The History of the Legacy of Apulia
Chapter 1: Not So Humble Beginnings
At the time of the Battle of Hastings in England, the country which would eventually unify Italy was known as the Duchy of Apulia; Its duke, Robert Hauteville.
It was bordered to the north by the Holy Roman Empire and the Papal State, to the west by three independent Italian states, and to the south by three Sicilian Islamic Sheikdoms.
While Robert Hauteville had claims upon two of the bordering counties, he first looked south, believing that the heathens needed to be expelled from all rightful Italian land before more could be done. His hostility towards the Sheikdoms of Siracusa, Palmero and Trapani would be known as the Purification Wars.
However, before going to war, Robert would receive an emissary from the Republic of Venice, wishing for an alliance between them. While Robert knew that, eventually, he intended Venice to fall under his wing, he simply could not refuse such a valuable ally.
Robert first turned his sights towards the Sheikdom of Siracusa, it being the smaller of the two Sheikdoms which immediately bordered his Duchy.
It was a quick and decisive war, ending in barely a few months in July of 1068, although it did start the massive debt which would follow Robert throughout the wars and later on.
After Siracusa was "purified" of the heathens, Robert quickly turned his attention towards Palmero, declaring war in November of the same year that Siracusa was defeated. Facing a much stronger Sheikdom than before, Robert called upon more troops to fight, leading to an increasingly large debt.
The first battle of the war, the Battle of Messina, began in December of 1068. It was a complete and utter disaster for Robert and Apulia. The Sheik of Palmero sent his main force, which outnumbered the Apulians there by three to one. The entire force from the County of Foggia was captured or killed. However, this distraction allowed the main force of Apulia to march onto Palmeran soil.
The Sheik of Palmero soon sent his main force to his home county, hoping to fight off the main force of Apulia, while sending a secondary force to besiege the newly Apulian Siracusa.
With the forces of the Sheik reaching their home soil, the Battle of Palmero erupted in February of 1069
The Apulians, this time, were only slightly outnumbered. Also, they had, at this battle, something they did not have at Messina: A massive force of knights and light cavalry.
The battle was won by the Apulians; the forces of the Sheik too tired from the recent Battle of Messina to put up a fight against the knights of Apulia.
In August of 1069, the fortress at Palmero fell to the Apulians. The Sheik quickly sent a peace request to Robert, hoping that money would guide away Robert's zealous hand. However, Robert would have none of it. Angrily denying the peace request, he proceeded to send his main force to Siracusa, to liberate it from the besieging Muslims.
Siracusa was easily liberated, and sent his force to besiege Argigento. During this time, the Sheik sent many requests for an end to the warfare, but Robert sent the emissary away every time.
Showing the zealousness of Robert in his campaign to expel the heathens from Sicily, Robert even ignored domestic concerns back in Apulia, leading to the beginnings of dissent.
At Argigento, the last of the Sheik's forces assembled in August of 1069. They were easily and quickly annihilated. Argigento was taken in December of that year, just after Christmas.
This time, Robert sent his own peace request: He demanded the full annexation of Palmero. The Sheik had no choice but to agree.
With one last Muslim county left, Robert now looked at Trapani. Wishing to finish them off quickly, so as to cut off the now incredible debt incurred by the war as soon as possible, Robert gathered forces from the recently seized Palmero and Siracusa.
Declaring war, he led these forces into the Battle of Trapani, easily winning it and laying siege to Trapani.
Trapani fell in March of 1070. With Sicily liberated from the Muslims, Robert would disband his forces, and attempt to eliminate his debt.
However, even with the massive debt, he would still look greedily to the Christian nations nearest to him, hoping for, possibly, peaceful vassalisation.
And, with the Holy Roman Empire begging to collapse under its own weight, opportunities for both peaceful unifications and violent takeovers were appearing for Robert in northern Italy. Whether or not Robert would take these opportunities was yet to be seen.
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