Villani's Chronicle: Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni VillaniVillani, Giovanni
History
Villani's Chronicle: Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani
Villani, Giovanni
Florence (Italy) -- History
Well, then, as was afore made mention, in the time of the Emperor
Charles, which is called Charles the Fat, which reigned in the years
of our Lord 880 unto 892, the pagan Northmen being come from Norway,
passed into Germany and into France, pressing and tormenting the Gauls
and the Germans. Charles, with a powerful hand, came against the
Northmen, and peace being made and confirmed by matrimony, the king
of the Normans was baptised, and received at the sacred font by the
said Charles, and in the end, Charles not being able to drive the
Normans out of France, granted them a region on the further side of
the Seine, called Lada Serena, the which unto this day is called
Normandy, because of the said Normans, in the which land, from that
time forward, the duke has reigned as king. The first duke, then, was
Robert, to whom succeeded his son William, which begat Richard, and
Richard begat the second Richard. This Richard begat Richard and
Robert Guiscard, the which Robert Guiscard was not duke of Normandy,
but brother of Duke Richard. He, according to their usage, forasmuch
as he was a younger son, had not the lordship of the duchy, and
therefore desiring to make trial of his powers, he came, poor and
needy, into Apulia, where at that time one Robert, a native of the
country, was duke, to whom Robert Guiscard, coming, was first made his
squire and was then knighted by him. Robert Guiscard having come then
to this Duke Robert, won many victories with prowess against his
enemies, for he was at war with the prince of Salerno; and carrying
with him magnificent rewards, he returned into Normandy, bringing back
report of the delights and riches of Apulia, having adorned his horses
with golden bridles and shod them with silver, in witness of the facts
he alleged; by the which thing, having roused many knights, following
this emprise through desire of riches and of glory, returning
incontinent into Apulia, he took them with him, and gave faithful aid
to the duke of Apulia against Godfrey, duke of the Normans; and, not
long time after, Robert, duke of Apulia, being nigh unto death, by the
will of his barons made him his successor in the duchy, and as he had
promised him, he took his daughter to wife the year of Christ 1078.
And a little time after, he conquered Alexis, emperor of
Constantinople, who had taken possession of Sicily and of part of
Calabria, and he conquered the Venetians, and took all the kingdom of
Apulia and of Sicily; and albeit he did this in violation of the Roman
Church, to which the kingdom of Apulia belonged, and albeit the
Countess Matilda made war against Robert Guiscard in the service of
Holy Church; nevertheless, in the end, Robert being, of his own will,
reconciled with Holy Church, was made lord of the said kingdom; and
not long after, Gregory VII., with his cardinals, being besieged by
the Emperor Henry IV. in the castle of S. Angelo, Robert came to Rome
and drave away by force the said Henry with his Anti-pope which he had
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account