Norman forces under Robert Guiscard sacked Rome in 1084, devastating large parts of the ancient city while rescuing Pope Gregory VII from imperial siege.
Key Facts
- Date of sack
- May 1084
- Norman force size
- 36,000 men
- Duration of sack
- Three days
- Areas destroyed
- Capitoline Hill, Palatine Hill, area between Colosseum and Lateran
- Pope rescued
- Gregory VII, besieged in Castel Sant'Angelo
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, besieged Pope Gregory VII in the Castel Sant'Angelo beginning in June 1083. The pope appealed to Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, for military relief. Guiscard, who had been campaigning against Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos in the Balkans, abandoned that front and marched north through the Italian Peninsula with his Norman army.
In May 1084, Guiscard's force of 36,000 entered Rome and compelled Henry IV to withdraw. However, a popular uprising by Roman citizens against the occupying Normans triggered a three-day sack. The Normans set fire to much of the city in response, gutting buildings across the Capitoline and Palatine Hills and the area stretching from the Colosseum to the Lateran.
After days of violence, the Roman populace was subdued and Guiscard escorted Pope Gregory VII to the Lateran. The sack left extensive destruction across one of the wealthiest cities in Italy at the time, and Gregory VII, deeply unpopular with Romans after the catastrophe, was ultimately compelled to leave the city and died in exile in 1085.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Robert Guiscard.
Side B
1 belligerent
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor.