Lars Brownworth, author of "Lost to the West" and creator of the "12 Byzantine Rulers" podcast prese
The Principality of Antioch outlasted the Norman Kingdom of Sicily by a century, and its founder by
The First Crusade fell like a present into Bohemond's lap. Italy wasn't big enough for his ambitions
A great father can be both a blessing and a curse, and no one was more aware of that than Bohemond d
Frederick II was the most polarizing figure to rule as king of Sicily. To some he was the antichrist
Tancred of Lecce came to the throne of Sicily in its darkest hour. Mocked by his critics as the 'Mon
William II presided over a golden age of internal peace and prosperity, and when he died suddenly in
If Roger II had been the 'baptized Sultan', his son William forgot the water. Despised by his legend
In the Spring of 1133 the new Norman Kingdom of Sicily seemed about to be shattered. Roger II, its c
Roger II was never supposed to inherit his father's possessions. He was the youngest of 18 children,
Roger de Hauteville was a strange conqueror. The youngest of twelve sons he was the last to come to
By 1071 Robert Guiscard had risen to the height of power in Italy. The grumbling Lombards had been f
Robert Guiscard arrived in Italy as a simple knight, hoping to benefit from his brother's wealth and
In Duke Richard II's Normandy an impoverished knight named Tancred de Hauteville struggled to provid
King Harold wanted nothing more than a peaceful reign, but was destined to spend his time on the thr
England on the eve of the Conquest was torn between the old King Edward the Confessor and the powerf
The young Duke William seemed destined not to survive his childhood. Orphaned before he was ten, he
The reign of Robert I began under the dark suspicion of murder and descended into chaos as the young
At the start of Richard II's reign northern Europe was once again subjected to a wave of Viking atta
With the death of Rollo and his son, Normandy seemed poised on the brink of disaster. Its nobles wer
They were the great success story of the Middle Ages, a footloose band of individual adventurers who
