Order of Medieval Women
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PictureLegend of Sikelgaita saving Robert’s life sucking venom from a poison arrow wound as prescribed by doctors of Schola Medica Salernitana Salerno, Mid 15th century CE © University Library of Bologna, Canon of Avicenna, folio 317v.
Sikelgaita, heiress of Salerno, 1025-1090
Royalty for Commoners Line 297:32; 296:32


Daughter of Guaimar IV, Prince of Salerno, wife to Robert Guiscard d’Hauteville, Duke of Apulia.  Sikelgaita was the  last Lombard princess and the most privileged woman in the Duchy.  She spent much of her time studying medicine at the local medical school in Salerno, a school unique to Europe where disease became something to be diagnosed, treated and potentially cured, ultimately leading to the "scientific" approach.  While it’s believed her marriage to Robert Guiscard was arranged she agreed realizing a union between the Normans and Lombards could enable them to rule much of Italy.  Sikelgaita is described as a woman of immense build and colossal physical strength, proving to be the perfect wife for Robert, scarcely ever leaving her husband’s side—a close political aide and in battle equal in courage to both her husband and step-son who were named as the two outstanding warriors of their age. 

In 1080, while Robert moved against Taranto, Sikelgaita conducted a successful siege of Trani,  a well-fortified city that had been given to Peter I by her father Guimar in 1042.  In 1081, after initially trying to dissuade Robert and his Norman forces from attacking the Byzantine Empire led by Emperor Alexius I Comnenus Sikelgaita appeared on the battlefield, fully armed and mailed, positioned on his left inland flank ready for battle.  According to Byzantine historian Anna Comnena, “Gaita” saved the day, a second Pallas, if not an Anthene, when Sikelgaita saw soldiers running away  she demanding fiercely, in her very powerful voice, how far will you flee?  Stand and fight like men.  When they continued to run she grasped a long spear and at full gallop rushed after the fugitives, on seeing this they recovered themselves and returned to fight.  As the Byzantine army disintegrated fleeting into the field, the Norman pursuit was half-hearted once they discovered the Byzantine camp  contained supplies and a portion of the royal treasury .  The battle of Dyrrhachium had ended, a heavy defeat for Alexios with large casualties on both sides.   

During this same period of time, Robert and Sikelgaita met with Pope Gregory VII who, after excommunicating Robert in 1074, welcomed him back into the community of the faithful in exchange for Guiscard’s promise to be the vassal of the church, defending it against German foes, specifically Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor. 
 
In 1084, Sikelgaita joined her husband again on the battlefields of Greece where they immediately meet and defeated a combined Venetian-Byzantine fleet in a ferocious encounter, taking the island of Corfu and then Kefalonia.  In July 1095, after the battle of Kefalonia Robert took ill and died quickly with Sikelgaita by his side.  She arranged to have his remains returned to Italy to rest in the Hauteville crypt in the Cathedral of Venosa in Puglia.  From 1085-1088 she was regent Dowager Duchess spending much of time in religious seclusion in the Abbey of Montecassino, a place to which she held in a lifelong bond and devotion and at her death in 1190 requested to be buried there.
Picture
Salerno, Cathedral Church of Matthew the Apostle, Bell Tower, begun by Robert Guiscard 1076 CE, consecrated by Pope Gregory VII 1084 CE, site of Pope Gregory’s tomb © Bethold Werner CC BY-SA 3.0.
Map of Norman Lands in Italy & Sicily
​References and Further Reading
  • DeVries, Kelly and Clifford J. Rogers, editors.  The Journal of Medieval Military History, volume 3.   Boydell Press, 2005.
  • Norwich, John Julius.  The Kingdom in the Sun, 1130-1194.  Harper & Row Publishers, 2011.
  • Norwich, John Julius.  The Other Conquest.  Harper & Row Publishers, 1967.
  • “Regent Dowager Duchess Sikelgaita di Salerno .”   Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership, Italy. Web. 30 April 2014.  //www.guide2womenleaders.com/italy_substates.htm 
  • “Sichelgaita.”  Foundation for Medieval Genealogy.   Southern Italy, G.  PRINCES of SALERNO 981-1072 (FAMILY  of LAMBERT) GUAIMAR di​ Salerno,  8.  SICHELGAITA.  Web.  19 June 2014.   //fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/SOUTHERN%20ITALY,%20PRE-NORMAN.htm.
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  • Home
  • About
    • Mission
    • Membership >
      • Genealogical Sources
  • Women of Consequence
    • Early Middle Ages (500-1000) >
      • St. Adelaide of Burgundy
      • St. Bathilde
      • St. Bertha of Kent
      • St. Clothilde
      • St. Olga of Kiev
      • St. Theophana
    • High Middle Ages (1000-1300) >
      • Adelaide of Turin and Susa
      • St. Adela of Normandy & England
      • Anne of Kiev
      • Berengaria of Castile
      • Blanche of Castile
      • Ela, Countess of Salisbury
      • Eleanor of Aquitaine
      • Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd
      • Margaret de Quincy
      • Matilda, the Empress
      • Matilda (Eadgyth) of Scotland
      • Nicholaa de la Haye
      • Sikelgaita, heiress of Salerno
    • Late Middle Ages (1300-1500) >
      • Caterina Sforza
      • Dorothea of Brandenburg
      • Elizabeth de Clare, 11th Lady of Clare
      • Isabella d’Este
      • Isabella I of Castile
      • Isabella of France
      • Jeanne de Belleville
      • Joanna of Flanders
      • Lucrezia Tornabuoni
      • Margaret Beaufort
      • Philippa of Hainault
  • Roll of Honor
    • Æthelflæd, Lady of the Mercians
    • Anna Comnena, Princess of Byzantium
    • Beatriz Gallindo, La Latina
    • Christine de Pizan
    • Emma of Normandy
    • St. Hildegard von Bingen
    • Hrotsvit von Gandersheim
    • Jacqueline Felice de Almania
    • St. Joan of Arc
    • Matilda of Tuscany
    • St. Rodegunda (Radegund)
    • St. Theodora, Byzantine Empress
    • Trota of Salerno
  • Connections
  • Genealogical Charts
    • House of Sforza
    • Welsh Ancestry of English Royalty
    • Descendants of Gwenllian ferch Gruffydd
    • Houses of della Rovere and Gonzaga
    • House of Este
    • House of Trastamara
    • Lords of Clisson
    • Descendants of Jeanne la Flamme
    • House of Medici
    • Genealogy of Nicholaa de la Haye
    • Welsh Kings
  • Maps
    • Early Middle Ages >
      • Kingdom of Burgundy
      • Merovingian Kingdoms
      • Kent England
      • Principality of Kiev, Drevlyans
      • Thuringi & Franci, 6th century Europe
      • Quedlinburg, Germany, circa 962 AD
    • High Middle Ages >
      • Turin & Susa, Italy circa 1050 AD
      • Europe circa 1000 AD
      • Spanish Kingdoms 1210 AD
      • France & Burgundy circa 1032 AD
      • England & France 1152-1327 AD
      • Salisbury, England
      • England & France in the Reign of Henry I
      • Wales
      • Lincoln, England
      • Norman Lands in Italy & Sicily
    • Late Middle Ages >
      • Forli, Italy
      • Sweden circa 1658
      • Usk, Wales and Cambridge, England
      • Ferrera & Mantuga, Italy
      • Iberian Peninsula 1257-1492
      • England & France 1152-1327
      • Clisson, Anjou, France
      • Brittany, France
      • Florence, Italy
      • England & Wales circa 1399
      • Hainault
    • Roll of Honor >
      • Kingdom of Mercia and Surrounding Kingdoms
      • Byzantine Empire 1000-1100
      • Iberian Peninsula 1257-1492
      • Paris, France
      • Dominions of Cnut
      • Bingen, Germany circa 962 AD
      • Gandersheim, Germany circa 962 AD
      • Military Campaign of Joan of Arc
      • Canossa & Tuscany, Italy
      • Eastern Roman Empire circa 565 AD
      • Duchy of Salerno
  • Members Only
    • The Board
    • Bylaws
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