Catapanate of Italy
Encyclopedia
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, comprising mainland Italy south of a line drawn from Monte Gargano
Monte Gargano
Gargano is a historical and geographical Italian sub-region situated in Apulia, consisting of a wide isolated mountain massif made of highland and several peaks and forming the backbone of the Gargano Promontory projecting into the Adriatic Sea. The high point is Monte Calvo at . Most of the upland...
to the Gulf of Salerno
Gulf of Salerno
The Gulf of Salerno is a gulf of the Tyrrhenian Sea in the coast of the province of Salerno in south-western Italy. The northern part of this coast is the touristic Costiera Amalfitana, including towns like Amalfi, Maiori, Positano and the city of Salerno itself.The Gulf of Salerno is separated...
. Amalfi
Amalfi
Amalfi is a town and comune in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno, c. 35 km southeast of Naples. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto , surrounded by dramatic cliffs and coastal scenery...
and Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, although north of that line, maintained allegiance to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
through the catepan. The Italian region of Capitanata derives its name from the Catepanate.
History
In 873, the ByzantinesByzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
retook Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
from the Saracens. Along with the already-existing theme of Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....
, the region of Apulia, around Bari, formed a new theme, that of Longobardia. In ca. 965, the stratēgos
Strategos
Strategos, plural strategoi, is used in Greek to mean "general". In the Hellenistic and Byzantine Empires the term was also used to describe a military governor...
(equivalent to "General" in modern English usage) of Bari was raised to the title of katepanō
Katepano
The katepánō was a senior Byzantine military rank and office. The word was Latinized as capetanus/catepan, and its meaning seems to have merged with that of the Italian "capitaneus"...
of Italy, usually with the rank of patrikios. The title of katepanō meant "the uppermost" in the Greek language
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
.
Some Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
adventurers, on pilgrimage to Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, lent their swords in 1017 to the Lombard
Lombards
The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...
cities of Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
against the Byzantines. From 1016 to 1030 the Normans were pure mercenaries, serving either Byzantines or Lombards, and then Sergius IV of Naples
Sergius IV of Naples
Sergius IV was Duke of Naples from 1002 to 1036. He was one of the prime catalysts in the growth of Norman power in the Mezzogiorno in the first half of the eleventh century...
, by installing the leader Ranulf Drengot in the fortress of Aversa in 1030, gave them their first pied-à-terre and they began an organized conquest of the land. In 1030 there arrived William and Drogo, the two eldest sons of Tancred of Hauteville
Tancred of Hauteville
Tancred of Hauteville was an 11th-century Norman petty lord about whom little is known. His historical importance comes entirely from the accomplishments of his sons and later descendants...
, a petty noble of Coutances
Coutances
Coutances is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.-History:Capital of the Unelli, a Gaulish tribe, the town took the name of Constantia in 298 during the reign of Roman emperor Constantius Chlorus...
in Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
. The two joined in the organized attempt to wrest Apulia from the Byzantines, who by 1040 had lost most of that province. Bari was captured
Siege of Bari
The siege of Bari took place 1068–71, during the Middle Ages, when Norman forces, under the command of Robert Guiscard, laid siege to the city of Bari, a major stronghold of the Byzantines in Italy and the capital of the Catepanate of Italy, starting from August 5, 1068...
by the Normans in April 1071, and the Byzantines finally ousted from southern Italy. They returned briefly to besiege Bari in 1156.
The title Catapan of Apulia and Campania was revived briefly in 1166 for Gilbert, Count of Gravina
Gilbert, Count of Gravina
Gilbert was a Norman Count of Gravina from 1159.He was a cousin of Margaret of Navarre, the queen of Sicily. He arrived in Sicily sometime around 1159 and, through Margaret's influence, was created Count of Gravina in Apulia immediately....
, the cousin of the queen regent Margaret of Navarre. In 1167, with his authority as catapan, Gilbert forced German troops out of the Campania
Campania
Campania is a region in southern Italy. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,590 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
and compelled Frederick Barbarossa to raise the siege of Ancona
Ancona
Ancona is a city and a seaport in the Marche region, in central Italy, with a population of 101,909 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region....
.
Catepans
- 970 – 975 Michael Abidelas
- before 982 Romanos
- 982 – 985 Kalokyros DelphinasKalokyros DelphinasKalokyros Delphinas was a Byzantine general and Catepan of Italy, who later rebelled against Emperor Basil II and was executed.The anthypatos and patrikios Delphinas was an adherent of the powerful Anatolian Phokas clan and of the powerful chief minister of the Byzantine Empire, the...
- 985 – 988 Romanos
- 988 – 998 John Ammiropoulos
- 999 – 1006 Gregory TarchaneiotesGregory TarchaneiotesGregory Tarchaneiotes was a protospatharius and the long-reigning catepan of Italy from 998 to 1006. In December 999, and again on February 2, 1002, he reinstituted and confirmed the possessions of the abbey and monks of Monte Cassino in Ascoli. In 1004, he fortified and expanded the castle of...
- 1006 – 1008 Alexius XiphiasAlexius XiphiasAlexios Xiphias was a Byzantine protospatharios and catepan of Italy from 1006 to 1008, following the long term of office of Gregory Tarchaneiotes. In March 1007, he promulgated a diploma in favour of Alexander, abbot of S. Giovanni in Lamis.-Sources:*...
- 1008 – 1010 Ioannes CurcuasJohn Curcuas (catepan)John Kourkouas was the Byzantine catepan of Italy from 1008 to his death. He was of Armenian descent. He saw the first revolt of the Lombards in Greek Apulia. Formerly the strategos of Samos, Kourkouas arrived at Bari in May 1008 as a replacement for Alexios Xiphias, who had been killed in...
- 1010 – 1016 Basil MesardonitesBasil MesardonitesBasil Mesardonites was the Catapan of Italy, representing the Byzantine Emperor there, from 1010 to 1016 or 1017. He succeeded the catapan Curcuas, who died fighting the Lombards, then in rebellion under Melus, early in 1010. In March, Basil disembarked with reinforcements from Constantinople and...
- May 1017 – December 1017 Leo Tornikios KontoleonLeo Tornikios KontoleonKontoleon Tornikios was the Catapan of Italy from May to September 1017. He was originally the strategos of Cephallenia. As strategos, he accompanied the catapan Basil Mesardonites to Apulia in 1011. Basil died in 1016 and Leo was nominated to replace him, arriving in May. At the time, Melus of...
- December 1017 – 1027 Basil BoioannesBasil BoioannesBasil III, called Boioannes in Greek and Bugiano in Italian, was the Byzantine catapan of Italy and one of the greatest Byzantine generals of his time. His accomplishments enabled the Empire to reestablish itself as a major force in southern Italy after centuries of decline...
- c. 1027 – 1029 Christophoros BurgarisChristophoros BurgarisChristopher or Christophoros Burgaris was the short-tenured successor of the famous Basil Boiannes as catepan of Italy. The chronicler Lupus Protospatharius gives the date of Boiannes' departure as 1029, but modern historian Ferdinand Chalandon corrects this to 1027...
- July 1029 – June 1032 Pothos Argyros
- 1032 – May 1033 Michael ProtospathariosMichael ProtospathariosMichael Protospatharios was the Byzantine catepan of Italy from 1031 to 1033. He was sent to Bari after his predecessor, Pothos Argyrus, was killed in battle with the Saracens who took Cassano allo Ionio in Calabria. Michael was high and lofty official in the imperial court of Constantinople. He...
- May 1033 – 1038 Constantine Opos
- 1038 – 1039 Michael SpondylesMichael SpondylesMichael Spondyles was a Byzantine patrician and duke who ruled first Antioch, before it was lost to the Seljuk Turks, and then Apulia and Calabria, all that was left of Byzantine Italy before its Norman Conquest. Michael arrived in Bari in 1038 to help lead the Sicilian expedition of George...
- February 1039 – January 1040 Nicephorus DoukeianosNicephorus DoukeianosNikephoros II Doukeianos was the catepan of Italy from 1039 until 1041. He saw the early rebellion of Arduin the Lombard, but not is completion. He was killed at Ascoli Satriano early in 1040. With his death, the insurrection accelerated.-Source:*Chalandon, Ferdinand. Histoire de la domination...
- November 1040 – Summer of 1041 Michael DoukeianosMichael DoukeianosMichael III Doukeianos , called the Young, was the catepan of Italy from 1040 to 1041. He replaced Nikephoros Doukeianos. His first major act was to offer the rule of Melfi to the Greek-speaking Lombard Arduin with the title topoterites. However, Arduin soon betrayed him and led his Norman...
- Summer of 1041 – 1042 Exaugustus BoioannesExaugustus BoioannesExaugustus Boiοannes , son of the famous Basil Boioannes, was also a catepan of Italy, from 1041 to 1042. He replaced Michael Doukeianos after the latter's disgrace in defeat at Montemaggiore on May 4. Boioannes did not have the levies and reinforcements that Doukeianos had had at his command. He...
- February 1042 – April 1042 SynodianosSynodianosSynodianos was very briefly the catepan of Italy in 1042 . He was appointed by Michael V after the death of the Emperor Michael IV...
- April 1042 – September 10421042 George Maniakes
- Autumn 1042 PardosPardosPardos was the catepan of Italy briefly in 1042 following the short term of George Maniakes.In July 1042, Maniakes was disgraced and recalled by Constantine IX Monomachos at the behest of Romanus Sclerus, brother of the emperor's mistress. According to Johannes Skylitzes, Romanus had even raped...
- February 1043 – April 1043 Basil Theodorokanos
- Autumn of 1045 – September 1046 Eustathios PalatinosEustathios PalatinosEustathios Palatinos was the catepan of Italy from the autumn of 1045 to September 1046. The primary source for his term of office is the chronicle of Lupus, a fellow protospatharius....
- September 1046 – December 1046 John Raphael
- 1050 – 1058 Argyrus
- 1060 MiriarchMiriarchMiriarch was the title of a Byzantine personage known only for commanding the troops of the new emperor Constantine X Ducas in 1060 and 1061 in the Catapanate of Italy. Miriarch may have been a name....
- 1060 – 1061 MaruliMaruliMarulis or Marulo was the Catepan of Italy from 1061 to 1062. He was the first recorded holder of that title since the disappearance of Argyrus in 1057...
- 1062 SirianusSirianusSirianus was the Catepan of Italy from 1062 to 1064. He was the second recorded holder of that title since the disappearance of Argyrus in 1057, succeeding Maruli. He was appointed by Constantine X Ducas, the last Byzantine emperor who took an interest in recovering ground in Italia.-Sources:*Gay,...
- 1064 Perenus
- 1066 – 1069 Michael Maurex
- 1069 – 1071 Avartuteles
- 1071 Stephen Pateran
Sources
- Gay, Jules. L'Italie méridionale et l'empire Byzantin. Burt Franklin: New York, 1904.
- Norwich, John JuliusJohn Julius NorwichJohn Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1967. - White, Lynn, Jr.. "The Byzantinization of Sicily." The American Historical Review. Vol. 42, No. 1 (Oct., 1936), pp.1-21.