Guy of Hauteville

Who was Guy of Hauteville?

Guy of Hauteville was the second son of Robert Guiscard and his second wife, Sichelgaita. He was created duke of Amalfi sometime after the conquest of that city in 1073.

According to Anna Comnena, Guy took part in his father's Balkan expeditions of 1084–1085. The Byzantine chronicler says also that the Emperor Alexius I Comnenus offered Guy a profitable marriage, high office, and a great sum of money, but Guy did not accept immediately. This has been doubted by some modern historians, who see no evidence of infidelity towards his father.

After distinguishing himself in service to his eldest half-brother, Bohemond, and his father's death, Guy did join the emperor's court. In 1098, Guy travelled with the emperor to the rescue of the Crusaders besieging Antioch. Stephen II, Count of Blois, however, told the emperor to turn around for the Franks were surely annihilated and the emperor, with the Turks at his door, happily did. Guy was the sole dissenting voice in his council, perhaps because Bohemond was at the siege.