Battle of Civitate

June 18, 1053

A Norman force of perhaps three thousand horsemen under Robert Guiscard defeated and captured Pope Leo IX's papal army in Apulia. The conquered pope became the prisoner-guest of his conquerors. The Normans, previously condemned as bandits, would soon hold papal banners as legitimate vassals of Rome itself. Leo's captivity lasted nine months, and the humiliation hastened his death the following year.