Robert of Hauteville, known as Guiscard, son of Tancred and an able military leader, married the Salerno princess Sikelgaita in his second marriage. His story was thus linked to that of the city of Salerno, which he besieged and conquered in 1076. Robert was the first Norman prince of Salerno: the city was the head of an extensive principality that encompassed much of southern Italy, including Sicily. Salerno had a period of political, economic and cultural rebirth, also thanks to the presence of the Salerno Medical School. The Cathedral and the palace of Castel Terracena were also built at the behest of the Normans. In 1127, Robert’s brother, the Great Count Roger I, made Palermo the capital of the territories conquered by the Normans.
