page_title: William of Apulia
section_title: Background
hierarchical_section_title: William of Apulia / Background
caption_attribution_description: English&#x3a;&#32; Italy, Kingdom of di Sicily, Ruggero Borsa. Duke of Apulia, 1085-1111. . w:Salerno mint. Æ Follaro (5.95 g, 9h)Italiano&#x202f;&#x3a;&#32; Italia, Regno di Sicilia. it:Ruggero Borsa. Duca di Apulia, 1085-1111. Æ Follaro (5,95 g, 9h). Zecca di Salerno
context_page_description: William of Apulia was a chronicler of the Normans, writing in the 1090s. His Latin epic, Gesta Roberti Wiscardi, written in hexameters, is one of the principal contemporary sources for the Norman conquest of southern Italy, especially the career of Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia.
context_section_description: Little is known about William's life before he wrote his history of the Normans.  Unlike the other two principal chroniclers of the Normans in Italy (Amatus of Montecassino and Geoffrey Malaterra), William was probably a layman, based on the relative lack of religious references in his work.  It is also quite possible that William was a Lombard, rather than a Norman, as his treatment of Lombard characters in his history is very sympathetic when compared to his contemporary Norman counterparts.
caption: The coinage of Roger Borsa, to whom William dedicated his work and of whose court William was probably a member.
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