is of Lombardy, rich, powerful, and noble, (Gulielm. Appul. l.
iii. p. 267,) in the xith century, and whose ancestors in the xth and
ixth are explored by the critical industry of Leibnitz and Muratori.
From the two elder sons of the marquis Azzo are derived the illustrious
lines of Brunswick and Este. See Muratori, Antichita Estense.]

[Footnote 61: Anna Comnena, somewhat too wantonly, praises and bewails
that handsome boy, who, after the rupture of his barbaric nuptials,
(l. i. p. 23,) was betrothed as her husband. (p. 27.) Elsewhere she
describes the red and white of his skin, his hawk's eyes, &c., l. iii.
p. 71.]

[Footnote 62: Anna Comnena, l. i. p. 28, 29. Gulielm. Appul. l. iv p.
271. Galfrid Malaterra, l. iii. c. 13, p. 579, 580. Malaterra is more
cautious in his style; but the Apulian is bold and positive.--Mentitus
se Michaelem Venerata Danais quidam seductor ad illum. As Gregory VII
had believed, Baronius almost alone, recognizes the emperor Michael.
(A.D. No. 44.)]

[Footnote 63: Ipse armatae militiae non plusquam MCCC milites secum
habuisse, ab eis qui eidem negotio interfuerunt attestatur, (Malaterra,
l. iii. c. 24, p. 583.) These are the same whom the Apulian (l. iv. p.
273) styles the equestris gens ducis, equites de gente ducis.]

[Footnote 64: Anna Comnena (Alexias, l. i. p. 37;) and her account
tallies with the number and lading of the ships. Ivit in Dyrrachium cum
xv. millibus hominum, says the Chronicon Breve Normannicum, (Muratori,
Scriptores, tom. v. p. 278.) I have endeavored to reconcile these
reckonings.]

At the mouth of the Adriatic Gulf, the shores of Italy and Epirus
incline towards each other. The space between Brundusium and Durazzo,
the Roman passage, is no more than one hundred miles; [65] at the last
station of Otranto, it is contracted to fifty; [66] and this narrow
distance had suggested to Pyrrhus and Pompey the sublime or extravagant
idea of a bridge. Before the general embarkation, the Norman duke
despatched Bohemond with fifteen galleys to seize or threaten the Isle
of Corfu, to survey the opposite coast, and to secure a harbor in the
neighborhood of Vallona for the landing of the troops. They passed
and landed without perceiving an enemy; and this successful experiment
displayed the neglect and decay of the naval power of the Greeks. The
islands of Epirus and the maritime towns were subdued by the arms or the
name of Robert, who led his fleet and army from Corfu (I use the m