Jordan of Hauteville

Who was Jordan of Hauteville?

Jordan of Hauteville was the eldest son and bastard of Roger I of Sicily. A fighter, he took part, from an early age, in the conquests of his father in Sicily.

In 1077, at the siege of Trapani, one of two Saracen strongholds remaining in the west of the island, Jordan led a sortie which successfully surprised the guards of the garrison's grazing animals. Its food supply now cut off, the city soon surrendered. He was present at the siege of Taormina in 1079 and, in 1081, with Robert of Sourdeval and Elias Cartomi, he retook the city of Catania from the last emir of Syracuse, Ibn Abbad, in another surprise attack. The next year, while his father was away helping Robert Guiscard, his brother the Duke of Apulia, Jordan was left in charge. But in the summer of 1083, Jordan led a few disaffected nobles in rebellion. His father returned and immediately blinded the leaders of the revolt, only pardoning his son at the last moment, to instill in him a healthy respect for authority. He was loyal ever thereafter.

On 22 May 1085, the fleet of his father anchored offshore of Jordan's own cavalry forces fifteen mile north of Syracuse.