Roussel de Bailleul (died 1077), also known asPhrangopoulos (Greek:Φραγγόπουλος,lit. 'son-of-a-Frank') andNorman Chief Roussel (lit.Turkish:Norman Reisi Ursel), or in the anglicized formRussell Balliol was aNorman adventurer (or exile) who travelled toByzantium and was a soldier under the EmperorRomanus IV (ruled 1068–71). He is also known asUrsellus de Ballione in Latin orRoscelin orRoskelin de Baieul, andAnna Comnena called himOurselios (Οὐρσέλιος), also renderedUrselius.
According toRichard A. Fletcher, Roussel was a native ofBailleul nearArgentan, in southern Normandy.[1]
He ventured with the Apulian Normans to Italy, settled inTerra d'Otranto and served underRoger de Hauteville in Sicily. According toGeoffrey Malaterra, Roussel distinguished himself with his bravery at theBattle of Cerami, where he urged Count Roger to pursue the fleeingSaracens. Aside from this brief account by Malaterra, theAlexiad ofAnna Komnene is the main source for Roussel.
He was at thecampaign of Manzikert in 1071, but did not participate in the battle, as he was previously dispatched by the Emperor Romanos toChliat to forage and plunder.[2] Afterwards he remained in imperial service, and was sent intoAsia Minor again with a force of 3,000 Franco-Norman heavy cavalry, where he conquered some territory inGalatia andLycaonia and founded an independent principality in 1073,[3] with himself as prince, following the example set by his fellow Normans in theMezzogiorno. His capital wasAncyra, now the capital ofTurkey. In order to subdue him, the Byzantine court sent an army under the Emperor's uncle,kaisarJohn Doukas, andNikephoros Botaneiates against Roussel but they were defeated in a battle at an important bridge of theSangarios river. The battle was known as theBattle of the Zompos Bridge.[4]
Strengthened by this victory, Roussel proceeded with his army to theChrysopolis, just oppositeConstantinople and sacked it. He then set up John Doukas as a usurper candidate to the imperial throne, most likely to gain more backing from the local population and attract more soldiers.[4] EmperorMichael VII reacted in panic and tried on one hand to appease Roussel by promising him titles and releasing his wife and children who had been hostages in Constantinople while on the other hand making a deal withArtuq, a general of Seljuk warlordTutush I to remove Roussel.[4] During the following skirmishes both Roussel and Doukas were captured but instead of delivering the prisoners to the Byzantines, Roussel's wife paid a ransom for her husband and Roussel returned to his lands.
He continued to expand his control over lands in the formerArmeniakon theme and also gained control over urban centres such asAmasea andNeokaiserea. It seems that Roussel was able to collect tax revenues, strengthen his military power through military fortresses and making deals with local elites in return for providing protection against the invading Turkmen.[5] In a time where the imperial authority in Anatolia was crumbling, the relative security of Roussel's domain was a challenge to the court in Constantinople. Roussel's popularity with the locals was so strong that the next Byzantine general sent to capture him, the future emperorAlexios Komnenos, had to use a ploy to take him in 1075.[6]
In 1077, Roussel was ransomed from his Constantinopolitan imprisonment to lead a battalion againstNikephoros Bryennios the Elder. Roussel garrisoned inPerinthus and he was joined there byNikephoritzes after the fall of Michael VII. Roussel died suddenly and Nikephoritzes was accused of having poisoned him.[7]
Roussel's life was the subject of a 1954 novel byAlfred Duggan,The Lady for Ransom.