I posted something similar a while ago, but I'd like to discuss it in broader terms the ramifications of a Norman conquest of the Byzantine Empire. It's underappreciated just how close Duke Robert Guiscard and the Normans of Sicily came to overunning the troubled and declining empire in the years before the First Crusade. But what would have happened if the new emperor, Alexios I Komnenos, had been unable to withstand the Norman onslaught, and events in Italy did not unfold which diverted Robert's attention. Would we see the foundation of a "Latin Empire" much earlier than in our own timeline? I doubt the First Crusade would still go ahead, or at the very least be a largely Norman military campaign by the sons of Robert. Most importantly of all, would it last? Or be relatively short-lived as the Latin Christian conquest of Byzantium was in our timeline?
The Norman Conquest of Byzantium
- Thread starter Rogue Navigator
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I made a thread on this subject a while ago, you might find something useful in there:
No Komnenian restoration, a Norman Empire instead?
Alexios I had a very hard time at the beginning of his reign as the Eastern Roman Emperor, having inherited an empire wrecked by years of civil war and the loss of Anatolia after the Battle of Manzikert. As if that weren't enough, he had to deal with the Normans who, one decade after conquering...
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Bohemond's victory at Larissa over Alexios is generally the simplest and most interesting POD to obtain a Byzanto-Norman empire. We can imagine that Alexios' ruse fails and that the Normans manage to repel the assaults - a death on the battlefield or during the Komnenos' flight, or an assassination - is enough to shake the Empire.
The clergy would have been the first class to abandon Alexios and oppose his most likely successor, namely Isaac (originally intended to be emperor but supplanted in favor of his younger brother Alexios), because of his zeal to confiscate ecclesiastical goods to finance the imperial army, and would perhaps support another candidate in the person of Nikephoros Diogenes, son of Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes. In short, an internal conflict at the imperial court featuring factions tearing each other apart, while Bohemond advanced. Although his situation is not so varnished because the advanced age of his father Robert at the time of his victory would not have left any suspense as to his survival and the succession, already to the detriment of Bohémend in OTL, of the Apulo-Calabro-Sicilian was even more disadvantaged due to his absence from the peninsula and seriously weakened the support of his soldiers and companions. Thus, after having decided to stay in Greece, Bohemond - cunning and fine tactician but politically opinionated - can decide to proclaim himself dux in Greece to both signify his sovereign aim towards Roger Borsa but also send a message to Constantinople, because the function was at the time synonymous with the military commander of a region, therefore potentially in the service of the Empire.
Indeed for the Romaei the Norman presence is just the umpteenth presence of "barbarians" on the lands of the Empire as were the Ostro and Visigoths, the Slavs, the Bulgarians and will ultimately end up being "civilized" and "integrate" becoming, while awaiting the reestablishment of imperial authority, a source of mercenaries like the Turks or Pechenegs.
Out here we have to deal with Bohemond. The quest for the imperial crown instilled by his father will surely be his first objective and he can play courtesan divisions to be the "Emperor-maker", and easily understanding the traditions and Byzantine political games, he will seek to link matrilineally to a aristocratic family. Will he seek to marry the already twice Empress, Mary of Alania, mother of the Porphyrogénnētos Constantine Doukas source of legitimacy for any candidate wishing to be the ruling co-emperor or will he go to turn the board by taking the hand of the young Porphyrogennētē Anna Komnene, certainly very young but Bohemond may well take several years to obtain power.
The reasons for the first crusade are multiple but it is certain that Alexios' rapprochement with the Pope facilitated its preparation and obviously its launching to "help the Emperor recover lost Christian lands". Here, Marcus (yes, Bohemond will surely choose to use his typically Latin birth name, therefore pleasing to the Romaei, as the name of the reign) will obviously get closer to the Pope, which will be the scene of significant conflict with the Greek clergy, and a alliance will surely be formed in southern Italy to solidify the Norman base in the eastern Mideterranean against the Fatimid fleet. The arrival of numerous European adventurers and aristocrats (Normans, Norman-Sicilians, etc.) at the court, another source of conflict with the Greek aristocracy, will push for expansion against the Turks of Anatolia. Finally, the schism was still quite recent and the idea of a reunited Christianity may be another element that pushed the crusade.
Will it be similar to that of OTL, no obviously. The fact that one of these most important leaders is one of the most important actors and supporters completely changes the situation. A still fresh and fragile power will force Marcus (Bohemond) not to commit to the leadership like Alexios but the character could, on throws of the dice, play his Empire but obtain important victories for him, and if he necessary, to the detriment of the crusaders.