They  bewail  "  the  unheard  of  cruelty  and
savage  fierceness  of  this  foreign  nation,  who
showed  a  more  than  heathen  disdain  for
the  holy  church.""  These  complaints  are
certainly  in  part  to  be  regarded  as  the  ex-
aggerations of  the  bigoted  chroniclers,  or
as  a  re-echoing  of  the  olden  time  :  at  all
events  they  were  not  able  to  lessen  the
reputation  of  the  Normans ;  it  continued
on  the  increase,  the  more  the  princes  of
Italy  became  confident,  that  the  superior
spirit,  bravery  and  discipline  of  the  for-
eigners, nearly  in  every  battle,  gave  vic-
tory to  the  side  which  they  espoused.
Having  assisted  Duke  Gergio  in  the  re-
capture of  Naples,  from  which  he  had
been  driven  by  the  prince  of  Capua,  the
duke,  in  the  year  1029,  generously  granted
them  a  portion  of  land  between  Naples  and
Capua,  where  they  built  the  strong  castle
Anversa  la  Normanna.  They  fortified  the
town  with  moats  and  high  battlemented
walls,  and  Rainulf,  who  married  the  sister
of  Gergio,*sent  envoys  with  this  intelligence
to  Normandy,  to  mvite  his  countrymen
to  strengthen  the  warlike  colony  by  the
migration  of  new  bands.  Many  were  those
who  followed  his  call :  some  departed  be-
cause they  were  outlawed ;  others  to  meet
their  relations  and  friends,  who  had  emi-
grated at  an  earlier  period,  and  others
again  from  a  desire  to  acquire  wealth  and
reputation  with  their  swords.  Among  the
last  were  the  three  eldest  sons  of  Tancred
of  Hauteville.
