When Robert Curthose, who had inherited Normandy, reached Jerusalem on the First Crusade, Bunel pledged allegiance to him and provided him with details of Saracen tactics.
[4] The murder left Bunel as a wanted man; in addition to Mabel's sons he was pursued by agents of his liege lord William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy.
[5] Bunel and his brothers fled into exile to Apulia followed by Sicily and then Byzantium where they entered the service of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r.
[1][2] In 1096, Robert Curthose, the Conqueror's eldest son and successor as Duke of Normandy, raised an army to participate in the First Crusade in the Holy Land.
[1][12][2] Bunel offered to advise Curthose, whom he regarded as his true liege lord, on Saracen tactics and to assist with directing his army.
[14] There is no evidence that Hugh ever received his ancestral lands in Normandy in return for his service to Curthose but it does seem to have put to an end to his pursuit over the murder.