Richard of Salerno

Who was Richard of Salerno?

Richard of Salerno, who is not to be confused with his homonym cousin Richard of Hauteville, was a participant in the First Crusade and regent of the County of Edessa from 1104 to 1108.

Richard was born around 1060, the third son of William of the Principate, a Norman count, and Mary, daughter of Guido, the Lombard duke of Sorrento. He was also one of the many nephews of Robert Guiscard and Roger I of Sicily and in his early life Richard participated with his two famous uncles to the conquest of Sicily.

In 1097, Richard joined his cousins, Bohemund of Taranto and Tancred, on the First Crusade. Richard and Tancred were notable for being among the few Crusaders who could speak Arabic, an ability doubtlessly learned during the wars in Sicily, which had a strong Arab presence. Anna Komnene relates that when Richard crossed the Adriatic Sea, his ship was attacked and captured by the Byzantine fleet, who had mistaken him for a pirate. He was soon released and joined the main Crusader army marching through Bulgaria and Hungary. Along with Tancred, Richard refused to swear an oath of fidelity to the Byzantine emperor Alexius I Comnenus, preferring to cross the Bosphorus in secret.