Arduin was a Greek

Greek language

Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...

-speaking Lombard

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 nobleman who fought originally for the Byzantines

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 on Sicily

Sicily

Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 and later against them as the leader of a band of Norman

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 mercenaries.

He was the leader of the troops committed by Guaimar IV of Salerno

Guaimar IV of Salerno

Guaimar IV was Prince of Salerno , Duke of Amalfi , Duke of Gaeta , and Prince of Capua in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052. He was an important figure in the final phase of Byzantine authority in the Mezzogiorno and the commencement of Norman power...

 to George Maniakes' Sicilian expedition in 1038. According to Amatus of Montecassino

Amatus of Montecassino

Amatus of Montecassino , a Benedictine monk at the Abbey of Montecassino is one of three Italo-Norman chroniclers, the others being William of Apulia and Goffredo Malaterra...

, he refused to surrender a captured horse to the Byzantine general and Maniakes consequently had him stripped and beaten. Whatever happened, Arduin and his Salernitan contingent along with the Normans (also sent by Guaimar) and the Varangians

Varangians

The Varangians or Varyags , sometimes referred to as Variagians, were people from the Baltic region, most often associated with Vikings, who from the 9th to 11th centuries ventured eastwards and southwards along the rivers of Eastern Europe, through what is now Russia, Belarus and Ukraine.According...

 (sent by Emperor Constantine IX) abandoned Sicily and returned to the mainland.

On the peninsula, the Byzantine catepan of Italy, Michael Doukeianos

Michael Doukeianos

Michael III Doukeianos , called the Young, was the catepan of Italy from 1040 to 1041. He replaced Nikephoros Doukeianos. His first major act was to offer the rule of Melfi to the Greek-speaking Lombard Arduin with the title topoterites. However, Arduin soon betrayed him and led his Norman...

, appointed him topoterites

Topoterites

Topotērētēs was a Byzantine technical term, meaning deputy or lieutenant . As such, it was used in different ways throughout the Empire's history. In the 9th-11th centuries, the topotērētēs was the deputy of senior military commanders of the themata, the tagmata and the Byzantine navy...

of Melfi

Melfi

Melfi is a town and comune in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata.-Geography:On a hill at the foot of Mount Vulture, Melfi is the most important town in Basilicata's Vulture, both as a tourist resort and economic centre.-Early history:Inhabited...

. He soon revolted against Greek authority in Apulia

Apulia

Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...

 and he and his Normans joined the rebellion-in-progress of Argyrus. First, the nominal leader of the insurrection, Atenulf, Prince of Benevento

Atenulf, Prince of Benevento

Atenulf was the son of Pandulf III of Benevento. In 1040, Benevento still had the prestige of being the first of the independent Lombard principalities of the Mezzogiorno...

, defected to the Greeks and then Argyrus, his successor. The Normans, bypassing Arduin (who may also have been bought off by the Greeks), chose their own successor to Argyrus, William Iron Arm

William Iron Arm

William Iron Arm was a Norman adventurer, founder of the fortunes of the Hauteville family. One of twelve sons of Tancred of Hauteville, he journeyed to the Mezzogiorno with his younger brother Drogo in the first half of the eleventh century , in response to requests for help made by fellow...

, and Arduin faded completely out of view.

Sources

• Norwich, John Julius
  John Julius Norwich
  John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
  
  . The Normans in the South 1016-1130. London: Longman, 1967.