Landulf I of Benevento
Encyclopedia
Landulf I sometimes called Antipater, was a 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...

 nobleman and the Prince of Benevento and of Capua (as Landulf III) from 12 January 901, when his father, Atenulf I
Atenulf I of Capua
Atenulf I , called the Great , was the prince of Capua from 7 January 887 and of Benevento from 899, when he conquered that principality...

, prince of Capua and conqueror of Benevento, associated his with him in power. His mother was Sichelgaita of Gaeta.

In 909, he went 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:...

 to receive the titles of anthypatos
Anthypatos
Anthypatos is the translation in Greek of the Latin proconsul. In the Greek-speaking East, it was used to denote this office in Roman and early Byzantine times, surviving as an administrative office until the 9th century...

and patrikios. His brother Atenulf II stayed behind in Italy and received like investiture. In June 910, his father died and he became sole prince. Immediately, he invested his brother as co-prince.

On 2 July 911, Landulf signed a treaty with Duke Gregory IV of Naples
Gregory IV of Naples
Gregory IV was the firstborn son of Duke Sergius II of Naples and successor of his paternal uncle, Bishop Athanasius, in 898, when he was elected dux, or magister militum, unanimously by the aristocracy. His other paternal uncle, Stephen, succeeded Athanasius as bishop...

, part of a policy of alliance and friendship with his fellow Christian rulers of the Mezzogiorno
Mezzogiorno
The Midday is a wide definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to a large number of minor islands...

. He also continued a policy of alliance with Byzantium, but never servility. He never pledged to be a vassal of the emperor in Constantinople. In 914, he succeeded in having the great abbey of Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino
Monte Cassino is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, Italy, c. to the west of the town of Cassino and altitude. St. Benedict of Nursia established his first monastery, the source of the Benedictine Order, here around 529. It was the site of Battle of Monte Cassino in 1944...

 transferred from Teano
Teano
Teano is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, in the province of Caserta, 30 km north-west of that town on the main line to Rome from Naples. It stands at the south-east foot of an extinct volcano, Rocca Monfina.- Ancient times and Middle Ages:...

 to Capua
Capua
Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...

 and he and Atenulf appointed one John abbot. The next year (915), they sent John as ambassador to Constantinople to renew the bonds of allegiance.

The summer of 915, the forces of the new Byzantine strategos
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...

of 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...

, Nicolaus Picingli, joined those of various other south Italian princes: John I
John I of Gaeta
John I was the second hypatus of Gaeta of his dynasty, a son of Dociblis I and Matrona, and perhaps the greatest of medieval Gaetan rulers....

 and Docibilis II of Gaeta
Docibilis II of Gaeta
Docibilis II was the ruler of Gaeta, in one capacity or another, from 906 until his death. He was the son of the hypatus John I, who made him co-ruler in 906 or thereabouts....

, Gregory IV and John II of Naples
John II of Naples
John II was the duke of Naples from 915 to his death. He succeeded his father Gregory IV on the latter's death late in 915.He had accompanied his father to the Battle of the Garigliano under Nicholas Picingli, where the Christian coalition defeated the Moslems of the fortress on the Garigliano....

, and Guaimar II of Salerno
Guaimar II of Salerno
Guaimar II was the Lombard prince of Salerno from 901, when his father retired to a monastery, to his death. His father was Guaimar I and his mother was Itta. He was associated with his father in the principality from 893...

. Through diplomatic marriages, Landulf had succeeded in allying these rulers to himself: he had married Gemma, daughter of Athanasius of Naples
Athanasius of Naples
Athanasius was the Bishop and Duke of Naples from 878 to his death. He was the son of Gregory III and brother of Sergius II, whom he blinded and deposed in order to seize the throne while he was already bishop....

, and Atenulf's daughter Gaitelgrima
Gaitelgrima
Gaitelgrima is a Lombard feminine name. There are several notable Gaitelgrimas in history. The identities of these four women are often confused because they were all closely related to each other and to two men: Guaimar III of Salerno and his son, Guaimar IV, whose enumeration is often altered...

 married Guaimar II. His own son, Atenulf III, married Rotilda, Guaimar's daughter. Together the Greco-Lombard army joined the northern forces of Pope John X
Pope John X
Pope John X, Pope from March 914 to May 928, was deacon at Bologna when he attracted the attention of Theodora, the wife of Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, the most powerful noble in Rome, through whose influence he was elevated first to the see of Bologna and then to the archbishopric of...

 and Alberic I of Spoleto
Alberic I of Spoleto
Alberic I was the Lombard duke of Spoleto from between 896 and 900 until 920, 922, or thereabouts. He first appears as a page to Guy III of Spoleto at the Battle on the Trebbia in 889 He may have later been the count of Fermo or margrave of Camerino, but whatever the case, he succeeded to Spoleto...

 and vanquished the Saracens at the Battle of Garigliano
Battle of Garigliano
The Battle of Garigliano was fought in 915 between the forces of the Christian League and the Saracens. Pope John X personally led the Christian forces into battle.-Background:...

. According to Liudprand of Cremona, Landulf, a "potent prince", in answering a request for advice from the pope, initiated the alliance that brought and end to the Saracens on the Garigliano. He downplays the coordinating role of John X in favour of that of Landulf, who is portrayed as militarily savvy.

In 921, he supported an anti-Greek 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...

n rebellion, ravaging as far as Ascoli
Ascoli
-Places of Italy:*Ascoli Piceno, a city and provincial seat in Marche*Ascoli Satriano, a town in the Province of Foggia*Porto d'Ascoli, a civil parish of San Benedetto del Tronto, in the province of Ascoli Piceno*Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche...

. He was forced, however, to send his second son, Landulf II
Landulf II of Benevento
Landulf II , called the Red, was the Lombard prince of Benevento and prince of Capua from 939 or 940, when his father, Landulf I, first associated him with the government, his mother was Gemma, daughter of Athanasius of Naples. He may have been associated as early as 933, when his elder brother,...

, to Constantinople as a hostage. In 923 or 926, by agreement with Guaimar, they would jointly attack Byzantine possessions, Landulf taking Apulia and Guaimar, 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...

. Landulf was largely unsuccessful, though Guaimar was much so. In 929, with Atenulf II, Guaimar II, and Theobald of Spoleto, he invaded Apulia and Calabria again. This time, all were unsuccessful and Theobald hurt the old alliance.

In 933, Landulf associated his son Atenulf with himself and his brother in the government. In 934, Guaimar was persuaded to quit the alliance by the Byzantine agent Cosmas of Thessalonica. In 935, King Hugh of Italy gave his support to the Greeks. Within a few years, Landulf's successful anti-Byzantine policy had been reversed and he was forced to make peace, but clashes continued: at Siponto
Siponto
Siponto was an ancient port town of Apulia in southern Italy. The town was abandoned after earthquakes in the 13th century; today the area is administered as a frazione of the comune of Manfredonia, in the province of Foggia...

 in 936 and at Matera in 940. In 939, Landulf's brother Atenulf died and Atenulf's eldest son, Landulf
Landulf of Conza
Landulf of Conza , a Lombard nobleman, was briefly Prince of Benevento in 940 and then briefly Prince of Salerno in 973. The son of Atenulf II of Benevento, Landulf ruled on his father's death as co-prince with his uncle, Landulf I, who soon sent him into exile...

, succeeded him, but was soon exiled to 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...

 by his uncle. He died four years later on April 10.

Sources

  • Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, LXIII: Labroca – Laterza. Rome, 2004.
  • Liudprand of Cremona. The Complete Works of Liudprand of Cremona, Paolo Squatriti, ed. and trans. Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 2007.
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