A Lombard-Norman revolt erupts in southern Italy at the end of the imperial expedition to Sicily.
Michael Doukeianos replaces Nikephoros Doukeianos.
His first major act is to offer the rule of Melfi to the Greek-speaking Lombard Arduin with the title topoterites.
However, Arduin soon betrays him and leads his Norman mercenaries in support of the Apulian rebellion of Argyrus.
He meets the Lombard-Norman army, led by the former imperial ally William Iron Arm, but is defeated on March 16, 1041, near Venosa, on the Olivento.
This is followed by another battle at Montemaggiore, near Cannae, a field that had served as the site for the famous battle of 216 BCE and the first Norman engagement in the Mezzogiorno in 1018.
