Drogo of Hauteville (c.
1010 –
10 August 1051) succeeded his brother,
William Iron Arm, with whom he arrived in southern Italy c.
1035, as the leader of the
Normans of
Apulia.
With his brother, he took part in the campaign of the
Byzantine catepan George Maniaches in Sicily (
1038) and then in the campaign against the Greeks of Apulia with the
Lombard prince Guaimar IV of Salerno. In
1042, the Normans elected William as count at
Melfi and Drogo received
Venosa from Guaimar in a twelve-part division of the conquered territory. In
1044–1045, Drogo fought on behalf of his brother in Apulia. He seized
Bovino from the Greeks.
In
1046, when William died, Drogo and
Peter of Trani were the premier candidates to succeed him. Drogo, supported by Guaimar, a good friend of William's, was duly elected as his brother's successor. The foundations of a
Hauteville dynasty were set. Drogo was then approached by
Ranulf Trincanocte, Count of Aversa, to reconcile him with Guaimar, which he did. In that year, he entered Apulia again and defeated the
catepan Eustathios Palatinos near
Taranto. His brother
Humphrey, who had arrived a short while earlier, forced
Bari to conclude a treaty with the Normans. In
1047, Drogo captured
Benevento with the permission of the
Holy Roman Emperor. It turned out to be a watershed year. First, he received a daughter of
Guaimar III, named either
Gaitelgrima or Altrude, as wife. Second, the
Emperor Henry III confirmed him as
Dux et magister Italiae comesque Normannorum totius Apuliae et Calabriae (in English, "
Duke and Master of Italy and Count of the Normans of all Apulia and Calabria"), the first legitimate comital title for the Normans of Melfi. Henry also divested Guaimar of the
principality of Capua and gave it to the old prince,
Pandulf IV.
During Drogo's reign, his half-brother
Robert Guiscard arrived in the
Mezzogiorno (c.
1047). Drogo remained closely allied to Guaimar and assisted him against Pandulf after the latter's reinstallation as Count of Capua. Failing to control his barons, however, Drogo was unable to end the brigandage and feudal warfare that was convulsing the
Mezzogiorno. He had to send away both his own younger brother Robert and the newly-arrived
Richard Drengot, who attacked him and was captured. Guaimar secured Richard's release late in 1047 or early in
1048. In the latter year, Drogo commanded an expedition into
Calabria via the valley of
Crati, near
Cosenza. He distributed the conquered territories in Calabria and granted Robert Guiscard a castle at
Scribla to guard the entrances. In
1050, he had to aid Guaimar in putting down the rebellion of one Guillaume Barbote.
In
1051, Pope Leo IX forced a promise from Drogo that he would stop the Norman pillaging, but he was assassinated later that year (probably by a
Byzantine conspiracy led by
Argyrus) at
Montoglio and was succeeded by his younger brother
Humphrey after a brief interregnum.
He had a son,
Richard, who joined the
First Crusade. Richard's son
Roger was later
regent of the
principality of Antioch. 
