Background
He was supposed to inherit his father"s lands, but Robert Guiscard, his uncle and guardian, who was elected count on Humphrey"s death, confiscated them.
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Abelard Hauteville
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In April 1064, Abelard joined three discontented barons (Geoffrey I of Conversano. Joscelin, Lord of Molfetta. And Robert, Count of Montescaglioso) in rebellion against Robert, who had just left for Sicily.
They received the aid, financial and military, of Perenos, the Byzantine duke of Durazzo, and held out for several years, neither making headway against Robert nor he against them.
On 1 January 1068, Romanus Diogenes was acclaimed emperor in Constantinople and the Greeks transferred their military attention to the Seljuk threat to their east. The rebellion fell apart and by February only Geoffrey remained.
Abelard was exiled, but Robert forgave him and gave him cities. Abelard was again at the head of a revolt later in December 1071.
To their aid came the prince of Capua, Richard Drengot, and the prince of Salerno, Gisulf II, both of whom feared the ascendancy of Robert Guiscard.
Robert, however, did not leave the siege of Palermo. He preferred to ignore the insurrection, then spreading to Calabria, in favour of speeding up events in Sicily. Palermo fell in 1072 and Robert returned to the peninsula the next year, easily putting down most of the rebels.
Abelard was the only baron to dissent from the election of Roger, claiming that he was the rightful heir to the duchy.
He rebelled yet again in 1078, with Geoffrey and Peter II of Trani again, and with the support of Jordan, Prince of Capua, Richard"s son. A separate peace was made with Jordan and the rebellion, which was originally very well-organised, fell apart in 1079.
Abelard was exiled in 1080. He died, perhaps assassinated, probably in Illyria, in 1081, around April.
He was buried in Greece and never brought back to Venosa, where most of his family lies to this day.
