Sikelgaita de Salerno

  General Notes:

Sikelgaita frequently accompanied Robert on his conquests. Although at first she tried to persuade him not to attack the Byzantine Empire, she accompanied him on his campaign against them as well. At the Battle of Dyrrhachium she fought in full armour, rallying Robert's troops when they were initially repulsed by the Byzantine army. According to the Byzantine chronicler Anna Comnena , she was "like another Pallas, if not a second Athena," and Anna attributes to her a quote from the Iliad.

In 1083 Sikelgaita returned to Italy with Robert to defend Pope Gregory VII against Holy Roman emperor Henry IV . She accompanied him on a second campaign against the Byzantines, during which Robert died on Corfu in 1085 with Sikelgaita at his side. Supposedly, she tried to poison Robert's son ( Bohemund of Taranto ) by his first wife, although the two eventually came to an agreement by which Roger Borsa was allowed to succeed Robert.

  Noted events in her life were:

• Inheritance: She was a Lombard Princess.

Sikelgaita married Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apuila & Calabria about 1058. (Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apuila & Calabria was born circa 1015 and died circa 1085 in Corfu.)