémère principauté en Asie… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Roussel de Bailleul —    Commander of the Norman (q.v.) mercenaries at the battle of Mantzikert (q.v.) in 1071. Previous Norman commanders Robert Crespin and Hervé Frankopoulos (q.v.) proved unreliable, as did Roussel, who sought to use the turmoil in Asia Minor… …   Historical dictionary of Byzantium

  • Roussel — can refer to:People: * Albert Roussel (1869 1937), a French composer * Athina Roussel (1985 present), a competitive French show jumper * Cédric Roussel (1978 present), a Belgian football striker * Dominic Roussel (1970 present), a retired… …   Wikipedia

  • Roussel — ist der Familienname folgender Personen: Albert Roussel (1869–1937), französischer Komponist Dominic Roussel (* 1970), kanadischer Eishockeytorwart Gaëtan Roussel (* 1972), französischer Singer Songwriter Henri Roussel (1915–1998), französischer… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Bailleul — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom. Patronyme Bailleul est un nom de famille notamment porté par : Maison de Bailleul (Balliol en anglais), famille normande comptant dans ses ascendants …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Roussel — Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom.  Pour l’article homophone, voir Rousselle. Sommaire …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Roussel Frangopolos — Roussel Phrangopolos oder Ursel von Bailleul (de Ballione) war ein normannischer Söldner (misthophoros) im byzantinischen Heer, der zwischen 1070 und 1075 versuchte, ein eigenes Herrschaftsgebiet in Anatolien einzurichten. Seine genaue Herkunft… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Roussel Phrangopolos — oder Ursel von Bailleul (de Ballione) († 1077) war ein normannischer Söldner (misthophoros) im byzantinischen Heer, der zwischen 1070 und 1075 versuchte, ein eigenes Herrschaftsgebiet in Anatolien einzurichten. Seine genaue Herkunft ist unklar,… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Établissements Roussel — Roussel war ein französischer Hersteller von Automobilen. Unternehmensgeschichte Das Unternehmen Établissements Roussel aus Charleville Mézières begann 1908 mit der Produktion von Automobilen. 1914 wurde die Produktion eingestellt. Fahrzeuge… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”