Battle of Cannae (1018)

For the Second Punic War battle of 216 BC, see Battle of Cannae.

The Battle of Cannae was a battle that took place in 1018 between the Byzantines under the Catepan of Italy Basil Boioannes and the Lombards under Melus of Bari.[1] The Lombards had also hired some Norman cavalry mercenaries[2] under their leader Gilbert Buatère, while Boioannes had a detachment of elite Varangian Guard sent to him at his request to combat the Normans.[1]

The battle was disastrous for the Lombards, who were routed.[1] Melus of Bari managed to escape to the Papal States and eventually to the court of Holy Roman Emperor Henry II at Bamberg. The Normans lost their leader, Gilbert Buatère, and most of their group. However, what remained of this group of Normans was the first of many to go to southern Italy.

Oddly, within a year, a Norman garrison would be stationed at Troia in the pay of the Byzantine Empire.[3]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 John Beeler, Warfare in Fedual Europe, 730-1200, (Cornell University Press, 1971), 65-66.
  2. ↑ Georgios Theotokis, The Norman Campaigns in the Balkans, 1081-1108, (The Boydell Press, 2014), 3.
  3. ↑ Georgios Theotokis, The Norman Campaigns in the Balkans, 1081-1108, 53.

References

Coordinates: 41°17′47″N 16°9′6″E / 41.29639°N 16.15167°E / 41.29639; 16.15167

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