{{Short description|Battle in 1041 in Italy}} {{Infobox military conflict |conflict=Battle of Montemaggiore | image= Sö 65, Djulefors.jpg | image_size = 220 |caption= A [[Italy Runestones|runestone]] from [[Södermanland]], [[Sweden]], in contemporary [[Ringerike style]] commemorating a [[Varangian Guard]] fallen in ''[[Longobardia|Langbarðalandi]]'' |partof=the [[Norman conquest of southern Italy]] |date=4 May 1041 |place=[[Ofanto]] river, near [[Cannae]], [[Catepanate of Italy|Byzantine Italy]] | coordinates = {{Coord|format=dms|display=it}} | map_type = Italy | map_relief = yes | map_size = | map_marksize = | map_caption = | map_label = | map_mark = | casus = | territory = |result=Norman victory |combatant1=[[Byzantine Empire]] * [[Varangian Guard]] |combatant2=[[Normans]] *[[Lombardy|Lombard]] auxiliaries<ref name=HUM/>{{#tag:ref|... ''who had now allied with themselves a considerable host of Italians living around the river Po and in the foothills of the Alps''<ref name=HUM/>|group=nb}} |commander1=[[Michael Dokeianos]]<br />[[Harald Hardrada]] |commander2=[[William Iron Arm]]<br />[[Rainulf Drengot]] |strength1=Several thousand (Brown)<br />18,000 (Bari Annals) |strength2=700 Norman knights<br />1,300 infantry soldiers (Humble) |casualties1=Heavy |casualties2=Unknown }} {{Campaignbox Byzantine-Norman Wars}} The '''Battle of Montemaggiore''' (or '''Monte Maggiore''') was fought on 4 May 1041, on the river [[Ofanto]] near [[Cannae]] in [[Catepanate of Italy|Byzantine Italy]], between [[Lombards|Lombard]]-[[Normans|Norman]] rebel forces and the [[Byzantine Empire]]. The Norman [[William Iron Arm]] led the offence, which was part of a greater revolt, against [[Michael Dokeianos]], the Byzantine [[Catepanate of Italy#Catepans|Catepan of Italy]]. Suffering heavy losses in the battle, the Byzantines were eventually defeated, and the remaining forces retreated to [[Bari]]. Dokeianos was replaced and transferred to [[Sicily]] as a result of the battle. The victory provided the Normans with increasing amounts of resources, as well as a renewed surge of knights joining the rebellion.
==Background== The battle was fought on 4 May 1041, less than two months after the [[Battle of Olivento]],<ref name="Jaques680">{{harvnb|Jaques|2007|p=680}}.</ref> the first battle of a renewed revolt of Lombard-Norman forces against the Byzantine Empire<ref name="Kleinhenz1068">{{harvnb|Kleinhenz|2004|p=1068}}.</ref> instigated by [[Arduin the Lombard]].<ref>{{harvnb|Brown|2003|pp=38–39}}.</ref> The battle at Olivento was the first battle between Normans and Byzantines since the [[Battle of Cannae (1018)|Battle of Cannae]] in 1018, but the outcome shifted this time from Byzantine victory to defeat.<ref name="Brown42">{{harvnb|Brown|2003|p=42}}.</ref>
While the Normans originally only fought as mercenaries in [[Italy]], they took increasing control during the 1041 revolt, and started to carve out territory for themselves after the Battle of Montemaggiore.<ref name="Rogers">{{harvnb|Rogers|2010|loc="Norman Conquests, Norman Expansion: Southern Italy and Sicily", p. 68}}.</ref> The site of the battle was the river Ofanto<ref name="Jaques680"/> near Cannae, but the name of the mountain [[Monte Maggiore (Foggia)|Montemaggiore]] is usually used to refer to the 1041 battle.<ref name="Bradbury160">{{harvnb|Bradbury|2004|p=160}}.</ref>
==Battle== The Norman offence at Montemaggiore was led by William Iron Arm,<ref name="Bradbury160"/> who was elected the leader of the Normans.<ref name="Brown43">{{harvnb|Brown|2003|p=43}}.</ref> Also present were William's two younger brothers, [[Drogo of Hauteville|Drogo]] and [[Humphrey of Hauteville|Humphrey]].<ref name="Kleinhenz1068"/><ref name="Brown43"/> The Norman contingent gained considerable strength following the previous battle at Olivento, as new [[Lombardy|Lombard]] auxiliaries from the northern part of [[Italy]]<ref name=HUM>{{cite book|title=John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811–1057 |first=John |last=Wortley |year=2010 |place=Cambridge University Press |page=401}}</ref> and Norman mercenaries from [[Salerno]] and [[Aversa]], led by [[Rainulf Drengot]], bolstered their ranks.<ref name="Brown43"/> The Norman army is said to have included 2,000 Norman knights, considered an inflated number by modern historians, in addition to Lombard infantry and heavy cavalry formations.<ref name="Brown43"/><ref name="Beeler68">{{harvnb|Beeler|1971|p=68}}.</ref> Historian Richard Humble has put the army's numbers at 700 Norman knights and about 1,300 foot soldiers,<ref>{{harvnb|Humble|1989|p=78}}.</ref> roughly double the number estimated by Gordon S. Brown for the preceding battle, in Olivento.<ref name="Brown43"/>
The Byzantine catepan, Michael Dokeianos,<ref name="Beeler68"/> met the Normans with a numerically greater army.<ref name="Blöndal-Benedikz70">{{harvnb|Blöndal|Benedikz|2007|p=70}}.</ref> His army is claimed to have included 18,000 men in the [[Bari Annals]] (''Annales barenses''),<ref>{{harvnb|Jansen|Drell|Andrews|2010|p=493}}.</ref> but estimated by Brown as "several thousand" (at Olivento).<ref name="Brown42"/> The army was divided into two lines, and consisted of fresh troops from Asia and returning soldiers from Sicily.<ref name="Gravett-Nicolle102">{{harvnb|Gravett|Nicolle|2007|p=102}}.</ref> The Byzantine forces also included the [[Vikings|Norse]]-dominated [[Varangian Guard]],<ref name="Beeler68"/> led by the future [[Norway|Norwegian]] king [[Harald Hardrada]],<ref name="Blöndal-Benedikz70"/> and was morally bolstered by the presence of two [[Byzantine Rite|Greek Rite]] bishops from Troia and Ofanto.<ref name="Brown43"/>
The Normans attacked the Byzantines in a spearhead formation, which led the first line to be driven into the second, and in turn causing confusion among the Byzantines.<ref name="Gravett-Nicolle102"/> William suffered from fever and initially watched the fight from a hill, but eventually joined the battle as he was overcome with excitement.<ref name="Bradbury160"/><ref name="Brown43"/> A great number of Byzantine soldiers, including the two bishops, drowned in the Ofanto attempting to flee.<ref name="Brown43"/> A particularly great number of Varangians also fell in battle,<ref name="Blöndal-Benedikz70"/> and the Byzantines were eventually defeated in the battle.<ref name="Gravett-Nicolle102"/> The Norman victory has been attributed in particular to the addition of the Norman heavy cavalry.<ref name="Bradbury160"/><ref name="Beeler68"/>
==Aftermath== With the Byzantine army crushed, Michael Dokeianos fell back to the port of Bari, requesting new reinforcements from Sicily.<ref name="Brown43"/> Instead, Dokeianos was transferred to Sicily<ref name="Jaques680"/> and replaced by [[Exaugustus Boioannes]].<ref>{{harvnb|Rogers|2010|loc="Cannae, Battle of", p. 322}}.</ref> The victory at Montemaggiore provided the Normans with their first significant acquisition of war booty, including military equipment, horses, tents, precious fabrics, as well as gold and silver vessels. The enrichment of the soldiers in turn attracted more knights to join the rebellion.<ref name="Brown43"/> The 1041 Lombard-Norman revolt was followed by a third and final battle, the [[Battle of Montepeloso]] in September.<ref name="Kleinhenz1068"/><ref name="Brown43"/>
==References== {{reflist|2}}
==Sources== {{refbegin|2}} *{{cite book|last=Beeler|first=John|year=1971|title=Warfare in Feudal Europe: 730-1200|location=Ithaca, NY|publisher=Cornell University Press|isbn=978-0-8014-9120-7|url=https://archive.org/details/warfareinfeudale0000beel|url-access=registration}} *{{cite book|last1=Blöndal|first=Sigfús|author-link=Sigfús Blöndal|last2=Benedikz|first2=Benedikt S.|year=2007|orig-date=1978|title=The Varangians of Byzantium|location=Cambridge, NY|publisher=Cambridge University|isbn=978-0-521-21745-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vFRug14ui7gC}} *{{cite book|last=Bradbury|first=Jim|year=2004|title=The Routledge Companion to Medieval Warfare|location=New York, NY|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-22126-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=j6y0E6YO-oEC}} *{{cite book|last=Brown|first=Gordon S.|year=2003|title=The Norman Conquest of Southern Italy and Sicily|location=Jefferson, NC|publisher=McFarland & Company Inc., Publishers|isbn=978-0-7864-1472-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c_Pft6RqfYIC}} *{{cite book|last1=Gravett|first1=Christopher|last2=Nicolle|first2=David|year=2007|title=The Normans: Warrior Knights and Their Castles|location=Oxford, UK and New York, NY|publisher=Osprey Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-84603-218-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=83yTb7exBMcC}}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} *{{cite book|last1=Humble|first1=Richard|year=1989|title=Warfare in the Middle Ages|location=United States|publisher=Mallard Press|isbn=978-0-7924-5089-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SRSdKzFiKbIC}} *{{cite book|last=Jaques|first=Tony|year=2007|title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-first Century|location=Westport, CT|publisher=Greenwood Press|isbn=978-0-313-33538-9|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dh6jydKXikoC}} *{{cite book|last1=Jansen|first1=Katherine L.|last2=Drell|first2=Joanna|last3=Andrews|first3=Frances|year=2010|title=Medieval Italy: Texts in Translation|location=Philadelphia, PA|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=978-0-8122-2058-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dkam8CDGibEC}} *{{cite book|last=Kleinhenz|first=Christopher|year=2004|title=Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia|volume=2|location=New York and London|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-93931-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=spKxJeHJgTAC}} *{{cite book|last=Rogers|first=Clifford J.|year=2010|title=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology|volume=1|location=New York, NY|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-533403-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mzwpq6bLHhMC}} *{{John Skylitzes: A Synopsis of Byzantine History, 811–1057}} {{refend|2}}
===Footnotes=== {{Reflist|2|group=nb}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1041|Montemaggiore]] [[Category:1041 in Europe]] [[Category:1040s in the Byzantine Empire]] [[Category:11th century in Italy]] [[Category:Battles involving the Byzantine Empire|Montemaggiore]] [[Category:Battles of the Norman conquest of southern Italy|Montemaggiore]] [[Category:Battles of the Byzantine–Norman wars|Montemaggiore]] [[Category:Catepanate of Italy]] [[Category:Battles involving the Varangian Guard|Montemaggiore]] [[Category:Harald Hardrada]]