Sailing along the western coast of France, the Normans began to penetrate further south. In 844 the Vikings attacked settlements on the Asturian coast but were repulsed. They plundered many Mohammedan settlements, Seville, and defeated the emir's army. The Normans came to Italy in the 9th century. In 1016, a small detachment of Norman pilgrims returning from the Holy Land helped the Prince of Salerno in the fight against the Saracens who were besieging his city, and the Italians, amazed by the strength and courage of the Vikings, began to invite them to their service. Since then, more and more new detachments of Scandinavian warriors arrived in southern Italy, and they soon managed to create a small Norman possession there, and some time later Robert Huiscard created a strong state in Sicily. There were Normans in Byzantium, where the emperors highly valued their courage and strength and for this they took them into their squads. You will learn about the adventures of the Vikings in Byzantium from the novel “Normans in Byzantium.”