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[[File:Italy and Illyria 1084 v2.svg|thumb|right|300px|Map showing Norman progress in Sicily at the time of Robert's expeditions to the Balkans. Capua, Apulia and Calabria, and the County of Sicily are Norman. However, the Emirate of Sicily and the [[Duchy of Naples]] have yet to be conquered, as well as lands in the Abruzzo, in the south of the Duchy of Spoleto.]]
[[Geoffrey of Taranto|Geoffrey]], son of Peter I of Trani, conquered [[Otranto]] in 1063 and [[Taranto]] (which he made the seat of his county) in 1064. In 1066 he organised an army to cross the sea and attack "Romania" (the Byzantine Balkans), but he was halted near Bari by an army of Varangian auxiliaries that had recently landed under the leadership of a catapan named [[Mabrica]]. This catapan retook Brindisi and Taranto (briefly) and established a garrison at the former under [[Nikephoros Karantenos]], an experienced Byzantine soldier from the wars with the [[Bulgars]]. The catapan experienced a series of successes against the Normans in Italy, but it was the last significant threat the Byzantines imposed in that quarter. Bari, the capital of the Byzantine catapanate, was besieged by the Normans from August 1068. In April 1071
After expelling the Byzantines from Apulia and Calabria (their [[themata|theme]] of [[Langobardia (Theme)|Langobardia]]), Robert Guiscard eyed an attack on Byzantine possessions in the [[Balkans]], in Greece itself; for the Byzantines had happily supported [[Abelard of Hauteville|Abelard]] and [[Herman of Hauteville|Herman]], the dispossessed son of Count Humphrey and Robert's nephews, in their insurrection against Robert's authority and they had supported [[Henry, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo]], who recognised Byzantine suzerainty in [[County of Monte Sant'Angelo|his county]], against Robert as well.
In 1073-1975 Robert's vassal [[Peter II of Trani]] led an expedition into the Balkans, against the [[Dalmatia]]n lands of the [[Medieval Kingdom of Croatia|Kingdom of Croatia]]. Peter's cousin, [[Amicus of Giovinazzo|Amico]], son of [[Walter of Giovinazzo]], attacked the islands of [[Rab]] and [[Cres]], ambushing and taking the Croatian king [[Peter Kresimir IV of Croatia|Petar Krešimir IV]] captive. The king was ransomed for a large sum by the [[Bishop of Cres]], but died shortly thereafter, being buried in the church of of [[Saint Stephen]] in the [[Klis Fortress|fortress of Klis]].
Robert undertook his first Balkan expedition in May 1081, when he left from Brindisi with some 16,000 men and by February 1082 had captured [[Corfu]] and [[Durazzo]], even defeating the [[Alexius I Comnenus|Emperor Alexius I]] at the [[Battle of Dyrrhachium (1081)|Battle of Dyrrhachium]] in October (1081). Robert's son, [[Bohemond I of Antioch|Mark Bohemond]], for a time mastered [[Thessaly]] and, in Robert's absence, tried to hold the conquests of 1081–1082, but in this he ultimately failed. Robert returned in 1084 to restore them, occupying Corfu and [[Kephalonia]], where he died of a fever on 15 July 1085. The small town of [[Fiskardo]] on Kephalonia is named after him. Bohemond did not continue to pursue conquest in Greece, instead returning to Italy, there to dispute the succession to Robert with his half-brother [[Roger Borsa]].
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== External links ==
*[http://www.norman-world.com/angleterre/index.htm The Normans, a European People], by the [[European Commission]]
*[http://books.google.hr/books?id=ML-aXrrBrv8C&pg=PA1608&lpg=PA1608&dq=peter+kresimir+norman&source=bl&ots=IY97aM89-X&sig=wngRIz4NgTUxpEezjITAqCo_aFs&hl=hr&sa=X&ei=qIKWUbfHHcbK4ATAUw&ved=0CGEQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=peter%20kresimir%20norman&f=false Norman mercenaries invaded Croatia and captured King Petar Krešimir IV (the book "Western Balkans - History and Movements of People", published by Marshall Cavendish Corporation, Tarrytown, NY 10591, USA)
[[Category:11th-century conflicts]]
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[[Category:Invasions]]
[[Category:Wars involving the Byzantine Empire]]
[[Category:Wars involving medieval Croatia]]
[[Category:Military history of Sicily]]
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