Abelard of Hauteville

Abelard of Hauteville[1] (c. 1044 – 1081) was the eldest son of Humphrey, count of Apulia and Calabria (1051–1057), and his Lombard wife, Gaitelgrima of Salerno, also known as Altrude.

He was supposed to inherit his father's lands, but Robert Guiscard, his uncle and guardian, who was elected count on Humphrey's death, confiscated them.

They received the aid, financial and military, of Perenos, the Byzantine duke of Durazzo, and held out for several years, neither making headway against Robert nor he against them.

On 1 January 1068, Romanus Diogenes was acclaimed emperor in Constantinople and the Greeks transferred their military attention to the Seljuk threat to their east.

However, he fell ill at Trani and was taken to Bari, where Sichelgaita, his wife, had the barons proclaim her son Roger Borsa his heir.