Bohemond of Taranto
| Bohemond I | |
|---|---|
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Portrait by François-Edouard Picot
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| Prince of Antioch | |
| Tenure | 1098–1111 |
| Successor | Bohemond II |
| Born |
c. 1054 San Marco Argentano, Calabria |
| Died | 3 March 1111 (aged 57) |
| Spouse | Constance of France |
| Issue | Bohemond II of Antioch |
| House | Hauteville family |
| Father | Robert Guiscard |
| Mother | Alberada of Buonalbergo |
Bohemond I (c. 1054 – 3 March 1111) was the Prince of Taranto from 1089 to 1111 and the Prince of Antioch from 1098 to 1111. He was a leader of the First Crusade, which was governed by a committee of nobles. The Norman monarchy he founded in Antioch arguably outlasted those of England and of Sicily.
Bohemond was the son of Robert Guiscard, Count of Apulia and Calabria, and his first wife, Alberada of Buonalbergo. He was born between 1050 and 1058—in 1054 according to historian John Julius Norwich. He was baptised Mark, possibly because he was born at his father's castle at San Marco Argentano in Calabria. He was nicknamed Bohemond after a legendary giant.
His parents were related within the degree of kinship that made their marriage invalid under canon law. In 1058, Pope Nicholas II strengthened existing canon law against consanguinity and, on that basis, Guiscard repudiated Alberada in favour of a then more advantageous marriage to Sikelgaita, the sister of Gisulf, the Lombard Prince of Salerno. With the annulment of his parents' marriage, Bohemond became a bastard. Before long, Alberada married Robert Guiscard's nephew, Richard of Hauteville. She arranged for a knightly education for Bohemond.
Robert Guiscard was taken seriously ill in early 1073. Fearing that he was dying, Sikelgaita held an assembly in Bari. She persuaded Robert's vassals who were present to proclaim her eldest son, the thirteen-year-old Roger Borsa, Robert's heir, claiming that the half-Lombard Roger would be the ruler most acceptable to the Lombard nobles in Southern Italy. Robert's nephew, Abelard of Hauteville, was the only baron to protest, because he regarded himself Robert's lawful heir.
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