John II of Amalfi

Last updated July 08, 2019

John II^[1] was the duke of Amalfi from 1029 to 1069 with multiple interruptions. He was the son of Sergius II ^[2] and Maria, sister of Pandulf IV of Capua.^[3] He was the last significant duke of Amalfi before the Norman conquest of 1073.

Medieval Amalfi was ruled, in the tenth and eleventh centuries, by a series of dukes, sometimes called dogi, corresponding with the republic of Venice, a maritime rival throughout the Middle Ages. Before the title of Duke of Amalfi was formally established in 957, various patricians governed the territory. Amalfi established itself as one of the earliest maritime trading powers renowned throughout the Mediterranean, competing with northern European cities.

Sergius II was the Patrician and Duke of Amalfi, the son and successor of John I, who co-reigned with his father until the latter's death in 1007.

Pandulf IV was the Prince of Capua on three separate occasions.

In 1014, he was named as co-regent and successor to his father. In 1028, he and his father fled to Constantinople while Maria and her younger son, Manso II, John's brother, usurped power at the instigation of her brother Pandulf. In 1029, John, but not Sergius, returned and reasserted his authority, deposing his mother and brother.

Constantinople was the capital city of the Roman Empire (330–395), of the Byzantine Empire, of the brief Crusader state known as the Latin Empire (1204–1261) and of the Ottoman Empire (1453–1923). In 1923 the capital of Turkey, the successor state of the Ottoman Empire, was moved to Ankara and the name Constantinople was officially changed to Istanbul. The city was located in what is now the European side and the core of modern Istanbul.

Manso II the Blind was the duke of Amalfi on three separate occasions: from 1028 to 1029, from 1034 to 1038, and from 1043 to 1052. He was the second son of Sergius II and Maria, sister of Pandulf IV of Capua. His whole ducal career consisted of wars with his brother, John II, over the throne. The Chronicon Amalfitanum is an important source for his reign.

In 1031, John named his son Sergius III ^[4] co-regent and successor and he received the title of patrikios from the Byzantine emperor, as his father had in 1010. In April or May 1034, John was forced to flee Amalfi again, this time because Pandulf had conquered Gaeta (1032) and was threatening the remaining coastal cities, including Naples, to which John fled, for Duke Sergius IV of Naples was likewise sheltering the deposed John V of Gaeta. Pandulf married off John's sister to Ranulf Drengot, the Norman mercenary who had recently been widowered by the duke of Naples' sister. Thus, Pandulf used his niece and his sister to seize power in Amalfi and draw his Norman supporters away from Sergius of Naples.^[5]

Sergius III was the duke of Amalfi from 1069, when he succeeded his father John II, until his death. He was first appointed co-regent by his father in 1031. He and his father were expelled from Amalfi by his grandmother and uncle, Maria and Manso II, in April or May 1034.

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 deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto, surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery. The town of Amalfi was the capital of the maritime republic known as the Duchy of Amalfi, an important trading power in the Mediterranean between 839 and around 1200.

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 (50 mi) from Naples.

In 1038, the Holy Roman Emperor Conrad II deposed Pandulf and John was able to return to Amalfi. He blinded his brother Manso and exiled him to the island of Sirenuse, while reconciling with his mother, whom he allowed to co-reign. In April 1039, threatened by Guaimar IV of Salerno, he fled with his son to Greece. He worked for his own restitution and fomented a rebellion that expelled his brother from Amalfi in April 1052. The Amalfitans refused to pay their taxes and war broke out. Guaimar was assassinated in June at the Amalfitans' instigation and John could return to his duchy in October. He again exiled his brother Manso and Manso's son Guaimar, who had been ruling under Salernitan tutelage. During his stay in Constantinople, he was granted the Byzantine titles of anthypatos and vestes .

The Holy Roman Empire was a multi-ethnic complex of territories in Western and Central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. The largest territory of the empire after 962 was the Kingdom of Germany, though it also came to include the neighboring Kingdom of Bohemia, the Kingdom of Burgundy, the Kingdom of Italy, and numerous other territories.

The Sirenusas, also known as the Gallos, are an archipelago of little islands off the Amalfi Coast of Italy between Isle of Capri and 6 km (4 mi) southwest of Province of Salerno's Positano, to which it is administratively attached. They are part of the Campanian Archipelago. The name, Sirenuse, is a reference to the mythological sirens said to have lived there.

Guaimar IV was Prince of Salerno (1027–1052), Duke of Amalfi (1039–1052), Duke of Gaeta (1040–1041), and Prince of Capua (1038–1047) in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052. He was an important figure in the final phase of Byzantine authority in the Mezzogiorno and the commencement of Norman power. He was, according to Amatus of Montecassino, "more courageous than his father, more generous and more courteous; indeed he possessed all the qualities a layman should have—except that he took an excessive delight in women."

By stirring up rebellion in Amalfi and Salerno against Guaimar, he earned the wrath of Guaimar's son and successor, Gisulf II. He had to deal with Gisulf's mistreatment of Amalfitan traders and constant warmaking. Eventually, the two made peace. In 1055, John promulgated a charta iudicii, the only one of its kind in the history of Amalfi. The rest of his reign was peacefully uneventful. He died in 1069 and was succeeded by his son Sergius.

Gisulf II was the last Lombard prince of Salerno (1052–1077).

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Manso I was the duke of Amalfi (966–1004) and prince of Salerno (981–983). He was the son of Duke Sergius I and the greatest independent ruler of Amalfi, which he controlled for nearly half a century. He is sometimes numbered Manso III.

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Maria was ruling Duchess of Amalfi in co-regency with her sons twice: in 1028–29 and in 1034–39. During the reigns of her sons, she appears to have held the actual power.

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Pandulf III was briefly the Prince of Salerno from around 3 to 10 June 1052. He was the eldest of four brothers of Gemma, wife of Prince Guaimar IV. He seized the throne in a coup d'état, when he and his brother assassinated Guaimar. He reigned for only a week before he was forced to step down and was promptly murdered.

References

Chronicon Amalfitanum c. 1300.
Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LV Ginammi – Giovanni da Crema. Rome, 2000.
Chalandon, Ferdinand. Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie. Paris, 1907.

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Notes

↑ Also John III. The enumeration of the dukes of Amalfi has never been settled upon.
↑ Also Sergius III.
↑ Also, rarely, Pandulf III, though the enumeration of Capuan princes is more standardised.
↑ Also Sergius IV.
↑ This has confused many scholars. Amatus of Monte Cassino refers to Sergius' sister as the recent widow of the "count of Gaeta" when she married Ranulf. Amatus then refers to "the Patrician of Amalfi's daughter, who was Prince Pandulf's niece, as the Patrician's wife was Pandulf's sister." Of course, the patrician to which Amatus refers was the father of John and not the reigning patrician, either John or Manso. The identity of the "count of Gaeta" is more confused and cannot be pinned down. However, Chalandon, p 79, makes Pandulf's niece a daughter of Manso.

Preceded by Sergius II	Duke of Amalfi 1029–1069	Succeeded by Sergius III

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[1] Also John III. The enumeration of the dukes of Amalfi has never been settled upon.

[2] Also Sergius III.

[3] Also, rarely, Pandulf III, though the enumeration of Capuan princes is more standardised.

[4] Also Sergius IV.

[5] This has confused many scholars. Amatus of Monte Cassino refers to Sergius' sister as the recent widow of the "count of Gaeta" when she married Ranulf. Amatus then refers to "the Patrician of Amalfi's daughter, who was Prince Pandulf's niece, as the Patrician's wife was Pandulf's sister." Of course, the patrician to which Amatus refers was the father of John and not the reigning patrician, either John or Manso. The identity of the "count of Gaeta" is more confused and cannot be pinned down. However, Chalandon, p 79, makes Pandulf's niece a daughter of Manso.