Gilbert Buatère was one of the first 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...

 adventurers in the Mezzogiorno

Mezzogiorno

The Midday is a wide definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to a large number of minor islands...

. He was the eldest son of a petty, but rich, lord of Carreaux, near Avesnes-en-Bray

Avesnes-en-Bray

Avesnes-en-Bray is a commune in the Seine-Maritime department in the Haute-Normandie region in northern France.-Geography:A small farming village in the Pays de Bray, situated some east of Rouen, at the junction of the N31 and D221 roads.-Population:...

 in the region of Rouen

Rouen

Rouen , in northern France on the River Seine, is the capital of the Haute-Normandie region and the historic capital city of Normandy. Once one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe , it was the seat of the Exchequer of Normandy in the Middle Ages...

. Carreaux gives his family, the Drengot, the alternate name of de Quarrel.

In 1016, his brother Osmond, according to some sources, or Gilbert himself, according to others , killed one William Repostel, a relative of Duke Richard II of Normandy in revenge and the duke pardoned his life, but exiled him. Osmond and his four brothers—Gilbert, Asclettin

Asclettin of Acerenza

Asclettin was the first count of Acerenza, one of the twelve leaders of the Norman mercenaries of Guaimar IV of Salerno who conquered much of Apulia between 1038 and 1042. In the latter year, the division of the conquests twelvefold was made and Asclettin received his portion.Asclettin arrived in...

, Ralph

Ralph Drengot

Rudolph Drengot was one of the Drengot family of Norman adventureres who came to Southern Italy with his brothers, Gilbert, Asclettin, Osmond, and Ranulf....

, and Ranulf—travelled to the Mediterranean to assist Melus of Bari

Melus of Bari

Melus was a Lombard nobleman from the Apulian town of Bari, whose ambition to carve for himself an autonomous territory from the Byzantine catapanate of Italy in the early 11th century inadvertently sparked the Norman presence in southern Italy.Melus and his brother-in-law Dattus rebelled in 1009...

 and Guaimar III of Salerno

Guaimar III of Salerno

Guaimar III was duke of Salerno from around 994 to his death. His date of death is sometimes given as 1030 or 1031, but the most reliable sources consistently indicate 1027. Under his reign, Salerno entered an era of great splendour...

, Lombards in revolt against Byzantine pretensions. In 1018, 250 Norman knights under Gilbert's command fought with the Greek general Basil Boiannes in the Battle of Cannae

Battle of Cannae (1018)

The second Battle of Cannae took place in 1018 between the Byzantines under the Catepan of Italy Basil Boioannes and the Lombards under Melus of Bari. The Lombards had also hired some Norman mercenaries under their leader Gilbert Buatère...

, a grave Norman defeat. Gilbert himself, along with Osmond, died in the battle: only ten knights survived.

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. Longmans: London
  London
  London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
  
  , 1967.