In 1046 William of Apulia died, and Drogo, his brother, succeeded him. Henry III., then in Italy, recognised Drogo as Count of Apulia, while renewing the grant of Aversa to another Ranulf. He also urged the Normans to drive out of Benevento the Lombards, who after the spread of the Norman power were making common cause with the Greeks. [Sidenote: Robert Guiscard.] About this time a fourth son of Tancred of Hauteville came to Italy, where he soon made himself the hero of the Norman conquerors. Anna Comnena, the literary daughter of the Emperor Alexius, describes Robert Guiscard as he appeared to his enemies. ‘His high stature excelled that of the most mighty warriors. His complexion was ruddy, his hair fair, his shoulders broad, his eyes flashed fire. It is said that his voice was like the voice of a whole multitude, and could put to flight an army of sixty thousand men.’ A poor gentleman’s son, Robert was consumed by ambition to do great deeds, and joined to great bravery and strength an extraordinary subtlety of spirit. His surname of Guiscard is thought to testify to his ability and craft. Badly received by his brothers in Apulia, he was reduced to taking service with the Prince of Capua against his rival of Salerno. Events soon gave him an opportunity of striking a blow for himself.
Meanwhile, a formidable combination was forming against the Normans. Argyrus, son of Meles, had deserted his father’s policy and came from Constantinople, as Patrician and Catapan (Governor), with special commissions from the Emperor. [Sidenote: Leo IX. turns against the Normans.] Unable to persuade the Normans to take service with the Emperor against the Persians, he soon waged war openly against them, and procured the murder of Count Drogo in 1051, but was soon driven to take refuge in Bari. Meanwhile Leo IX. had become Pope, and his all-absorbing curiosity had led him to two journeys into southern Italy, where he persuaded the inhabitants of Benevento to accept the protection of the Holy See against the dreaded Northmen. It looked as if the Eastern and Western Empires were likely to combine with the Papacy and the Lombards to get rid of the restless adventurers. In 1052 Henry III. granted the duchy of Benevento to the Roman Church, and Leo hurried from Hungary to southern Italy to enforce his claims on his new possession.