1.
Early Middle Ages
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The Early Middle Ages marked the start of the Middle Ages of European history, lasting from the 6th to the 10th century CE. The Early Middle Ages followed the decline of the Western Roman Empire, the Early Middle Ages largely overlap with Late Antiquity. The term Late Antiquity is used to emphasize elements of continuity with the Roman Empire, the period saw a continuation of trends begun during late classical antiquity, including population decline, especially in urban centres, a decline of trade, and increased immigration. The period has been labelled the Dark Ages, a characterization highlighting the relative scarcity of literary and cultural output from this time, especially in Northwestern Europe. However, the Eastern Roman Empire, or Byzantine Empire, continued to survive, many of these trends were reversed later in the period. In 800 the title of emperor was revived in Western Europe by Charlemagne, whose Carolingian Empire greatly affected later European social structure, Europe experienced a return to systematic agriculture in the form of the feudal system, which introduced such innovations as three-field planting and the heavy plow. Barbarian migration stabilized in much of Europe, although Northern Europe was greatly affected by the Viking expansion, starting in the 2nd century, various indicators of Roman civilization began to decline, including urbanization, seaborne commerce, and population. Archaeologists have identified only 40 percent as many Mediterranean shipwrecks from the 3rd century as from the first, estimates of the population of the Roman Empire during the period from 150 to 400 suggest a fall from 65 million to 50 million, a decline of more than 20 percent. Some scholars have connected this de-population to the Dark Ages Cold Period, Early in the 3rd century Germanic peoples migrated south from Scandinavia and reached the Black Sea, creating formidable confederations which opposed the local Sarmatians. In Dacia and on the north of the Black Sea the Goths. The arrival of the Huns in 372–375 ended the history of these kingdoms, the Huns, a confederation of central Asian tribes, founded an empire with a Turkic-speaking aristocracy. They had mastered the art of shooting composite recurve bows from horseback. The Goths sought refuge in Roman territory, agreeing to enter the Empire as unarmed settlers, however many bribed the Danube border-guards into allowing them to bring their weapons. The discipline and organization of a Roman legion made it a fighting unit. The Romans preferred infantry to cavalry because infantry could be trained to retain the formation in combat, while cavalry tended to scatter when faced with opposition. While a barbarian army could be raised and inspired by the promise of plunder, the legions required a government and taxation to pay for salaries, constant training, equipment. The decline in agricultural and economic activity reduced the empires taxable income, in the Gothic War, the Goths revolted and confronted the main Roman army in the Battle of Adrianople. The general decline in discipline also led to the use of smaller shields, not wanting to share the glory, Eastern Emperor Valens ordered an attack on the Therving infantry under Fritigern without waiting for Western Emperor Gratian, who was on the way with reinforcements
2.
Southern Italy
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It generally coincides with the administrative regions of Abruzzo, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria, Molise, Sicily, and Sardinia. Some also include the most southern and eastern parts of Lazio within the Mezzogiorno, Southern Italy carries a unique legacy of culture. It features many major tourist attractions, such as the Palace of Caserta, there are also many ancient Greek cities in Southern Italy, such as Sybaris, which were founded several centuries before the start of the Roman Republic. These same subdivisions are at the bottom of the Italian First level NUTS of the European Union, the term Mezzogiorno first came into use in the 18th century and is an Italian rendition of meridies. The term was popularised by Giuseppe Garibaldi and it eventually came into vogue after the Italian unification. In a similar manner, Southern France is colloquially known as le Midi, Southern Italy forms the lower part of the Italian boot, containing the ankle, the toe, the arch, and the heel, along with the island of Sicily. Separating the heel and the boot is the Gulf of Taranto, named after the city of Taranto and it is an arm of the Ionian Sea. The island of Sardinia, right below the French island of Corsica, on the eastern coast is the Adriatic Sea, leading into the rest of the Mediterranean through the Strait of Otranto. Along the northern coast of the Salernitan Gulf and on the south of the Sorrentine Peninsula runs the Amalfi Coast, off the tip of the peninsula is the isle of Capri. The climate is mainly Mediterranean, except at the highest elevations and the eastern stretches in Apulia, along the Ionian Sea in Calabria. The largest city of Southern Italy is Naples, a name from the Greek that it has maintained for millennia. Bari, Taranto, Reggio Calabria, Foggia, and Salerno are the next largest cities in the area. The region is very active and highly seismic, the 1980 Irpinia earthquake killed 2,914 people, injured more than 10,000. Also during this period, Greek colonies were established in places as widely separated as the eastern coast of the Black Sea, Eastern Libya and they included settlements in Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula. The Romans called the area of Sicily and the foot of Italy, Magna Graecia, the ancient geographers differed on whether the term included Sicily or merely Apulia and Calabria—Strabo being the most prominent advocate of the wider definitions. With this colonisation, Greek culture was exported to Italy, in its dialects of the Ancient Greek language, its religious rites, an original Hellenic civilization soon developed, later interacting with the native Italic and Latin civilisations. Many of the new Hellenic cities became very rich and powerful, like Neapolis, Syracuse, Acragas, other cities in Magna Graecia included Tarentum, Epizephyrian Locri, Rhegium, Croton, Thurii, Elea, Nola, Syessa, Bari, and others. After Pyrrhus of Epirus failed in his attempt to stop the spread of Roman hegemony in 282 BCE, from then to the Norman conquest of the 11th century, the south of the peninsula was constantly plunged into wars between Greece, Lombardy, and the Islamic Caliphate
3.
Gaeta
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Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 kilometres from Rome and 80 km from Naples, gaetas fortifications were extended and strengthened in the 15th century, especially throughout the history of the Kingdom of Naples. Present day Gaeta is a fishing and oil seaport, and a renowned tourist resort, NATO maintains a naval base of operations at Gaeta. It is the ancient Caieta, situated on the slopes of the Torre di Orlando, Gaeta was an ancient Ionian colony of the Samians according to Strabo, who believed the name stemmed from the Greek kaiétas, which means cave, probably referring to the several harbours. According to Virgils Aeneid, Caieta was Aeneas’ wet-nurse, whom he buried here, like the other Roman resorts, Caieta was linked to the capital of the Empire by Via Appia and its end trunk Via Flacca, through an opposite diverticulum or by-road. Its port was of importance in trade and in war. Among its antiquities is the mausoleum of Lucius Munatius Plancus, at the beginning of the Middle Ages, after the Lombard invasion, Gaeta remained under suzerainty of the Byzantine Empire. In the following years, like Amalfi, Sorrento and Naples, it would seem to have established itself as an independent port. As Byzantine influence declined in Southern Italy the town began to grow, for fear of the Saracens, in 840 the inhabitants of the neighbouring Formiæ fled to Gaeta. Though under the suzerainty of Byzantium, Gaeta had then, like nearby ports Naples and Amalfi, a republican form of government with a dux, as a strong bulwark against Saracen invasion. Around 830, it became a lordship ruled by hereditary hypati, or consuls, the first of these was Constantine, at this same time the episcopal see of Gaeta was founded when Constantine, Bishop of Formiae, fled thither and established his residence. He was associated with his son Marinus I and they were probably violently overthrown in 866 or 867 by Docibilis I, who, looking rather to local safety, entered into treaties with the Saracens and abandoned friendly relations with the papacy. Nevertheless, he expanded the duchy and began construction of the palace. Greatest of the hypati was possibly John I, who helped crush the Saracens at Garigliano in 915, the principle of co-regency governed the early dynasties, Docibilis associated John with him and John in turn associated his son Docibilis II with him. In 933, three generations were briefly co-ruling, John I, Docibilis II, and John II, on the death of Docibilis II, who first took the title dux, the duchy passed from its golden age and entered a decline marked by a division of territory. John II ruled Gaeta and his brother, Marinus, ruled Fondi with the equivalent title of duke, outlying lands and castles were given away to younger sons and thus the family of the Docibili slowly declined after mid-century. Allegedly, but improbably, from the end of the 9th century, in the mid-10th century, the De Ceremoniis of Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus lists the ceremonial title prince of Gaeta among the protocols for letters written to foreigners. Prince Pandulf IV of Capua captured Gaeta in 1032 and deposed Duke John V, assuming the ducal and consular titles
4.
Byzantine Empire
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It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, several signal events from the 4th to 6th centuries mark the period of transition during which the Roman Empires Greek East and Latin West divided. Constantine I reorganised the empire, made Constantinople the new capital, under Theodosius I, Christianity became the Empires official state religion and other religious practices were proscribed. Finally, under the reign of Heraclius, the Empires military, the borders of the Empire evolved significantly over its existence, as it went through several cycles of decline and recovery. During the reign of Maurice, the Empires eastern frontier was expanded, in a matter of years the Empire lost its richest provinces, Egypt and Syria, to the Arabs. This battle opened the way for the Turks to settle in Anatolia, the Empire recovered again during the Komnenian restoration, such that by the 12th century Constantinople was the largest and wealthiest European city. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople in 1261, the Byzantine Empire remained only one of several small states in the area for the final two centuries of its existence. Its remaining territories were annexed by the Ottomans over the 15th century. The Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 finally ended the Byzantine Empire, the term comes from Byzantium, the name of the city of Constantinople before it became Constantines capital. This older name of the city would rarely be used from this point onward except in historical or poetic contexts. The publication in 1648 of the Byzantine du Louvre, and in 1680 of Du Canges Historia Byzantina further popularised the use of Byzantine among French authors, however, it was not until the mid-19th century that the term came into general use in the Western world. The Byzantine Empire was known to its inhabitants as the Roman Empire, the Empire of the Romans, Romania, the Roman Republic, Graikia, and also as Rhōmais. The inhabitants called themselves Romaioi and Graikoi, and even as late as the 19th century Greeks typically referred to modern Greek as Romaika and Graikika. The authority of the Byzantine emperor as the legitimate Roman emperor was challenged by the coronation of Charlemagne as Imperator Augustus by Pope Leo III in the year 800. No such distinction existed in the Islamic and Slavic worlds, where the Empire was more seen as the continuation of the Roman Empire. In the Islamic world, the Roman Empire was known primarily as Rûm, the Roman army succeeded in conquering many territories covering the entire Mediterranean region and coastal regions in southwestern Europe and north Africa. These territories were home to different cultural groups, both urban populations and rural populations. The West also suffered heavily from the instability of the 3rd century AD
5.
Lombards
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The Lombards or Longobards were a Germanic people who ruled large parts of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. In the 1st century AD, they formed part of the Suebi, the Lombard king Audoin defeated the Gepid leader Thurisind in 551 or 552, his successor Alboin eventually destroyed the Gepids at the Battle of Asfeld in 567. The Lombards were joined by numerous Saxons, Heruls, Gepids, Bulgars, Thuringians, and Ostrogoths, by late 569 they had conquered all north of Italy and the principal cities north of the Po River except Pavia, which fell in 572. At the same time, they occupied areas in central Italy and they established a Lombard Kingdom in north and central Italy, later named Regnum Italicum, which reached its zenith under the 8th-century ruler Liutprand. In 774, the Kingdom was conquered by the Frankish King Charlemagne, however, Lombard nobles continued to rule southern parts of the Italian peninsula, well into the 11th century when they were conquered by the Normans and added to their County of Sicily. In this period, the part of Italy still under Longobardic domination was known by the name Langbarðaland in the Norse runestones. Their legacy is apparent in the regional name Lombardy. The fullest account of Lombard origins, history, and practices is the Historia Langobardorum of Paul the Deacon, pauls chief source for Lombard origins, however, is the 7th-century Origo Gentis Langobardorum. The Origo Gentis Langobardorum tells the story of a tribe called the Winnili dwelling in southern Scandinavia. The Winnili were split into three groups and one part left their land to seek foreign fields. The reason for the exodus was probably overpopulation, the departing people were led by the brothers Ybor and Aio and their mother Gambara and arrived in the lands of Scoringa, perhaps the Baltic coast or the Bardengau on the banks of the Elbe. Scoringa was ruled by the Vandals and their chieftains, the brothers Ambri and Assi, the Winnili were young and brave and refused to pay tribute, saying It is better to maintain liberty by arms than to stain it by the payment of tribute. The Vandals prepared for war and consulted Godan, who answered that he would give the victory to those whom he would see first at sunrise. The Winnili were fewer in number and Gambara sought help from Frea, at sunrise, Frea turned her husbands bed so that he was facing east, and woke him. So Godan spotted the Winnili first and asked, Who are these long-beards. and Frea replied, My lord, thou hast given them the name, from that moment onwards, the Winnili were known as the Longbeards. When Paul the Deacon wrote the Historia between 787 and 796 he was a Catholic monk and devoted Christian and he thought the pagan stories of his people silly and laughable. Paul explained that the name Langobard came from the length of their beards, a modern theory suggests that the name Langobard comes from Langbarðr, a name of Odin. Priester states that when the Winnili changed their name to Lombards, they changed their old agricultural fertility cult to a cult of Odin
6.
Saracen
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Saracen was a term widely used among Christian writers in Europe during the Middle Ages. The terms meaning evolved during its history, in Europe during the Early Medieval era, the term came to be associated with Arab tribes as well. By the 12th century, Saracen had become synonymous with Muslim in Medieval Latin literature, such expansion in the meaning of the term had begun centuries earlier among the Byzantine Romans, as evidenced in documents from the 8th century. In the Western languages before the 16th century, Saracen was commonly used to refer to Muslim Arabs, the term Saraceni might be derived from the Semitic triliteral root srq signifies to steal, rob, plunder. The noun sāriq - sariqīn means, ptolemys 2nd century work, Geography, describes Sarakēnē as a region in the northern Sinai Peninsula. Ptolemy also mentions a people called the Sarakēnoi living in the northwestern Arabian Peninsula, the Augustan History also refers to an attack by Saraceni on Pescennius Nigers army in Egypt in 193, but provides little information as to identifying them. Both Hippolytus of Rome and Uranius mention three distinct peoples in Arabia during the first half of the century, the Saraceni, the Taeni. The Taeni, later identified with the Arabic-speaking people called Tayy, were located around Khaybar, the Saraceni were placed north of them. These Saracens, located in the northern Hejaz, were described as people with a certain military ability who were opponents of the Roman Empire, the Saracens are described as forming the equites from Phoenicia and Thamud. In one document the defeated enemies of Diocletians campaign in the Syrian Desert are described as Saracens. Other 4th century military reports make no mention of Arabs but refer to as Saracens groups ranging as far east as Mesopotamia that were involved in battles on both the Sasanian and Roman sides. The Saracens were named in the Roman administrative document Notitia Dignitatum—dating from the time of Theodosius I in the 4th century—as comprising distinctive units in the Roman army and they were distinguished in the document from Arabs. Beginning no later than the fifth century, Christian writers began to equate Saracens with Arabs. Saracens were associated with Ishmaelites in some strands of Jewish, Christian and this claim was popular during the Middle Ages, but derives more from Paul’s allegory in the New Testament letter to the Galatians than from historical data. The name Saracen was not indigenous among the populations so described but was applied to them by Greco-Roman historians based on Greek place names. As the Middle Ages progressed, usage of the term in the Latin West changed, but its connotation remained negative, associated with opponents of Christianity, in an 8th-century polemical work, John of Damascus criticized the Saracens as followers of a false prophet and forerunner to the Antichrist. By the 12th century, Medieval Europeans had more specific conceptions of Islam and used the term Saracen as an ethnic, in some Medieval literature, Saracens—that is, Muslims—were described as black-skinned, while Christians were lighter-skinned. An example is in The King of Tars, a medieval romance, the Song of Roland, an Old French 11th-century heroic poem, refers to the black skin of Saracens as their only exotic feature
7.
Naples
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Naples is the capital of the Italian region Campania and the third-largest municipality in Italy, after Rome and Milan. In 2015, around 975,260 people lived within the administrative limits. The Metropolitan City of Naples had a population of 3,115,320, Naples is the 9th-most populous urban area in the European Union with a population of between 3 million and 3.7 million. About 4.4 million people live in the Naples metropolitan area, Naples is one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. Bronze Age Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, a larger colony – initially known as Parthenope, Παρθενόπη – developed on the Island of Megaride around the ninth century BC, at the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Naples remained influential after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, thereafter, in union with Sicily, it became the capital of the Two Sicilies until the unification of Italy in 1861. Naples was the most-bombed Italian city during World War II, much of the citys 20th-century periphery was constructed under Benito Mussolinis fascist government, and during reconstruction efforts after World War II. The city has experienced significant economic growth in recent decades, and unemployment levels in the city, however, Naples still suffers from political and economic corruption, and unemployment levels remain high. Naples has the fourth-largest urban economy in Italy, after Milan, Rome and it is the worlds 103rd-richest city by purchasing power, with an estimated 2011 GDP of US$83.6 billion. The port of Naples is one of the most important in Europe, numerous major Italian companies, such as MSC Cruises Italy S. p. A, are headquartered in Naples. The city also hosts NATOs Allied Joint Force Command Naples, the SRM Institution for Economic Research, Naples is a full member of the Eurocities network of European cities. The city was selected to become the headquarters of the European institution ACP/UE and was named a City of Literature by UNESCOs Creative Cities Network, the Villa Rosebery, one of the three official residences of the President of Italy, is located in the citys Posillipo district. Naples historic city centre is the largest in Europe, covering 1,700 hectares and enclosing 27 centuries of history, Naples has long been a major cultural centre with a global sphere of influence, particularly during the Renaissance and Enlightenment eras. In the immediate vicinity of Naples are numerous culturally and historically significant sites, including the Palace of Caserta, culinarily, Naples is synonymous with pizza, which originated in the city. Neapolitan music has furthermore been highly influential, credited with the invention of the romantic guitar, according to CNN, the metro stop Toledo is the most beautiful in Europe and it won also the LEAF Award 2013 as Public building of the year. Naples is the Italian city with the highest number of accredited stars from the Michelin Guide, Naples sports scene is dominated by football and Serie A club S. S. C. Napoli, two-time Italian champions and winner of European trophies, who play at the San Paolo Stadium in the south-west of the city, the Phlegraean Fields around Naples has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest Greek settlements were established in the Naples area in the second millennium BC, sailors from the Greek island of Rhodes established a small commercial port called Parthenope on the island of Megaride in the ninth century BC
8.
Amalfi
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Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto, surrounded by dramatic cliffs. The town of Amalfi was the capital of the maritime republic known as the Duchy of Amalfi, in the 1920s and 1930s, Amalfi was a popular holiday destination for the British upper class and aristocracy. Amalfi is included in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites, a patron saint of Amalfi is Saint Andrew, the Apostle, whose relics are kept here at Amalfi Cathedral. Grain-bearing Amalfi traders enjoyed privileged positions in the Islamic ports, Fernand Braudel notes, the Amalfi tables provided a maritime code that was widely used by the Christian port cities. Merchants of Amalfi were using gold coins to purchase land in the 9th century, in spite of some devastating setbacks it had a population of some 70,000 to 80,000 reaching a peak about the turn of the millennium, during the reign of Duke Manso. Under his line of dukes, Amalfi remained independent, except for a period of Salernitan dependency under Guaimar IV. In 1073 the republic fell to the Norman countship of Apulia, a prey to the Normans who encamped in the south of Italy, it became one of their principal posts. However, in 1131, it was reduced by King Roger II of Sicily, the Holy Roman Emperor Lothair, fighting in favour of Pope Innocent II against Roger, who sided with the Antipope Anacletus, took him prisoner in 1133, assisted by forty-six Pisan ships. The Pisans, commercial rivals of the Amalfitani, sacked the city, in 1135 and 1137, it was taken by the Pisans and rapidly declined in importance, though its maritime code, known as the Tavole amalfitane, was recognized in the Mediterranean until 1570. A tsunami in 1343 destroyed the port and lower town, in medieval culture Amalfi was famous for its flourishing schools of law and mathematics. Flavio Gioia, traditionally considered the first to introduce the mariners compass to Europe, is said to have been a native of Amalfi, celebrated visitors to Amalfi included the composer Richard Wagner and the playwright Henrik Ibsen, both of whom completed works whilst staying in Amalfi. Author Gore Vidal was a long time resident, at the top of a staircase, Saint Andrews Cathedral overlooks the Piazza Duomo, the heart of Amalfi. The cathedral dates back to the 11th century, its interior is adorned in the late Baroque style with a nave, the façade of the cathedral is Byzantine in style and is adorned with various paintings of saints, including a large fresco of Saint Andrew. The gold caisson ceiling has four paintings by Andrea dellAsta. They depict the flagellation of Saint Andrew, the miracle of Manna, the crucifixion of Saint Andrew, from the left hand nave there is a flight of stairs which leads to the crypt. These stairs were built in 1203 for Cardinal Pietro Capuano, who, on 18 May 1208, brought Saint Andrews remains to the cathedral from Constantinople. The bronze statue of Saint Andrew in the cathedral was sculpted by Michelangelo Naccherino, in 1206, Saint Andrews relics were brought to Amalfi from Constantinople by the Pietro Capuano following the Sack of Constantinople after the completion of the towns cathedral
9.
Sorrento
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Sorrento is a town overlooking the Bay of Naples in Southern Italy. A popular tourist destination, it can be reached easily from Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula has views of Naples, Vesuvius and the Isle of Capri. The Amalfi Drive, connecting Sorrento and Amalfi, is a road that threads along the high cliffs above the Tyrrhenian Sea. Ferries and hydrofoils connect the town to Naples, Amalfi, Positano, Capri, sorrentos sea cliffs and luxury hotels have attracted celebrities including Enrico Caruso and Luciano Pavarotti. Limoncello is a made from lemon rinds, alcohol, water. Other agricultural production includes fruit, wine, nuts and olives. The Roman name for Sorrento was Surrentum, legends indicate a close connection between Lipara and Surrentum, as though the latter had been a colony of the former, and even through the Imperial period Surrentum remained largely Greek. The oldest ruins are Oscan, dating from about 600 BC, numerous sepulchral inscriptions of Imperial slaves and freedmen have been found at Surrentum. An inscription shows that Titus in the year after the earthquake of 79 AD restored the horologium of the town, a similar restoration of an unknown building in Naples in the same year is recorded in an inscription from the last-named town. The most important temples of Surrentum were those of Athena and of the Sirens, the position of Surrentum was very secure, protected by deep gorges. The only exception to its protection was 300 metres on the south-west where it was defended by walls. The arrangement of the modern streets preserves that of the ancient town, Greek and Oscan tombs have also been found. Another suburb lay below the town and on the promontory on the west of it, under the Hotel Sirena are substructions,2, of which remains still exist. Farther west again are villas, as far as the temple of Athena on the named after her at the extremity of the peninsula. Neither of this nor of the temple of the Sirens are any traces existing. According to the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus, Sorrento was founded by Liparus, son of Ausonus, who was king of the Ausoni, the ancient city was probably connected to the Ausoni tribe, one of the most ancient ethnic groups in the area. Sorrento became an archbishopric around 420 AD, after the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was ruled by the Ostrogoths and then returned to the Eastern Empire. The Lombards, who conquered much of southern Italy in the half of the 6th century
10.
Sicily
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Sicily is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. It is an autonomous Region of Italy, along with surrounding minor islands, Sicily is located in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula, from which it is separated by the narrow Strait of Messina. Its most prominent landmark is Mount Etna, the tallest active volcano in Europe, the island has a typical Mediterranean climate. The earliest archaeological evidence of activity on the island dates from as early as 12,000 BC. It became part of Italy in 1860 following the Expedition of the Thousand, a revolt led by Giuseppe Garibaldi during the Italian unification, Sicily was given special status as an autonomous region after the Italian constitutional referendum of 1946. Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially regard to the arts, music, literature, cuisine. It is also home to important archaeological and ancient sites, such as the Necropolis of Pantalica, the Valley of the Temples, Sicily has a roughly triangular shape, earning it the name Trinacria. To the east, it is separated from the Italian mainland by the Strait of Messina, about 3 km wide in the north, and about 16 km wide in the southern part. The northern and southern coasts are each about 280 km long measured as a line, while the eastern coast measures around 180 km. The total area of the island is 25,711 km2, the terrain of inland Sicily is mostly hilly and is intensively cultivated wherever possible. Along the northern coast, the ranges of Madonie,2,000 m, Nebrodi,1,800 m. The cone of Mount Etna dominates the eastern coast, in the southeast lie the lower Hyblaean Mountains,1,000 m. The mines of the Enna and Caltanissetta districts were part of a leading sulphur-producing area throughout the 19th century, Sicily and its surrounding small islands have some highly active volcanoes. Mount Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe and still casts black ash over the island with its ever-present eruptions and it currently stands 3,329 metres high, though this varies with summit eruptions, the mountain is 21 m lower now than it was in 1981. It is the highest mountain in Italy south of the Alps, Etna covers an area of 1,190 km2 with a basal circumference of 140 km. This makes it by far the largest of the three volcanoes in Italy, being about two and a half times the height of the next largest, Mount Vesuvius. In Greek Mythology, the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under the mountain by Zeus, Mount Etna is widely regarded as a cultural symbol and icon of Sicily. The Aeolian Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, to the northeast of mainland Sicily form a volcanic complex, the three volcanoes of Vulcano, Vulcanello and Lipari are also currently active, although the latter is usually dormant
11.
Campania
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Campania is a region in Southern Italy. Located on the Italian Peninsula, with the Mediterranean Sea to the west, it includes the small Phlegraean Islands, Campania was colonised by Ancient Greeks and was part of Magna Græcia. During the Roman era, the area maintained a Greco-Roman culture, the capital city of Campania is Naples. Campania is rich in culture, especially in regard to gastronomy, music, architecture, archeological and ancient sites such as Pompeii, Herculaneum, Paestum and Velia. The name of Campania itself is derived from Latin, as the Romans knew the region as Campania felix, the rich natural sights of Campania make it highly important in the tourism industry, especially along the Amalfi Coast, Mount Vesuvius and the island of Capri. During the 8th century BC, people from Euboea in Greece, known as Cumaeans, another Oscan tribe, the Samnites, moved down from central Italy into Campania. The Roman consul Quintus Publilius Filo recaptured Neapolis by 326 BC, the Second Samnite War ended with the Romans controlling southern Campania and additional regions further to the south. Campania was a part of the Roman Republic by the end of the 4th century BC, valued for its pastures. Its Greek language and customs made it a centre of Hellenistic civilization, during the Pyrrhic War the battle took place in Campania at Maleventum in which the Romans, led by consul Curius Dentatus, were victorious. They renamed the city Beneventum, which grew in stature until it was only to Capua in southern Italy. During the Second Punic War in 216 BC, Capua, in a bid for equality with Rome, the rebellious Capuans were isolated from the rest of Campania, which remained allies of Rome. Naples resisted Hannibal due to the imposing walls, Capua was eventually starved into submission in the Roman retaking of 211 BC, and the Romans were victorious. The rest of Campania, with the exception of Naples, adopted the Latin language as official and was Romanised. As part of the Roman Empire, Campania, with Latium, Roman Emperors chose Campania as a holiday destination, among them Claudius and Tiberius, the latter of whom is infamously linked to the island of Capri. It was also during this period that Christianity came to Campania, Two of the apostles, St. Peter and St. Paul, are said to have preached in the city of Naples, and there were also several martyrs during this time. Unfortunately, the period of calm was violently interrupted by the epic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 which buried the cities of Pompeii. The area had many duchies and principalities during the Middle Ages, in the hands of the Byzantine Empire, under the Normans, the smaller independent states were brought together as part of the Kingdom of Sicily, before the mainland broke away to form the Kingdom of Naples. It was during this period elements of Spanish, French
12.
Consul
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Consul was the title of one of the chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently a somewhat significant title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other city states and also revived in modern states. The relating adjective is consular, from the consularis, in modern terminology, a consul is a type of diplomat. The American Heritage Dictionary defines consul as an appointed by a government to reside in a foreign country. Throughout most of southern France, a consul was an equivalent to the échevins of the north. The most prominent were those of Bordeaux and Toulouse, which came to be known as jurats and capitouls, the capitouls of Toulouse were granted transmittable nobility. In many other towns the first consul, was the equivalent of a mayor today, assisted by a variable number of secondary consuls. His main task was to levy and collect tax, the Dukes of Gaeta often used also the title of consul in its Greek form Hypatos. The city-state of Genoa, unlike ancient Rome, bestowed the title of consul on various state officials, among these were Genoese officials stationed in various Mediterranean ports, whose role included helping Genoese merchants and sailors in difficulties with the local authorities. This institution, with its name, was emulated by other powers and is reflected in the modern usage of the word. In reality, the first consul, Bonaparte, dominated his two colleagues and held power, soon making himself consul for life and eventually, in 1804. Chief magistrate, an office held for four months by one of the consuls. As noted above, Bologna already had consuls at some parts of its Medieval history, while many cities had a double-headed chief magistracy, often another title was used, such as Duumvir or native styles such as Meddix, but consul was used in some. It was not uncommon for an organization under Roman private law to copy the terminology of state, the founding statute, or contract, of such an organisation was called lex, law. The people elected each year were patricians, members of the upper class. org, see each present country
13.
Docibilis I of Gaeta
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Docibilis I was the Hypatus of Gaeta from 867 until his death. The sudden disappearance of the co-hypati Constantine and Marinus I after 866 strongly suggests that perhaps Docibilis assumption of power had been violent and he is first cited as a prefecturius and then as hypatus from 877, when he followed his predecessors example and associated his son John with him. In his first years in office, he was faced with raids by the Aghlabids, after being liberated by Amalfi, he made peace with the Aghlabids and was excommunicated by Pope John VIII. In 876, the pope was down in the Mezzogiorno recruiting the princes of Capua, Docibilis met the pope at Traetto, but could not come to terms. The pope then interfered in the Capuan succession on the death of Landulf II to impose Pandenulf over Lando in return for Pandenulf attacking Docibilis, formia was captured and Docibilis called up some Saracen mercenaries from Agropoli. He met the pope at Gaeta itself and made peace, together they besieged the Saracen fortress on the Garigliano. After the popes death, he turned around and attacked Capua, according to Erchempert and he then began to turn and form alliances with the Lombard rulers, marrying his daughter Megalu to Rodgipert of Aquino and Euphemia to the prefect of Naples. Docibilis appears for the last time in 906 and may have died then and his long career was the golden age of Gaeta in the Dark Ages. He began construction on the palace whose ruins still stand in the city and he spent profusely on churches. For this, it is likely that after 906, he was dead or retired. By his wife Matrona, he had two other sons besides John, Leo and Anatolio, whom he made duke of Terracina and he had two other daughters besides Megalu and Euphemia, Bona and Maria. John succeeded him and immediately associated his son and his fathers namesake, Docibilis II and it is just possible that all three were associated together, but it cannot be proven. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani XL Di Fausto – Donadoni
14.
Battle of Ostia
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The naval Battle of Ostia took place in 849 in the Tyrrhenian Sea between some Muslim pirates and an Italian league of Papal, Neapolitan, Amalfitan and Gaetan ships. The battle ended in favor of the Italian league, as they defeated the pirates, starting in 827, Muslim forces had begun to conquer Sicily. In 846, Saracens raided the outskirts of Rome, plundering various basilicas, including Old Saint Peters which was outside the Aurelian walls, news of a massing of Saracen ships off Sardinia reached Rome early in 849. A Christian armada, commanded by Caesar, son of Sergius I of Naples, was assembled off recently refortified Ostia, after the pirate ships appeared, battle was joined with the Neapolitan galleys in the lead. Midway through the engagement, a storm divided the Muslims and the Christian ships managed to return to port, the Saracens, however, were scattered far and wide, with many ships lost and others sent ashore. When the storm died down, the remnants of the Arab fleet were easily picked off, in the aftermath of the battle, much booty washed ashore and was pillaged by the locals, per ius naufragii. The prisoners taken in battle were forced to work in chain gangs building the Leonine Wall which was to encompass the Vatican Hill, Rome would never again be approached by an Arab army
15.
Duchy of Naples
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It was governed by a military commander, and rapidly became a de facto independent state, lasting more than five centuries during the Early and High Middle Ages. The modern city of Naples remains a significant region of Italy, in 661, Naples obtained from the emperor Constans II the right to be ruled by a local duke, one Basil, whose subjection to the emperor soon became merely nominal. Among his titles were patrikios and hypatos, capri was later part of the duchy of Amalfi. He had authority over the neighbouring seaports of Gaeta, Amalfi, in this era, the duchy coined monies with the effigy of the emperor and Greek inscriptions. In 763, the duke Stephen II switched his allegiance from Constantinople to Rome, already during the reign of the imperially appointed John I, the papacy had come to the dukes aid against the Lombards, while Byzantine assistance seemed remote. Stephen IIs reign is considered a period of transition in the history of Naples, it moved away from the iconoclastic East, the Byzantine Greeks were soon to become as much a threat to the Neapolitans as the Lombards. Sometime around the beginning of the century, the dukes began striking coinage with Latin inscriptions. Saint Januarius replaced the emperor on the coins, acts were still dated by the imperial reign, but the emperor was of no consequence in regular Neapolitan affairs. Apparently, the Neapolitans felt themselves practically independent already and their underlings felt themselves independent of Naples, the duchy was not yet hereditary, in 818, the patrician of Sicily appointed Theoctistus without imperial approval. He revoked this appointment, and appointed one Theodore II in 821 and this Stephen first began to mint pieces with his own initials on them and not those of the Eastern Emperor. In 840, Duke Sergius I made the succession to the duchy hereditary, Naples was not a merchant city as other Campanian sea cities like Amalfi and Gaeta, but had a respectable fleet who took part in the Battle of Ostia against the Saracens in 849. In 1027, duke Sergius IV donated the county of Aversa to a band of Norman mercenaries led by Rainulf Drengot, in that period he could not imagine the consequences, but this settlement began a process which eventually led to the end of Naples independence itself. Sergius cemented his position with marital alliances with the Normans, but when these broke down, he was abandoned by his mercenaries and his son, John V, cosied up to Guaimar IV of Salerno and eventually did homage to him. Naples was the last of the southern Italian states which the Normans had met when they first entered Italy and it survived the fall of the Lombard principalities, Capua, Salerno, Benevento. It had survived the fall of its fellow Greek duchies, Amalfi, Gaeta, in 1137, Duke Sergius VII was forced to surrender to Roger II of Sicily, who had had himself proclaimed King of Sicily seven years earlier. Under the new rulers the city was administrated by a compalazzo, in this period Naples had a population of 30,000 and yet got its sustenance from the inland country, commerce activities were mainly delegated to foreign people, mainly from Pisa and Genova. Apart from the church of San Giovanni a Mare, Norman buildings in Naples were mainly lay ones, notably castles, walls, list of Dukes of Naples Skinner, Patricia. Family Power in Southern Italy, The Duchy of Gaeta and its Neighbours, Naples in the Dark Ages by David Taylor and Jeff Matthews
16.
Fondi
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Fondi is a city and comune in the province of Latina, Lazio, central Italy, halfway between Rome and Naples. Fondi is the town of the Plain of Fondi, a small plain between the Ausoni and Aurunci mountains and the Tyrrhenian Sea. The plain includes three lakes and is very fertile. Most in evidence are greenhouses for the production of crops for sale in Rome. The 15-kilometre long sandy beach stretches from Sperlonga in the south-east to Terracina in the north-west and lies along the Gulf of Gaeta and it is marked by a somehow well-preserved, typical Mediterranean coastal dune landscape. The territory of Fondi is partially included in the Regional Natural Park of Monti Aurunci, Fondi has an ancient history, beginning with early settlements about 1000 BC, later the area was settled by the Italic tribes of Aurunci and, subsequently, Volsci. According to the legend, it would have founded by Hercules in memory of the killing of Cacus. The first historical reference to Fondi dates to 338 BC, at the time of the Latin War, after a failed attempt of revolt led by Vitruvius Vaccus, Fondi remained a Roman prefecture, later it received full citizenship, with a government led by 3 aediles. The importance of Fondi lay in its position across the old Via Appia, begun in 312 BC, it was for more than two millennia the main roadway from Rome to southern Italy. Today the historical centre and surrounding wall of Fondi still form a square, as in the Roman camp walls, after the Gothic War and the Lombard conquest of Italy, Fondi remained a dominion of the Eastern Roman Empire. Here in 1378 the powerful Count Onorato I Caetani summoned the conclave in which the cardinals elected Clement VII against Urban VI, the Caetani lost Fondi after Charles VIII of Frances expedition to southern Italy, and it was assigned to the condottiero Prospero Colonna. Under the Colonna the city met another period of artistic and cultural splendour, thanks of the held by Giulia Gonzaga. In 1534, Fondi was sacked by Barbarossa, who was seeking to kidnap the beautiful Giulia, another sack followed in 1594, starting the decline of the city, which had in the meantime passed to the Carafa of Stigliano. In 1720 Fondi was acquired by the di Sangro family, in 1818 the declining city, surrounded by malaria-infested marshes malaria and brigandage, lost the bishopric seat existing there since the very early years of Christianity. After the Armistice of 8 September 1943, the anti-Fascist novelist Alberto Moravia and his wife Elsa Morante took refuge in Fondi, agriculture in the area around Fondi has always been favoured by the presence of abundant water sources and by the climatic conditions. The traditional production of citrus has been supplanted by that of vegetables. Fondi is the seat of an important market for agriculture and food products which distribute millions of tons of products every year. Fondis main sights include, The Castle, with a round tower standing more than 30 metres
17.
Pandulf Ironhead
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Pandulf I Ironhead was the Prince of Benevento and Capua from 943 until his death. He was made Duke of Spoleto and Camerino in 967 and succeeded as Prince of Salerno in 977 or 978 and he established himself over almost the whole of the southern half of Italia before his death in March 981. He co-reigned with his father, Landulf II, from 943, when his grandfather Landulf I died, and with his brother Landulf III from 959. Sometime about 955, Pope John XII led an army of Romans, Tuscans, and Spoletans against Landulf II and Pandulf, the pope and Gisulf made a treaty at Terracina. Gisulf and Pandulf had an alliance after that. In 961, Landulf II died and Pandulf and his brother became sole princes, communi indivisoque iure, that is the Beneventan principality was reigned in jointly by Pandulf and Landulf under indivisible common jurisdiction. However, this system collapsed and Pandulf ruled in Capua while Landulf ruled in Benevento. The Chronicum says Pandulf tenuit principatum una cum suo germanus annos octo, late in 965, a rebellion in Rome overthrew Pope John XIII, who was arrested and carted off to imprisonment in Campania. Whether he escaped or was released, he arrived in Capua not much later, seeking the protection of Pandulf, in return, and for the favour of the citizens, he erected Capua into an archdiocese and gave Pandulfs brother John the pallium. After ten months of exile, another revolt in Rome gave opportunity for return, in 967, the Emperor Otto I came down to Rome and granted Pandulf the vacant Duchy of Spoleto of Camerino and charged him with prosecuting the war against the Byzantine Empire. Pandulf and Landulf introduced Prince Gisulf of Salerno to the emperor at this time and they then took part in the imperial campaign of 968, but Landulf retired in illness and died at Benevento leaving two sons, Pandulf and Landulf. In that year, Otto left the siege of Bari in the charge of Pandulf, in 970, during his absence, the Byzantines besieged Capua and Marinus II of Naples ravaged the countryside. He was released later in the deal in which the Byzantine emperor John Tzimisces gave Theophanu in marriage to Ottos son Otto II. During his absence, the principality had been administered by Landulf I, Archbishop of Benevento. Benevento had been made an archdiocese in 969, in the 960s, Byzantium had been trying to supplant German influence in Salerno and to this end may have engineered the rebellion which temporarily unseated John XIII, a pro-German pope. Prince Gisulf of Salerno, however, was allied both to the Greeks and to his Lombard neighbour Pandulf, whom he had rescued some years before and who was, in fact, staunchly pro-German and anti-Greek. When Gisulf was deposed and removed from office by Pandulfs cousin, Landulf of Conza, in 973, when Gisulf died childless in 977 or 978, Pandulf succeeded in Salerno as per their prior agreement. The policy of the Greeks was a failure and Pandulf was the winner in southern Italy
18.
Holy Roman Emperor
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The Holy Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. From an autocracy in Carolingian times the title evolved into an elected monarchy chosen by the Prince-electors, until the Reformation the Emperor elect was required to be crowned by the Pope before assuming the imperial title. The title was held in conjunction with the rule of the Kingdom of Germany, in theory, the Holy Roman Emperor was primus inter pares among the other Catholic monarchs, in practice, a Holy Roman Emperor was only as strong as his army and alliances made him. Various royal houses of Europe, at different times, effectively became hereditary holders of the title, after the Reformation many of the subject states and most of those in Germany were Protestant while the Emperor continued to be Catholic. The Holy Roman Empire was dissolved by the last Emperor as a result of the collapse of the polity during the Napoleonic wars, from the time of Constantine I the Roman emperors had, with very few exceptions, taken on a role as promoters and defenders of Christianity. In the west, the title of Emperor was revived in 800, as the power of the papacy grew during the Middle Ages, popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The best-known and most bitter conflict was known as the Investiture Controversy. After Charlemagne was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III, no pope appointed an emperor again until the coronation of Otto the Great in 962. Under Otto and his successors, much of the former Carolingian kingdom of Eastern Francia fell within the boundaries of the Holy Roman Empire, the various German princes elected one of their peers as King of the Germans, after which he would be crowned as emperor by the Pope. After Charles Vs coronation, all succeeding emperors were called elected Emperor due to the lack of papal coronation, the term sacrum in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was first used in 1157 under Frederick I Barbarossa. Charles V was the last Holy Roman Emperor to be crowned by the Pope, the final Holy Roman Emperor-elect, Francis II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empires final dissolution. The standard designation of the Holy Roman Emperor was August Emperor of the Romans, the word Holy had never been used as part of that title in official documents. In German-language historiography, the term Römisch-deutscher Kaiser is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman Emperor on one hand, the English term Holy Roman Emperor is a modern shorthand for emperor of the Holy Roman Empire not corresponding to the historical style or title. Successions to the kingship were controlled by a variety of complicated factors, elections meant the kingship of Germany was only partially hereditary, unlike the kingship of France, although sovereignty frequently remained in a dynasty until there were no more male successors. The Electoral council was set at seven princes by the Golden Bull of 1356, another elector was added in 1690, and the whole college was reshuffled in 1803, a mere three years before the dissolution of the Empire. After 1438, the Kings remained in the house of Habsburg and Habsburg-Lorraine, with the exception of Charles VII. Maximilian I and his successors no longer travelled to Rome to be crowned as Emperor by the Pope, Maximilian therefore named himself Elected Roman Emperor in 1508 with papal approval. This title was in use by all his uncrowned successors, of his successors only Charles V, the immediate one, received a papal coronation
19.
Otto II, Holy Roman Emperor
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Otto II, called the Red, was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great, Otto II was made joint-ruler of Germany in 961, at an early age, and his father named him co-Emperor in 967 to secure his succession to the throne. His father also arranged for Otto II to marry the Byzantine Princess Theophanu, when his father died after a 37-year reign, the eighteen-year-old Otto II became absolute ruler of the Holy Roman Empire in a peaceful succession. Otto II spent his reign continuing his fathers policy of strengthening Imperial rule in Germany, Otto II also continued the work of Otto I in subordinating the Catholic Church to Imperial control. Early in his reign, Otto II defeated a revolt against his rule from other members of the Ottonian dynasty who claimed the throne for themselves. His victory allowed him to exclude the Bavarian line of Ottonians from the line of Imperial succession and this strengthened his authority as Emperor and secured the succession of his own son to the Imperial throne. With domestic affairs settled, Otto II would focus his attention from 980 onward to annexing the whole of Italy into the Empire and his conquests brought him into conflict with the Byzantine Empire and with the Muslims of the Fatimid Caliphate, who both held territories in southern Italy. While he was preparing to counterattack Muslim forces, an uprising by the Slavs broke out in 983. Otto II died suddenly in 983 at the age of 28 after a ten-year reign and he was succeeded as Emperor by his three-year-old son Otto III, plunging the Empire into a political crisis. Otto II was born in 955, the son of the King of Germany Otto I. By 957, Otto IIs older brothers Henry and Bruno had died, as well as Otto Is son from his first wife Eadgyth, with his older brothers dead, the two-year-old Otto IIs became the Kingdoms crown prince and Otto Is heir apparent. Otto I entrusted his son, Archbishop William of Mainz, with Otto IIs literary. Margrave Odo, commander of the Eastern March, taught the young prince the art of war. Needing to put his affairs in order prior to his descent into Italy, Otto I summoned a Diet at Worms and had Otto II elected, at the age of six, co-regent in May 961. Otto II was later crowned by his uncle Bruno the Great, Archbishop of Cologne, while Otto I had secured succession of the throne, he had violated the Kingdoms unwritten law that succession rights could only be granted to a child who has reached the age of majority. He was likely motivated by the associated with his expedition into Italy to claim the Imperial title from the Pope. Otto I crossed the Alps into Italy, while Otto II remained in Germany, after three and a half year absence in Italy, Otto I returned to Germany early in 965 as Holy Roman Emperor. In order to give the hope of dynastic continuity after his death, Otto I again confirmed Otto II as his heir on February 2,965, though Otto I was crowned Emperor in 962 and returned to Germany in 965, the political situation in Italy remained unstable
20.
Sergius IV of Naples
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Sergius IV was Duke of Naples from 1002 to 1036. He was one of the catalysts in the growth of Norman power in the Mezzogiorno in the first half of the eleventh century. He was nominally a Byzantine vassal, like his father, John IV, in 1024, he submitted to Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne, when the latter was besieging Capua on behalf of Emperor Henry II, though his own duchy was not threatened. By this he acquired a reputation for weakness in the eyes of Prince Pandulf IV of Capua, the Wolf of the Abruzzi, in 1026, Pandulf, returned from captivity, besieged his old capital, now ruled by Pandulf V, the count of Teano. Basil Boiannes, the Greek catapan of Italy, negotiated a surrender and gave Pandulf V safe conduct to Naples, by this, Sergius incurred Pandulf IVs enmity. In the next year, after Sergius ally Boiannes was recalled, Pandulf attacked Naples and quickly captured it, Pandulf V fled to Rome and Sergius went into hiding. For Sergius, however, fortune reversed itself when Pandulf IV was abandoned by his Norman ally, Sergius and the Duke of Gaeta, his nephew, John V, sent an embassy to the Norman to ask his assistance in regaining the Neapolitan duchy. With Rainulfs help, Pandulf IV was chased from Naples and Sergius reinstated, early in 1030, Sergius gave Rainulf the county of Aversa as a fief, the first Norman principality in the region. Sergius also gave his sister in marriage to the new count, in 1034, Pandulf IV instigated a revolt in Sorrento and annexed it to Capua. In the same year, Sergius sister died and Rainulf returned to Pandulfs side, broken in spirit, Sergius retired to the monastery of the Holy Saviour in insula maris, where the Castello delOvo now stands. He was succeeded by his son, John V, when John went to Constantinople seeking aid from the Byzantines, Sergius briefly came out of retirement to act as regent. On Johns return, Sergius returned to his monastery, where he was living as late as June 1036. His two retirements explain Amatus of Montecassinos reference to him becoming a monk. The Normans in the South 1016-1130, histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie
21.
Normans
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The Normans were the people who, in the 10th and 11th centuries, gave their name to Normandy, a region in France. They were descended from Norse raiders and pirates from Denmark, Iceland and Norway who, under their leader Rollo, through generations of assimilation and mixing with the native Frankish and Gallo-Roman populations, their descendants gradually adopted the Carolingian-based cultures of West Francia. The distinct cultural and ethnic identity of the Normans emerged initially in the first half of the 10th century, the Norman dynasty had a major political, cultural and military impact on medieval Europe and even the Near East. The Normans were famed for their spirit and eventually for their Christian piety. They adopted the Gallo-Romance language of the Frankish land they settled, their becoming known as Norman, Normaund or Norman French. The Normans are noted both for their culture, such as their unique Romanesque architecture and musical traditions, and for their significant military accomplishments and their chief men were specially lavish through their desire of good report. They were, moreover, a race skillful in flattery, given to the study of eloquence, so that the boys were orators. They were enduring of toil, hunger, and cold whenever fortune laid it on them, given to hunting and hawking, delighting in the pleasure of horses, and of all the weapons and garb of war. The treaty offered Rollo and his men the French lands between the river Epte and the Atlantic coast in exchange for their protection against further Viking incursions. The area corresponded to the part of present-day Upper Normandy down to the river Seine. The territory was equivalent to the old province of Rouen. Before Rollos arrival, its populations did not differ from Picardy or the Île-de-France, the Norman language was forged by the adoption of the indigenous langue doïl branch of Romance by a Norse-speaking ruling class, and it developed into the regional language that survives today. The Normans thereafter adopted the growing feudal doctrines of the rest of France, the new Norman rulers were culturally and ethnically distinct from the old French aristocracy, most of whom traced their lineage to Franks of the Carolingian dynasty. Most Norman knights remained poor and land-hungry, and by 1066 Normandy had been exporting fighting horsemen for more than a generation, many Normans of Italy, France and England eventually served as avid Crusaders under the Italo-Norman prince Bohemund I and the Anglo-Norman king Richard the Lion-Heart. Opportunistic bands of Normans successfully established a foothold in Southern Italy, probably as the result of returning pilgrims stories, the Normans entered Southern Italy as warriors in 1017 at the latest. In 999, according to Amatus of Montecassino, Norman pilgrims returning from Jerusalem called in at the port of Salerno when a Saracen attack occurred. The Normans fought so valiantly that Prince Guaimar III begged them to stay, the Hauteville family achieved princely rank by proclaiming prince Guaimar IV of Salerno Duke of Apulia and Calabria. He promptly awarded their elected leader, William Iron Arm, with the title of count in his capital of Melfi
22.
Pandulf IV of Capua
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Pandulf IV was the Prince of Capua on three separate occasions. From February 1016 to 1022 he ruled in association with his cousin Pandulf II, in 1018, the Byzantine catapan Boiannes destroyed the Lombard army of Melus of Bari and his Norman allies at Cannae. This victory brought the Byzantines recognition by all the princes of the Mezzogiorno, among these Pandulf was most ardent in his support of the Greeks. He assisted Boiannes in capturing Melus brother-in-law Dattus tower on the Garigliano in 1020, a detachment under Pilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne, marched down the Tyrrhenian coast and besieged Capua. In 1022 the prince was taken and a new prince, Pandulf, count of Teano, Pandulf IV was brought in chains to the Emperor Henry II, who almost executed him before Pilgrim intervened on his behalf. He was then imprisoned in Germany for two years and he was released by Emperor Conrad II in 1024 at the request of Prince Guaimar III of Salerno, who was hoping for a new ally. Assisted by Guaimar and the Norman adventurer Rainulf Drengott, Pandulf immediately besieged Capua, in 1025, Boiannes, who had been busy on a Sicilian expedition, joined them with a huge force. In 1026, after a siege of 18 months, the city fell, the count of Teano was given safe passage to Naples by the Greek commander. Pandulf resumed his rule and remained in power until 1038, next, Sergius moved against the abbot of Montecassino. The previous abbot, Atenulf, who had supported Pandulf, had fled from the imperial army in 1024. The new abbot, Theobald, had been the candidate of the Emperor, after inviting him to Capua, Pandulf threw him in prison, where he joined the deposed archbishop of Capua. In 1032, Pandulf turned his attention to Sergius old ally and he conquered Gaeta and took over the consular and ducal title of its ruler. For all this, he was called by the chronicler Aimé of Monte Cassino a fortissime lupe, the Wolf of the Abruzzi, a man of wily and wicked deeds. Subsequently, Guaimar IV of Salerno, the son of Guaimar III, arriving at Troia in 1038, He ordered Pandulf to restore stolen property to Monte Cassino. Pandulf sent his wife and son to ask for peace, giving 300 lbs of gold, the emperor accepted Pandulfs offer, but the filial hostage escaped and Pandulf took refuge in his outlying castle of SantAgata de Goti. Conrad took Capua and gave it to Guaimar with the title of Prince and he also recognised Aversa as a county of Salerno. Pandulf, meanwhile, fled to Constantinople, seeking the protection of his old Greek allies, the political dynamic having changed, however, Pandulf was imprisoned. Subsequently, Guaimar became an enemy of Emperor Michael IV and, before the latters death and he returned to Italy in 1042
23.
Guaimar IV of Salerno
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Guaimar IV was Prince of Salerno, Duke of Amalfi, Duke of Gaeta, and Prince of Capua in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052. He was an important figure in the phase of Byzantine authority in the Mezzogiorno. He was born around the year 1013, the eldest son of Guaimar III of Salerno by Gaitelgrima and his elder half-brother, the son of Porpora of Tabellaria, John reigned as co-prince from 1015. When he died in 1018, Guaimar was made co-prince, Pandulf was captured and Guaimar submitted, sending the younger Guaimar as a hostage. The emperor remanded him to Pope Benedict VIII and he was released, the younger Guaimar succeeded his father in Salerno in 1027. He embarked then on a lifelong quest to control the whole of the third of the Italian Peninsula. In 1036, he received word that his uncle and erstwhile ally, Pandulf of Capua, had attempted to rape his niece, the daughter of his wifes sister and he then received the homage of the defecting Rainulf Drengot, formerly a vassal of Pandulf. Thus, Guaimar won the support of the Normans in the Mezzogiorno, in 1037, Guaimar made the politically savvy request of arbitration to both the Holy Roman and Byzantine emperors over the issue of Pandulfs unfitness to rule. Emperor Conrad II accepted the invitation and traveled south in Spring 1038, however, the hostages escaped and Capua was promptly besieged. Having taken that principality, he gave it to Guaimar, who asked for a title of nobility for his new Norman vassal and this was granted and Rainulf officially became Count of Aversa and a vassal of Salerno. Guaimar set out to take possession of his new principality immediately, on 15 August, he conquered Rocca Vandra and gave it to the abbey of Monte Cassino. Meanwhile, the Normans of Aversa pacified the valley of the Sangro, after Pandulf fled to Constantinople, Guaimar turned his attention to Amalfi. In April 1039, in support of the deposed and blinded Manso II, Guaimar forced the abdication and exile of John II and his mother, Maria, then in July, he conquered Sorrento, which had been conquered by Pandulf in 1034. He gave it to his brother Guy with the title of duke and he also received the homage of the Duke of Naples, John V, who had brought the request for mediation to Constantinople in 1037. In the north, he brought Comino, Aquino, Traetto, Venafro, Pontecorvo, in June 1040, he took Gaeta, which had been conquered by Pandulf in 1032. After October 1041, Guaimar ceases to appear in the acts of Gaeta and it seems he was replaced by a popular usurper related to the old dynasty, by December 1042, however, Gaeta was in the hands of Rainulf, holding it from Guaimar. Soon after, he involved with the Hautevilles. The Byzantines, who had not responded to Guaimars earlier request for help, were preparing an expedition under the great general Giorgio Maniace
24.
Rainulf Drengot
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Rainulf Drengot was a Norman adventurer and mercenary in southern Italy. In 1030 he became the first count of Aversa and he was a member of the Drengot family. When Rainulf was exiled by Richard II of Normandy for a violent criminal act and they brought with them a band of 250 warriors, formed of other exiles, landless cadets and similar adventurers. In 1017 they arrived in the Mezzogiorno, which was in a state of virtual anarchy, establishing a stronghold at Monte Gargano in Apulia, they joined forces with the Lombard Melus of Bari, who had rebelled against his Byzantine overlords but who was currently on the run. Their first major engagement with the army of the Byzantine catepan Basil Boioannes, fought at the Battle of Cannae and they were decimated and their leader, Rainulfs brother Gilbert, was killed. They took to protecting, at a price, bands of pilgrims headed for the shrine of St Michael from the depredations of other marauders, Rainulf also served the Lombard Pandulf IV of Capua. Under his protection, Amatus reports, they hastened to plunder the neighboring places, but since human thoughts are inclined to greed and money always triumphs in the end, from time to time they abandoned him. They sold their services as they could, according to circumstances, soon the balance of power in Lombard Campania lay in Norman hands, For the Normans never desired any of the Lombards to win a decisive victory, in case this should be to their disadvantage. But now supporting the one and then aiding the other, they prevented anyone being completely ruined, Norman reinforcements and local miscreants, who found a welcome in Rainulfs encampment with no questions asked, swelled the numbers at Rainulfs command. Their Norman language and Norman customs welded a disparate group into the semblance of a nation, Rainulf eventually switched his allegiance to Sergius IV of Naples, with whom he achieved some success. In 1030, Duke Sergius gave him the former Byzantine stronghold of Aversa north of Naples, with the title of count and his title to Aversa was recognised in 1037 by Emperor Conrad II. After vanquishing the Byzantines in battle in 1038, he declared himself prince, formalizing his independence from Naples and he conquered his neighbour Pandulfs principality, and Conrad approved the union of the two domains, which formed the largest polity in southern Italy. In 1039, he was at the side of Guaimar IV of Salerno, ranulf was one of the leader of the anti-Byzantine coalition which rebelled in southern Italy in 1040. He took part in the victory at the battle of Olivento in March 1041. In 1042, after the victory of his Norman ally William Iron Arm, he received, from the erstwhile Byzantine territories, suzerainty over Siponto and he died in June 1045 and was succeeded by his nephew, Asclettin, son of Asclettin of Acerenza. The historians Amatus of Montecassino and William of Apulia are the contemporary sources for the career of Rainulf. Norman conquest of southern Italy Drengot family Norman World, The first Norman rulers Lexikon des Mittlealters vol
25.
King of Sicily
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See Emirate of Sicily Sicily was granted, pending its Christian reconquest, to Robert Guiscard as duke in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II. The Guiscard granted it as a county to his brother Roger, Roger II received royal investiture from Antipope Anacletus II in 1130 and recognition from Pope Innocent II in 1139. Constance was married to the Emperor Henry VI and he pressed his claim to the kingdom from William IIs death, there is evidence that, during the baronial revolt of 1197, there was an attempt to make Count Jordan Lupin of Bovino king in opposition to Henry VI. He may even have been crowned and seems to have had the support of Constance, in the end he was captured and executed. He is accepted as a pretender to the throne by modern historians Evelyn Jamison, Manfred was regent of Sicily for his nephew, the child Conrad II, but took the crown in 1258, and continued to fight to keep the kingdom under the Hohenstaufen. In 1254 the pope, having declared the kingdom a papal possession, offered the crown to the King of Englands son, Edmund Crouchback, but the English never succeeded in taking the kingdom. In 1262 the pope reversed his previous decision and granted the kingdom to the King of Frances brother, Charles of Anjou, conradin continued his claim to the throne until his death by decapitation perpetrated by Charles of Anjou in 1268. Edmund Crouchback, son of King Henry III of England, claimed the Crown of Sicily between 1254 and 1263, the claim was taken seriously by both him and his father, but was completely ineffectual. Peter III of Aragon, Manfreds son in law, of the House of Barcelona, thereafter the old Kingdom of Sicily was centred on the mainland, with capital at Naples, and although informally called Kingdom of Naples it was still known formally as Kingdom of Sicily. Thus, there were two Sicilies — the island kingdom, however, was often called Sicily beyond the Lighthouse or Trinacria, the Duke of Savoy ceded it to Austria in 1720 by the Treaty of The Hague. Charles I, Duke of Parma conquered the kingdom during the War of the Polish Succession, at the end of the war Sicily was ceded to the new Charles V of Sicily. In 1816 the Kingdom of Naples and the Kingdom of Sicily were merged as the new Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, List of viceroys of Sicily List of Counts of Apulia and Calabria List of monarchs of Naples List of monarchs of the Two Sicilies
26.
Roger II of Sicily
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Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in 1127, by the time of his death at the age of 58, Roger had succeeded in uniting all the Norman conquests in Italy into one kingdom with a strong centralized government. By 999, Norman adventurers had arrived in southern Italy, by 1016, they were involved in the complex local politics where Lombards were fighting against the Byzantine Empire. Roger I ruled the County of Sicily at the time of the birth of his youngest son, Roger, at Mileto, Calabria, in 1095. Roger Is nephew, Roger Borsa, was the Duke of Apulia and Calabria, alongside these three major rulers were a large number of minor counts, who effectively exercised sovereign power in their own localities. These counts at least nominally owed allegiance to one of these three Norman rulers, but such allegiance was usually weak and often ignored, when Roger I died in 1101, his young son, Simon of Hauteville, became Count, with his mother Adelaide del Vasto as regent. Simon died four years later in 1105, at the age of 12, Adelaide continued as regent to her younger son Roger, who was just nine years old. Upon the death of his brother, Simon of Hauteville, in 1105, Roger inherited the County of Sicily under the regency of his mother. His mother was assisted by such notables as Christodulus, the Greek emir of Palermo, in 1109, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, bestowed upon him the title of protonobilissimos, in recognition of his knowledge of the Byzantine court. In the summer of 1110, Roger was visited by the Norwegian king Sigurd Jorsalfare, the story suggests that Sigurd gave Roger the name King of Sicily, twenty years before he actually obtained this title. In 1112, at the age of sixteen, Roger began his rule, being named now knight, now Count of Sicily. In 1117, his mother, who had married Baldwin I of Jerusalem, returned to Sicily, Roger seems to have felt the slight, and this might explain his later reluctance to go crusading. Roger married his first wife, Elvira, daughter of Alfonso VI of Castile, and his queen, Isabella, who may be identical to his former concubine. In 1122, William II the Duke of Apulia, who was fighting with Count Jordan of Ariano, Roger, in exchange, provided William with 600 knights and access to money for his campaign. However, the union of Sicily and Apulia was resisted by Pope Honorius II, after this coalition failed, in August 1128 Honorius invested Roger at Benevento as Duke of Apulia. The baronial resistance, backed by Naples, Bari, Salerno, in September 1129 Roger was generally recognized as duke of Apulia by Sergius VII of Naples, Robert of Capua, and the rest. He began at once to enforce order in the duchy, where ducal power had long been fading, on the death of Pope Honorius in February 1130 there were two claimants to the papal throne. Roger supported Antipope Anacletus II against Innocent II, the reward was a crown, and, on 27 September 1130, Anacletus papal bull made Roger king of Sicily
