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efore the big fell Bohemond, at that stage attacking Amalfi with Uncle Roger met
up with groups heading out for the First Crusade.
Realizing the opportunities for personal power that the crusades presented,
Bohemond raised his own army of South Italian Normans and joined in, ending up
as Prince of Antioch in the late 1090s. Antioch though was very much a B team
place, and he never cracked the mainstream crusader power base centered on
Jerusalem.
In 1096 Bohemond joined the French forces headed to the Holy Land in what
would later become known as the First Crusade. In spite of his previous hostilities
with Alexius I, Bohemond ultimately swore an oath to the Emperor while passing
through Constantinople on his way to the Holy Land. In 1098 following the capture
of Antioch, Bohemond made himself prince of the city. In doing so, he broke his
oath to Alexius I to return such re-conquered lands, but he cited the lack of
promised assistance from the emperor to argue that the oath was not valid in this
case.
Bohemond ascension to ruler of the city of Antioch became a source of controversy
during and after the crusade and became the basis for some claims that the
crusades were about the conquest and colonization of the Holy Land. Yet this
perspective does not take into consideration the numerous cites and areas that
were returned to the Byzantine Empire in the wake of military victory by the
crusaders.
In the year 1100, Bohemond was captured by Muslims and not released until 1103.
Returning to Europe, he married the Constance, daughter of Philip I of France and
secured support for a crusade against Alexius, by whom he was defeated (1108) and
as a result was forced to reaffirm his vassalage to Alexius and consented to receive
his pay, with the title of Sebastos, and promised to cede disputed territories and to
admit a Greek patriarch into Antioch. In 1109 he was defeated by the Muslims at
Harran. He did not return to Antioch, and his relative Tancred was regent for him.
He died without returning to the East, and was buried at Canosa in Apulia, in 1111.
Roger I – Count of Sicily (1031-1101)
Youngest son of Tancred, brother of Robert - Invested by
brother Robert as Count of Sicily in 1072 though it took
several more years for him to establish control of the whole
island. But by the time he did, Roger had a much tighter
control over Sicily than his brother did over the stroppy
Norman warlords in Southern Italy. Roger had three wives
The Hohenstaufen Dynasty - Page 114 of 200