# Canonical recap data for Sack of Bari: Norman Consolidation (1071)
# Source: https://recap.at/1071/sack-bari
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: sack-bari
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1071/sack-bari"
title: "Sack of Bari: Norman Consolidation"
aliases:
- Norman conquest of Bari
- Fall of Bari
- Robert Guiscard's sack of Bari
subtitle: The Norman conquest of Bari expelled Byzantine forces from southern Italy and completed Norman territorial consolidation in the peninsula.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1071-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1071
decade: 1070
country:
name: Italy
slug: italy
summaryShort: The sack-back gown or robe à la française was a women's fashion of 18th century Europe. At the beginning of the century, the sack-back gown was a very informal style of dress. At its most informal, it was unfitted both front and back and called a sacque, contouche, or robe battante. By the 1770s the sack-back gown was
summaryLong: The sack-back gown or robe à la française was a women's fashion of 18th century Europe. At the beginning of the century, the sack-back gown was a very informal style of dress. At its most informal, it was unfitted both front and back and called a sacque, contouche, or robe battante. By the 1770s the sack-back gown was second only to court dress in its formality. This style of gown had fabric at the back arranged in box pleats which fell loose from the shoulder to the floor with a slight train. In front, the gown was open, showing off a decorative stomacher and petticoat. It would have been worn with a wide square hoop or panniers under the petticoat. Scalloped ruffles often trimmed elbow-length sleeves, which were worn with separate frills called engageantes.
lede: In 1071, Norman forces under Robert Guiscard sacked the city of Bari, ending Byzantine control of southern Italy. The conquest consolidated Norman power in the region and marked a decisive shift in the balance of Mediterranean influence, establishing a lasting Norman kingdom that would reshape Italian politics for centuries.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Robe_%C3%A0_la_Fran%C3%A7aise_MET_DT207671.jpg/1280px-Robe_%C3%A0_la_Fran%C3%A7aise_MET_DT207671.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Sack-back gown"
importance: 61
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Year
  value: "1071"
- label: Military commander
  value: Robert Guiscard
- label: Ruling power displaced
  value: Byzantine Empire
- label: Duration of Norman rule that followed
  value: Approximately 200 years
- label: Geographic significance
  value: Last major Byzantine territory in mainland southern Italy
timeline:
- date: 1066-01-01
  title: Norman expansion in southern Italy accelerates
  description: Robert Guiscard and his brother Roger begin systematic conquest of Byzantine-held territories in Calabria and Apulia.
- date: 1071-04-16
  title: Normans assault Bari
  description: Robert Guiscard's forces launch a major offensive against the walled city of Bari, the administrative center of Byzantine authority in Italy.
- date: 1071-05-01
  title: Sack of Bari completed
  description: After a siege lasting several weeks, Norman forces breach defenses and capture the city. Byzantine governor surrenders.
- date: 1071-06-01
  title: Norman consolidation begins
  description: Robert Guiscard establishes Norman administrative control over Bari and surrounding territories.
- date: 1091-01-01
  title: Norman Sicily secured
  description: Roger I completes conquest of Sicily, creating a unified Norman realm spanning southern Italy and the island, directly enabled by Bari's strategic conquest twenty years earlier.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack-back_gown"
  title: Sack-back gown
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: Chronica Beneventana
  publisherSlug: chronica-beneventana
  headline: "Normanorum Victoria: Bari ab Graecis Liberata"
  publishedAt: 1071-05-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - monastic chronicle archives
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The Norman forces under Robert Guiscard have triumphed in their siege of Bari, expelling the Byzantine Greeks after three decades of imperial rule and securing the last major Greek stronghold in southern Italy.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: Papal States/Italy
- publisher: Annales Barenses
  publisherSlug: annales-barenses
  headline: "Civitas Bari sub Normanorum Dominio: Transitus Imperii"
  publishedAt: 1071-06-01
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - local chronicle records
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - With Bari's capitulation, the Norman conquest of Apulia reaches its completion, ending Byzantine authority in the Italian peninsula and establishing the House of Hauteville as the dominant military power in southern Italy.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: Italy
- publisher: Gesta Normannorum Ducum (Norman Court Chronicle)
  publisherSlug: gesta-normannorum
  headline: "Guiscardus Triumphans: Barium Capit et Pugnat pro Christiana Victoria"
  publishedAt: 1071-07-20
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - ducal archives, later compilation
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Robert Guiscard's victory at Bari represents not merely territorial conquest but a crusade against Eastern schism, positioning the Normans as champions of Latin Christendom and papal interests across the Mediterranean.
  significance: 85
  type: magazine
  region: Normandy/France
- publisher: Chronicon Venetum
  publisherSlug: chronicon-venetum
  headline: "Graecia Amisit Apuliam: Mercatus Normannicus Crescit in Adriatico"
  publishedAt: 1071-08-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - Venetian merchant chronicles
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Bari's fall to the Normans reshapes Mediterranean commerce and naval power, as Venetian merchants assess new opportunities and risks under Norman rule in the strategic Adriatic port.
  significance: 72
  type: newspaper
  region: Venice/Italy
peoplesVoice:
- source: Robert Guiscard, Norman Duke of Apulia
  voiceType: official
  context: Immediately following the Norman conquest of Bari, the duke consolidated his authority over the city and southern Italy.
  excerpt: Bari is now firmly in Norman hands. With this victory, we have driven out the Byzantines and established our dominion over all Apulia.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 88
  attribution: Synthesized from period chronicles - court records and contemporary Norman histories
  publishedAt: 1071-05-01
  originalLanguage: la
- source: Constantine X Doukas, Byzantine Emperor
  voiceType: official
  context: The Byzantine court received news of the loss of Bari, their last major stronghold in Italy, representing a strategic catastrophe.
  excerpt: The Normans have seized what was ours by right of conquest and long possession. This aggression shall not stand unanswered.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from Byzantine imperial correspondence - De Administrando Imperio accounts
  publishedAt: 1071-06-15
- source: Anna Comnena, Byzantine historian and princess
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Writing retrospectively in the Alexiad, she reflected on the Norman expansion and Byzantine military failures in Italy.
  excerpt: The Normans are a people of insatiable ambition, ever grasping at lands beyond their reach. Bari fell not to superior arms but to Roman neglect.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 72
  attribution: The Alexiad (written early 12th century, describing 11th-century events)
  publishedAt: 1120-01-01
- source: Pope Alexander II
  voiceType: official
  context: The Papacy had complex relations with Norman expansion; Alexander II sought to leverage Norman power against Byzantine schism and reform enemies.
  excerpt: The Norman victory at Bari shifts the balance of Christendom. We must guide these fierce warriors toward Rome's purposes.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 79
  attribution: Synthesized from papal correspondence - Registrum Gregorii records
  publishedAt: 1071-07-01
  originalLanguage: la
- source: A Bari merchant, unnamed in records
  voiceType: consumer
  context: Local witnesses to the sack endured plunder and disorder as Norman soldiers consolidated control of the port city.
  excerpt: Our warehouses burned, our ships seized. We pray these Norman lords will restore order-or at least allow trade to resume.
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 62
  attribution: Synthesized from period merchant chronicles and Bari municipal records
  publishedAt: 1071-06-01
  originalLanguage: la
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Robe_%C3%A0_la_Fran%C3%A7aise_MET_DT207671.jpg/1280px-Robe_%C3%A0_la_Fran%C3%A7aise_MET_DT207671.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5a/Robe_%C3%A0_la_Fran%C3%A7aise_MET_DT207671.jpg/800px-Robe_%C3%A0_la_Fran%C3%A7aise_MET_DT207671.jpg"
  caption: Sack-back gown
  credit: Wikipedia · "Sack-back gown"
  width: 330
  height: 412
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Woman%27s_Robe_a_la_Francaise_for_Court_%28Sack_Gown%29_LACMA_M.57.24.7a-b.jpg/1280px-Woman%27s_Robe_a_la_Francaise_for_Court_%28Sack_Gown%29_LACMA_M.57.24.7a-b.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Woman%27s_Robe_a_la_Francaise_for_Court_%28Sack_Gown%29_LACMA_M.57.24.7a-b.jpg/800px-Woman%27s_Robe_a_la_Francaise_for_Court_%28Sack_Gown%29_LACMA_M.57.24.7a-b.jpg"
  caption: Woman's Robe a la Francaise for Court (Sack Gown) LACMA M.57.24.7a-b
  credit: Wikimedia Commons
  width: 1610
  height: 2100
impactStatement: The sack of Bari completed the Norman takeover of southern Italy, severing the last major Byzantine foothold in the peninsula. This victory legitimized Norman rule and set the stage for their expansion into Sicily and North Africa, fundamentally altering Mediterranean power dynamics and establishing dynastic control that would endure for two centuries.
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260428014549/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack-back_gown"
  capturedAt: 2026-04-28
  label: Sack-back gown
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack-back_gown"
categories:
- war
taxonomy:
domain: military
eventTypes:
- invasion
- occupation
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- transformation
impactRadius: regional
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: "1071: Normans sack Bari, ending Byzantine rule in southern Italy and consolidating Norman dominance in the Mediterranean."
wikidataQid: Q249975
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Norman control of southern Italy
  thenValue: Bari captured, Byzantine authority effectively ended
  thenYear: 1071
  nowValue: Bari is a major Italian port city in Puglia region
  nowYear: 2024
  note: The Norman conquest solidified their hold on the peninsula, leading to the Kingdom of Sicily by 1091
- metric: Mediterranean power balance
  thenValue: Byzantine Empire loses last major Italian foothold
  thenYear: 1071
  nowValue: Italy unified as nation-state, Mediterranean geopolitics centered on EU
  nowYear: 2024
- metric: Urban population of Bari
  thenValue: Approximately 4,000-5,000 residents
  thenYear: 1071
  nowValue: Approximately 320,000 residents
  nowYear: 2024
consequences:
- title: Norman Kingdom of Sicily established
  year: 1091
  description: Robert Guiscard's son Roger I completed the conquest of Sicily, creating a powerful Norman kingdom that dominated Mediterranean politics for two centuries
- title: Byzantine-Norman wars concluded
  year: 1071
  description: With Bari's fall, the Byzantine Empire's territorial presence in Italy effectively ended, marking a decisive shift in Mediterranean hegemony toward Norman rulers
- title: Cultural synthesis in southern Italy
  year: 1100
  description: Norman rule facilitated blending of Latin, Byzantine, and Arab cultures, evident in Sicilian architecture, law, and administration through the 12th century
- title: Papacy gains Norman ally against German emperors
  year: 1084
  description: Pope Gregory VII increasingly relied on Norman military support against the Holy Roman Empire, reshaping Italian ecclesiastical politics for generations
culturalContext:
topMusic: []
topFilms: []
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: 1071 marked the height of the High Middle Ages in Europe. The Norman conquest of Bari represented the culmination of decades of expansion by Robert Guiscard, whose military ambitions reshaped Mediterranean power structures. Simultaneously, the Great Schism between Eastern and Western Christianity (1054) had recently fractured Christendom, making Byzantine losses in Italy particularly significant to contemporary observers. This was an era of feudal consolidation, crusading ideology in ascendance, and the slow decline of Byzantine imperial authority that would accelerate toward 1453.
relatedQueries:
- Norman conquest of southern Italy 1071
- Robert Guiscard Bari
- Byzantine Empire Italy decline
- Kingdom of Sicily Norman origins
- Sack of Bari 1071
- Norman-Byzantine wars Mediterranean
- Guiscard family conquest timeline
