So I've always liked reading about the early years of the Normans in South Italy, and want to write a TL about them. The thing is, I've come up with a lot of PoDs, but I don't have enough expertise to figure out their plausibility or the amount of research I'd have to do to be able to really understand how they would work, so I want to narrow it down so I can find out the absolute minimum research required for a TL. You guys will help me decide.
Norman TL ideas:
1) Robert Guiscard's first conquest of Sicily is a success, and he solidifies his control of Sicily, culminating in the crowning of Roger Borsa as King of Sicily. With this PoD, Roger Borsa has a stronger personality, and keeps control of what he sees as his by right.
2) Alexius Komenos fails at a critical juncture in his wars against the Latins, and is killed by the Normans in battle. Guiscard and his son Bohemond defeat the Byzantine defenses and put a puppet Emperor on the throne in Constantinople, marrying the puppet's daughter to Bohemond himself. Thus the Normans rule Byzantium, with a half-Norman Emperor being a future possibility. However, few of the Byzantine princes are happy with this...
3) Robert Gusicard never marries
Sikelgaita, and thus Bohemond remains his heir. The powerful Bohemond brings the Norman and Lombard lords to heel, and looks towards the Mediterranean islands for new conquests. Alternatively, Guiscard still marries Sikelgaita, but manages to keep Bohemond as his heir. The landless Roger Borsa is raised in an entirely different set of circumstances, and the man known as "Coinpurse" looks towards the Levant for glory...
4) Bohemond keeps a level enough head and swears loyalty to Emperor Alexius. Instead of his betrayal of the Greeks, the rest of the Crusaders do so, and the scheming Norman becomes the Byzantine's enforcer in the Levant.
5) The Normans are wiped out in Italy by some foe of theirs (whether an old enemy like the Lombards, or a new threat), and the survivors flee to the court of their old rivals the Byzantines, becoming part of the Varangian Guard. These Normans are the ultimate survivors, becoming a force in Byzantine politics for generations.
6) A failed Norman rebellion against William the Conqueror drives hundreds of Norman nobles south to Italy, giving the Italo-Normans new soldiers, but compounding their troubles with the notoriously independent Norman nobility.
So which TL idea sounds most plausible and most fun to you guys?