Conquest
1 primary work • 4 total works
Book 1
1033 - Normandy. It will be 30 years before William Duke of Normandy sails to England and does battle at Hastings, but the events that lead up to that epic moment are already taking shape. The twelve sons of Tancred de Hauteville are forced out of their native region of Normandy and take service as mercenaries in Italy - their swords, like those of the confreres who had preceded them, for hire to anyone who would pay. The de Hautvilles were destined to become the most powerful warriors of medieval times.
This is the final book in the heart - stopping trilogy that began with mercenaries. In twenty years, the de Hauteville brothers have gone from penniless obscurity to become the most potent warrior family in Christendom: depended on by the Pope, feared by Byzantium and respected by the Holy Roman Emperor. Now, at the head of the tribe stands Robert, who has only one aim: to expand his power by military conquest. But his younger brother, Roger, has his own ambitions. Yet, the loyalty of blood that binds this family of warriors together is still present and it is that, above everything, which will be the catalyst that propels the name de Hauteville to the pinnacle of power, as they undertake the first true crusade of the 11th century.
The Byzantine Empire rules in Southern Italy, but the indigenous populations are restless. The Lombards are no exception - unwilling subjects to an overwhelming military empire - yet they have been too divided to threaten the hegemony of Constantinople. One of their number, Arduin of Fassano, is appointed by the young Byzantine general, Michael Doukeianos, to hold the key to Apulia, the vital castle of Melfi, unaware that Arduin intends to join his Lombard brethren and rise up in revolt, hiring to aid him the most-feared of all the soldiers in Christendom: the Norman mercenaries of Campania. Led by William de Hauteville, known as Bras de Fer, the eldest of five mercenary brothers, the Normans cross into Apulia intent on more than aiding revolt: they are seeking land and titles for themselves. Will the might of the Byzantine Empire crush Arduin's Lombard revolt? Will his ambitious plan succeed with the help of those great warriors, the de Hauteville brothers? Or will the treachery that stalks the land favour the Normans?
