Rudolph Drengot was one of the Drengot family

Drengot family

The Drengots were a Norman family of mercenaries, one of the first to head to the Mezzogiorno of Italy to fight in the service of the Lombards. They became the most prominent family after the Hautevilles.-Origins:...

 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...

 adventureres who came to Southern Italy with his brothers, Gilbert

Gilbert Buatère

Gilbert Buatère was one of the first Norman adventurers in the Mezzogiorno. He was the eldest son of a petty, but rich, lord of Carreaux, near Avesnes-en-Bray in the region of Rouen...

, 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...

, Osmond

Osmond Drengot

Osmond Drengot was one of the first Norman adventurers in the Mezzogiorno. He was the son of a petty, but rich, lord of Carreaux, near Avesnes-en-Bray in the region of Rouen. Carreaux gives his family the alternate name of de Quarrel.In 1016, Osmond took part in a hunt with Duke Richard II of...

, and Ranulf.

The Drengots arrived in Italy in 1017 to support 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...

 in his rebellion against the Catapanate

Catapanate of Italy

The Catepanate of Italy was a province of the Byzantine Empire, comprising mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano to the Gulf of Salerno. Amalfi and Naples, although north of that line, maintained allegiance to Constantinople through the catepan...

. According to some sources, they stopped in Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 on the way and Rudolph had an audience with Pope Benedict VIII

Pope Benedict VIII

Pope Benedict VIII , born Theophylactus, Pope from 1012 to 1024, of the noble family of the counts of Tusculum , descended from Theophylact, Count of Tusculum like his predecessor Pope Benedict VI .Benedict VIII was opposed by an antipope, Gregory...

. Whatever the case, they aided Melus until their defeat at the Battle of Cannae (1018)

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...

.

After this, Melus went north to Bamberg

Bamberg

Bamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...

 to meet the Emperor Henry II. Rudolph accompanied him. It is certain that Rudolph had an opportunity to then meet with the pope. He returned to the south on the emperor's expedition, after Melus' death, and was installed at Comino

Comino Valley

The Comino Valley, or Valle di Comino, is a valley located in the province of Frosinone, in central Italy. It runs from San Biagio Saracinisco to Vicalvi and is adjacent to the Abruzzi mountains...

 under one of Melus' nephews, a count. Rudolph then led some Normans back to Normandy

Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...

.

Sources

• Rodulfus Glaber
  Rodulfus Glaber
  Rodulfus Glaber was a monk and chronicler of the years around 1000 and is one of the chief sources for the history of France in that period.-Life:...
  
  . Opera, ed. J. France. Oxford
  Oxford
  The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
  
  , 1989.
• Chalandon, Ferdinand
  Ferdinand Chalandon
  Ferdinand Chalandon was a French medievalist and Byzantinist.Chalandon’s work remains the most substantial study of the Normans in Italy and though the details of what he wrote a hundred years ago have in places been modified, it remains the single most important work available to historians.Being...
  
  . Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile. Paris
  Paris
  Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
  
  , 1907.