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The Italian writer Dante Alighieri has Sir Robert as one of the great knights in his Divine Comedy (c. His nickname of 'the Crafty' derives from his surname's relation to the Old French word viscart, meaning 'wily as a fox'. Ever ambitious, the Norman duke died on his way to attack the biggest prize of all, Constantinople, in 1085 CE, not in battle but from typhoid. 1084 CE saw Robert win a victory against a Venetian force, the powerful allies of the Byzantines. Still not satisfied, Robert grabbed Corfu in 1081 CE and shortly after defeated an army led by the Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos (r. He extended his control of Italy when he captured Bari in 1071 CE after a three-year siege, Palermo in 1072 CE and Salerno in 1076 CE. Robert's territorial claims were endorsed by the papacy in 1059 CE which recognised his title of the Duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily. 1015-1085 CE) was a Norman knight who fought with success against the Byzantine and Arab Empires from 1057 CE to create his own duchy in southern Italy and Sicily. HISTORICAL KNIGHTS ROBERT GUISCARD - 'THE CRAFTY' Hagen got his comeuppance, though, when Kriemhild killed him with Siegfried's sword. The king was outraged, and one of his retainers, Hagen, on discovering the hero's one weak spot, killed Siegfried on a hunting trip. So it came to pass until a falling out between the two ladies led to Kriemhild revealing the trick played on Brunhilde.
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In return, Siegfried could marry Kriemhild.
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The latter would, after being magically made invisible, fight the queen and the king would take both the credit and the queen. Meanwhile, the Burgundian king, Gunther, had fallen in love himself, with a beautiful queen called Brunhilde who would only marry the suitor who could defeat her in battle, and so he made a deal with Siegfried. After a dream which indicated any future husband would meet a violent death, the princess resolved not to bother with matrimony.She remained unimpressed with Siegfried's record of captured riches, dragon-slaying and victories over the Danes and Saxons when fighting for the Burgundian army.
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The German knight's greatest challenge was, though, to win the hand of Kriemhild, a Burgundian (Nibelung) princess. Sir Galahad finally found the grail, or at least caught sight of it, at the castle of the Fisher King, after which the knight rose to Heaven in some versions, or embarked on an odyssey in the Holy Lands in others, where he again found the Grail and this time took it with him into the next life. Indeed, Sir Galahad was the only knight considered worthy of pursuing and finding the Grail, which is perhaps an allegory of the Christian path to salvation. Sir Galahad was, besides being a brilliant jouster who defeated all comers (except his father), humble, innocent, and pure. His white shield was marked with a cross drawn with the blood of Joseph of Arimathea (he who had brought the Grail to Europe). Now made a knight, Sir Galahad's weapons were said to have been the spear which had pierced Jesus Christ at the Crucifixion and the sword of King David. Galahad arrived one day at Camelot and convinced King Arthur that he was the chosen one to find the Grail first by safely sitting in the Siege Perilous, the magical empty chair of the Round Table which was said to be deadly for all but he who would find the Grail, and second by withdrawing the fabled sword from the stone.