The Normans
What has this to do with the Balkans you ask?
Well Norman mercenaries could be found across the Balkans in the 11th Century. They were a key element of crusading armies of the period, many of which made their way to Byzantium through the Balkans.
However, the most significant impact came in May 1081 when Robert Guiscard and his Norman/Italian army landed at Avlona on the Albanian coast. He marched north to lay siege to the Byzantine regional capital Dyrrachion (modern Durres). Robert was a member of the Hauteville clan of Normans who had carved out an empire in Southern Italy at the expense of the Lombards and the Byzantines. His aim was to do the same in the Balkans assisted by his son Bohemund. He won the battle but lost the war.
The Normans are the great story of the 11th Century and one of my favourite wargames army.
Well Norman mercenaries could be found across the Balkans in the 11th Century. They were a key element of crusading armies of the period, many of which made their way to Byzantium through the Balkans.
However, the most significant impact came in May 1081 when Robert Guiscard and his Norman/Italian army landed at Avlona on the Albanian coast. He marched north to lay siege to the Byzantine regional capital Dyrrachion (modern Durres). Robert was a member of the Hauteville clan of Normans who had carved out an empire in Southern Italy at the expense of the Lombards and the Byzantines. His aim was to do the same in the Balkans assisted by his son Bohemund. He won the battle but lost the war.
The Normans are the great story of the 11th Century and one of my favourite wargames army.
Further reading
There are masses of books on the Normans but for this part of the world these are the must read:
John Julian Norwich The Normans in the South Longmans
John Julian Norwich Byzantium – Decline and Fall Viking
Georgios Theotokis. The Norman Campaigns in the Balkans Boydell 2014
There are masses of books on the Normans but for this part of the world these are the must read:
John Julian Norwich The Normans in the South Longmans
John Julian Norwich Byzantium – Decline and Fall Viking
Georgios Theotokis. The Norman Campaigns in the Balkans Boydell 2014
