In the 1980s the Italian medievalist Raoul Manselli noted the historiographical gap that existed in general works dedicated to the crusader movement regarding “participation in the crusade, and especially in southern Italy”, lamenting the delay with which Italian scholarship took interest in this issue. His observation is still relevant today and forms the topic of this chapter. I will concentrate on the early phases of the participation by the Normans of southern Italy in the crusades, tackling aspects related to the recruitment of the Norman contingent led by Bohemond of Hauteville, and reflecting on the dynamics of their unexpected participation which caused unease and hostility with the Byzantine Empire, urging the West at the time for military support against the Turks.

In my opinion, the key document in this discussion is the parchment compiled by order of Bohemond on the eve of his departure for the Holy Land, currently preserved at the Nicolaian Museum of Bari, inaugurated in 2010 (Fig. 1). The document solemnly opens by delegating to Guidelmus, catepan of Bari, the sale “de cuncta hereditate que michi in eadem civitate mea Baro pertinent” “of all my inheritance present in the same city of Bari”).

Ralph B. Yewdale, in the first biography of Bohemond, did not give this document the necessary attention; yet the list of possessions in Bari of the eldest son of Robert Guiscard provides evidence for reconstructing the early stages of the former's presence on the crusade. Additionally, it highlights two important questions, frequently sidelined in the context of the history of the crusader movement, i.e. the questions of recruitment and of the logistics of the movement of warriors in a prolonged military campaign.The implications of Bohemond's liquidation of his heritage are clear: preparing to set out to the East, he was focused on collecting as much money as he could. Jonathan Riley-Smith has estimated that the costs of participation in the crusade could amount four or five years’ income for the average medieval knight. Bohemond chose to sell the real estate (houses and fields) located in the city of Bari, hoping for a decisive injection of cash to finance his expedition to the East.