Editing Pope Nicholas II (section)

===Relationship with the Normans===
[[File:Museo nicolaiano, sigillo di papa nicola II, 1059.jpg|thumb|A 1059 bullae seal of Nicholas II]]
To secure his position, Nicholas II at once entered into relations with the Normans. The pope wanted to re-take [[Emirate of Sicily|Sicily]] for Christianity, and he saw the Normans as the perfect force to crush the Muslims.<ref>Bartlett, Professor Robert. "The Normans", episode 3, BBC-TV</ref> The Normans were by this time firmly established in southern Italy, and later in the year 1059 the new alliance was cemented at [[Melfi]], where the pope, accompanied by Hildebrand, Cardinal [[Humbert of Silva Candida|Humbert]], and Abbot [[Pope Victor III|Desiderius]] of [[Monte Cassino]], solemnly invested [[Robert Guiscard]] with the duchies of [[Apulia]], [[Calabria]], and [[Sicily]], and [[Richard of Aversa]] with the [[principality of Capua]], in return for oaths of fealty and the promise of assistance in guarding the rights of the Church. This arrangement, which was based on no firmer foundation than the forged "[[Donation of Constantine]]", was destined to give the papacy independence from both the [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern]] and [[Holy Roman Empire|Western Empires]]. Its first substantial result was Norman aid in taking Galeria, where Antipope Benedict X was hiding, and the end of the subordination of the papacy to the Roman nobles.