Bohemond of Taranto

Timeline

1. c. 1054–1080Taranto, Apulia · ApuliaBohemond was born to Robert Guiscard and his first wife Alberada, grew up in the Norman military milieu of southern Italy, and received knightly training from childhood. Between 1071 and 1080 he took part in his father's campaigns in southern Italy, gradually displaying military talent on the battlefield.
2. 1081–1085Dyrrhachium (Durrës), Illyria · AlbaniaIn 1081 Bohemond accompanied his father Robert Guiscard on the Byzantine expedition, took part in the Battle of Dyrrhachium, and independently commanded a detachment deep into the Balkans. After his father's death from illness in 1085, he briefly held parts of Apulia but was ultimately driven out by his half-brother Roger Borsa.
3. 1096–1099Antioch, Syria · Northern SyriaIn 1096 Bohemond led Norman forces to join the First Crusade. He directed the Siege of Antioch in 1097–1098, using secret negotiations with a defender to breach the defenses on a night in June 1098, capturing the strategic city and immediately declaring himself Prince of Antioch, refusing to return it to Byzantium.
4. 1099–1111Antioch, Syria · Northern SyriaAfter establishing the Principality of Antioch, Bohemond repeatedly fought the Byzantines, Seljuks, and the Danishmendid dynasty; he was captured by the Danishmendids in 1100 and released in 1103. In 1107 he again invaded Byzantium, was defeated at Dyrrhachium, and was forced to sign the Treaty of Devol acknowledging vassalage to Byzantium. He died of illness in Apulia on 3 March 1111.