Editing Robert Guiscard (section)

==Religion==
Due to his conquest of Calabria and Sicily, Guiscard was instrumental in bringing [[Latin liturgical rites|Latin Christianity]] to an area that had historically followed the [[Byzantine rite]]. Guiscard laid the foundation of the [[Salerno Cathedral]] and of a Norman monastery at [[Lamezia Terme#Sant'Eufemia Lamezia|Sant'Eufemia Lamezia]] in Calabria. This latter monastery, famous for its choir, began as a community of eleven monks from [[Saint-Evroul]] in Normandy under the abbot [[Robert de Grantmesnil (archbishop)|Robert de Grantmesnil]].

Although his relationship with the pope was rocky, Guiscard preferred to be on good terms with the papacy, and he made a gesture of abandoning his first wife in response to church law. While the popes were often fearful of his growing power, they preferred the strong and independent hand of a Catholic Norman to the rule of a Byzantine Greek. Guiscard received his investment with Sicily at the hands of Pope Nicholas II, who feared the opposition of the [[Holy Roman Emperor]] to the [[Gregorian reform|Papal reforms]] more. Guiscard supported the reforms, coming to the rescue of a besieged Pope Gregory VII, who had once excommunicated him for encroaching on the territory of the [[Papal States]]. After the [[East-West Schism|Great Schism]] of 1054, the polarized religious atmosphere served to strengthen Guiscard's alliance with papal forces, resulting in a formidable papal-Norman opposition to the Eastern Empire.<ref>Alexēs Geōrgiu K Sabbidēs, ''Byzantino-Normannica: The Norman Capture of Italy (to A.D. 1081) and the First Two Invasions in Byzantium (A.D. 1081–1085 and 1107–1108)'' (Leuven, Belgium; Dudley, Massachusetts: Peeters, 2007) {{ISBN|978-90-429-1911-2}}</ref>