Sichelgaita of Salerno was born into royalty in 1040 CE and lived in the county of Salerno. Her father was the reigning Duke of Salerno, and the family were descendants from the Kingdom of Lombardy in the north of Italy. Her family’s domain was tied to the kingdom in the north prior to the rise of the Holy Roman Empire. Since then, the German-led powers of southern Italy swore loyalty to the Holy Roman Emperor, considering that they were both German and had their lands both recognized and defended by the Empire. Sichelgaita’s life was seemingly uneventful prior to her marriage, but was described by the Byzantine princess and author Anna Komnene as being “Amazonian, a tall woman, strong and muscular.” Her marriage to Robert Guiscard in 1058 CE provided a series of cross-cultural consequences with the Normans in the region.
For one, Robert’s marriage to Sichelgaita brought the Normans into the life and culture of the Lombards throughout the Norman domain. Their Catholic zeal was utilized by the Normans to help Latinize the parts of Italy that were dominated by Greeks or Muslims (this strategy was later used throughout Sicily and North Africa). The marriage also helped improve the prestige and connections of Robert Guiscard, who now had an alliance of Swabian soldiers who had fought the Normans in the past. Lastly, the Normans adopted Sichelgaita’s military tactics into their forces, as she was a capable woman who held her own in battle alongside her husband.