Pope Leo had joined the Emperor at Pressburg in 1052, and vainly sought to secure the submission of the Hungarians.

At Regensburg, Bamberg and Worms, the papal presence had been celebrated with various ecclesiastical solemnities.

The Normans, who have plundered and devastated many churches and monasteries in their marauding expeditions, continue to present considerable dangers to the existence of the papal state.

The Norman advances in southern Italy had alarmed the papacy for many years, though the impetus for the imminent battle itself has come about for several reasons.

First, the Norman presence in Italy is more than just a case of upsetting the power balance, for many of the Italian locals do not take kindly to the Norman raiding and wish to respond in kind, regarding them as little better than brigands.

The raiding activities which brought about such hatred also occur in the see of Benevento, a deed not emphasized in the Norman chronicles, but for Pope Leo this is the more significant concern in the political instability of the region.

In fact, according to Graham Loud, the Beneventians, who previously had been approached by both the German Emperor Henry III and by the Pope previously to swear fealty, had finally appealed and submitted to Leo to personally take over the control of the city (as well as lifting a previous excommunication) in 1051.

At this point, Benevento is also the border and march land between Rome and the German Empire and the newly established Norman holdings.

The second reason behind the conflict is the instability brought about on the Norman side by the death of Drogo de Hauteville, who had been the nominal war leader of the Normans and Count of Apulia, and who had been murdered in 1051 in unclear circumstances.

According to Malaterra's account, the native Lombards were responsible for the plot, and a courtier named Rito committed the deed at the castrum of Montillaro.

Despite the benefit the pope and both Greek and German emperors would have drawn from his murder, it is difficult to speculate beyond Malaterra's report since the details of the murder do not appear in most other sources, particularly the Norman chronicles.

Nevertheless, there had certainly been a strong reaction to Drogo's death, with his brother Humphrey taking over the leadership position of his brother, and scouring the countryside and his enemies in response.

Finally, in 1052, Leo asks the emperor for aid in curbing the growing Norman power.