The city of Salerno is closely linked to the history of the Normans. Robert of Hauteville, known as Guiscard, son of Tancred and an able military leader, married the Salerno princess Sikelgaita in his second marriage. So in 1076, he managed to besiege the city, ruled by his brother-in-law, and conquer it. Robert was the first Norman prince of Salerno, the “caput” city of an extensive principality that encompassed most 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.
