Byzantine Battles: Capture of Bari

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Capture of Bari	year: 1068-1071 Aug 1068-Apr 1071
The Normans captured the city and the rest of Apulia	★ ★ ★ ★ ★

enemy: Normans	location: Bari, Apulia in South Italy	accuracy: ●●●●●
battle type: City Capture	war: Norman Conquest of Southern Italy	modern country: Italy

	▼ The Byzantines(emperor: Romanos IV Diogenes)	▼ The Enemies
Commander:	Avartuteles	Robert Guiscard
Forces:	Unknown	Unknown
Losses:	Heavy, including civilians	Heavy

Background story:

By 1060, only a few coastal cities in Apulia were still in Byzantine hands: during the previous few decades, the Normans had increased their possessions in southern Italy and now aimed to the complete expulsion of the Byzantines from the peninsula before concentrating on the conquest of Sicily. Large military units were thus called from Sicily and, under Count Geoffrey of Conversano, laid siege to Otranto. The next move was the arrival of Robert Guiscard, with a large corps, who laid siege to the Byzantine of Bari on 5 August 1068.

The Battle:

Byzantine themata in south Italy

Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes named a new catepan, Avartuteles, and provided him with a fleet with men and supplies for Bari. The Byzantine fleet arrived in the city in early 1069, but in the meantime a Byzantine field army was defeated by the Normans, who occupied Gravina and Obbiano. Robert did not return immediately to Bari, and in the January 1070 he moved to Brindisi to help the Norman forces then besieging that coastal fortress. Brindisi capitulated in the autumn of 1070.
The situation in Bari became critical, and the population suffered from famine. After another attempt to supply the city with grain from Byzantium failed, the inhabitants were forced to negotiate. The Normans offered acceptable conditions, and Bari surrendered on April 1071.

Aftermath:

A milestone. The end of the Byzantine (and Greek) presence in Italy. The Byzantines returned after 90 years in the period 1155-1156, when they occupied and tried to hold some cities in Apulia but soon they were ousted for ever.

Byzantine Battles

Capture of Bari

1068-1071