Year 476 (CDLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Basiliscus and Armatus. The denomination 476 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.
Naples is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's administrative limits as of 2022. Its province-level municipality is the third-most populous metropolitan city in Italy with a population of 3,115,320 residents, and its metropolitan area stretches beyond the boundaries of the city wall for approximately 30 kilometres. Naples plays also a key international role in international diplomacy, since it is home to NATO's Allied Joint Force Command Naples and of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.
Tancred was King of Sicily from 1189 to 1194. He was born in Lecce, an illegitimate son of Roger III, Duke of Apulia by his mistress Emma, a daughter of Achard II, Count of Lecce. He inherited the title "Count of Lecce" from his grandfather and is consequently often referred to as Tancred of Lecce. Due to his short stature and unhandsome visage, he was mocked by his critics as "The Monkey King".
Cumae was the first ancient Greek colony of Magna Graecia on the mainland of Italy and was founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BCE. It became a rich Roman city, the remains of which lie near the modern village of Cuma, a frazione of the comune Bacoli and Pozzuoli in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy.
Constance I was the Queen of Sicily from 1194 until her death and Holy Roman Empress from 1191 to 1197 as the wife of Emperor Henry VI.
The history of Naples is long and varied, dating to Greek settlements established in the Naples area in the 2nd millennium BC. During the end of the Greek Dark Ages a larger mainland colony – initially known as Parthenope – developed on the Pizzofalcone hill in the 8th century BC, and was refounded as Neapolis in the 6th century BC: it held an important role in Magna Graecia. The Greek culture of Naples was important to later Roman society. When the city became part of the Roman Republic in the central province of the Empire, it was a major cultural centre.
The Duchy of Naples began as a Byzantine province that was constituted in the seventh century, in the reduced coastal lands that the Lombards had not conquered during their invasion of Italy in the sixth century. It was governed by a military commander (dux), and rapidly became a de facto independent state, lasting more than five centuries during the Early and High Middle Ages. Naples remains a significant metropolitan city in present-day Italy.
Nicholas of Ajello was the second son of the Sicilian chancellor Matthew of Ajello and the archbishop of Salerno from 1181, when he succeeded the historian Romuald Guarna. He was a trusted advisor in the Norman Kingdom of Sicily at the time of its fall to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1194).
Matthew of Ajello was a high-ranking member of the Norman court of the Kingdom of Sicily in the 12th century. His brother John was a bishop.
Sibylla of Acerra (1153–1205) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of King Tancred. After Tancred's death, she was regent in 1194 for their son, King William III. She was the sister of Count Richard of Acerra.
Castel Nuovo, often called Maschio Angioino, is a medieval castle located in front of Piazza Municipio and the city hall in central Naples, Campania, Italy. Its scenic location and imposing size makes the castle, first erected in 1279, one of the main architectural landmarks of the city. It was a royal seat for kings of Naples, Aragon and Spain until 1815.
Helena Angelina Doukaina was Queen of Sicily as the second wife of King Manfred. Queen Helena was the daughter of Michael II Komnenos Doukas, Despot of Epirus, and Theodora Petraliphaina. Her marriage was an expression of the alliance of her father and the ruler of Sicily against the growing power of the Empire of Nicaea.
Patricia of Naples is an Italian virgin and saint. Tradition states that she was noble; she may have been related to the Roman Emperor. Some sources say that she was a descendant of Constantine the Great. The particulars traditional about her are unreliable and in some instances contradictory.
Henry VI, a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Sicily as the husband and co-ruler of Queen Constance I.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Naples. The Naples area has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. The earliest historical sources in the area were left by the Myceneans in the 2nd millennium BC. During its long history, Naples has been captured, destroyed and attacked many times. The city has seen earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, foreign invasions and revolutions.
Parthenope was one of the sirens in Greek mythology. Her name means 'maiden-voiced' from parthenos and ops.
Events during the year 1191 in Italy.
The siege of Naples was a siege in 1191 during the expedition of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor aiming to conquer the Kingdom of Sicily in name of the claim of his wife Empress Constance. It lasted three months before Henry abandoned his expedition, after suffering a heavy loss due to disease. After his retreat, the Sicilians set a counterattack that almost reconquered his conquests and captured Empress Constance. It was particularly rare in the history of war that an empress was captured in an imperial offensive campaign.
The villa of Lucullus was an extensive and sumptuous ancient Roman villa built in the first century BC in Naples by the famous gourmet, general and consul. It was one of his several known villas in addition to the Gardens of Lucullus in Rome, one in Tusculum in the Alban Hills, one on the island of Nisida and another at Misenum also in the Bay of Naples.
Naples (Italy) and its immediate surroundings preserve an archaeological heritage of inestimable value and among the best in the world. For example, the archaeological park of the Phlegraean Fields is directly connected to the centre of Naples through the Cumana railway, and the nearby sites of Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis are among the World Heritage Sites of UNESCO.
