Battle of Cerami

Roger de Hauteville at the Battle of Cerami

Date	June 1063
Location	Cerami (near Troina), Sicily
Result	Norman victory

Belligerents

Normans

Kalbids, Zirids

Commanders and leaders

Roger I of Sicily
Serlo II of Hauteville

Ibn al-Hawas
Prince Ayyub
Prince 'Ali

Strength

136 mounted knights
c. 150 infantry

3,000 horsemen
c. 50,000 infantry (likely exaggerated)

Casualties and losses

Unknown, very few

Extremely heavy, thousands (20,000-35,000)

The Battle of Cerami was fought in June 1063 and was one of the most significant battles in the Norman conquest of Sicily, 1060-1091. The battle was fought between a Norman expeditionary force and a Muslim alliance of Sicilian and Zirid troops. The Normans fought under the command of Roger de Hauteville, the youngest son of Tancred of Hauteville and brother of Robert Guiscard. The Muslim alliance consisted of the native Sicilian Muslims under the Kalbid ruling class of Palermo, led by Ibn al-Hawas, and Zirid reinforcements from North Africa led by the two princes, Ayyub and 'Ali. The battle was a resounding Norman victory that utterly routed the opposing force, causing divisions amongst the Muslim aristocracy which ultimately paved the way for the eventual capture of the Sicilian capital, Palermo, by the Normans and subsequently the rest of the island.

The initial battle took place at the hilltop town of Cerami, around five miles to the west of the Norman stronghold at Troina. However the main battle was joined in the valley just to the south. By all accounts the Normans, numbering 136 knights with probably only slightly more infantry, were heavily outnumbered by their Muslim opponents who some sources claim were as many as 50,000 strong. The best surviving source of information for the battle is found in Geoffrey of Malaterra's De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabriae et Siciliae comitis et Roberti Guiscardi Ducis fratris eius.

Roger de Hauteville had arrived in Italy sometime after the Battle of Civitate in 1053, which had seen his brother Robert Guiscard catapulted into the spotlight. In the ensuing years Robert had inherited his brother Humphrey de Hauteville's lands and titles in southern Italy. As a result of increasing pressure exerted on the papacy by the Holy Roman Emperor, Henry IV, during the Investiture Contest, pope Nicholas II was looking for allies. Despite the Norman victory against, and subsequent incarceration of, his predecessor pope Leo IX in 1053 at Civitate, Nicholas concluded the Synod of Melfi in 1059 by formally acknowledging the Norman possessions in southern Italy and granting Robert the title of Duke of Apulia and Calabria, and in the future, of Sicily. Robert did not have to wait long for an opportunity to invade Sicily.

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Wikipedia