BOEMONDO of TARANTO. - Norman prince, son of Roberto il Guiscardo and Alberada, who lived in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. He took part with his father in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and followed him on the Balkan expedition against the Byzantine Empire. When the Guiscardo was recalled by Gregorio VII, B. assumed command of the Norman troops, inflicting defeats upon Alessio Comneno (1083). After his father’s death, he disputed the succession to the duchy of Puglia with his brother Ruggero (1085) and seized the province of Taranto, which was granted to him «pro bono pacis». Again at war with his brother, he won over the son of Ugo Falluca, lord of Catanzaro, and rebellious Cosenza (1087). Later (1093), on the false report of his brother’s death, he seized several lands in Calabria, which he restored, obtaining peace. In 1096 he took part in the siege of Amalfi, which he abandoned in order to join the First Crusade. On his return, he organized for the second time an expedition against the Byzantine Empire. He died in 1111, a few days after his brother.
Boemondo of Taranto
BIBL.: F. Chalandon, Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile, II, Paris 1907, pp. 278–89 and passim; G. Malaterra, De rebus gestis Rogerii, in Rerum Italicarum Scriptorum, V, 2nd ed., Bologna 1928, passim (v. indice); Amato da Montecassino, Storia dei Normanni, edited by V. de Bartholomaeis, in Fonti per la Storia d'Italia dell'Istit. Stor. Ital., Rome 1935, pp. 124, 198, 298.
Cite this article
“BOEMONDO DI TARANTO.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. II (1949), p. 1009. Azione Romana digital edition, https://azioneromana.com/article/boemondo-di-taranto.