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60-475: 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 ("patrician") and hypatos ("consul"). At that time the Ducatus Neapolitanus controlled an area corresponding roughly to the present day Province of Naples , encompassing the area of Vesuvius ,

120-671: A bucket or stabbed with a knife. His son Constantine succeeded him as Constantine IV . A brief usurpation in Sicily by Mezezius was quickly suppressed by the new emperor. The historian Robert Hoyland asserts that Mu'awiya was a significant Islamic challenge for Constans to "deny [the divinity of] Jesus and turn to the Great God who I worship, the God of our father Abraham" and speculates that Mu'awiya's tour of Christian sites in Jerusalem

180-403: A water clock mounted with a golden statue of man. The Byzantine historian Theophylact Simocatta , writing during the reign of Heraclius (r. 610–641), relayed information about China's geography , its capital city Khubdan ( Old Turkic : Khumdan , i.e. Chang'an ), its current ruler Taisson whose name meant " Son of God " (Chinese: Tianzi ), and correctly pointed to its reunification by

240-405: A criminal, ultimately being exiled to Cherson , where he died in 655. Constans grew increasingly fearful that his younger brother, Theodosius, could oust him from the throne; he therefore obliged Theodosius to take holy orders and later had him killed in 660. Constans' sons Constantine, Heraclius, and Tiberius had been associated on the throne since the 650s. However, having attracted the hatred of

300-524: A period of transition in the history of Naples: it moved away from the iconoclastic East and towards the papal West. The Byzantine Greeks were soon to become as much a threat to the Neapolitans as the Lombards. Sometime around the beginning of the ninth century, the dukes began striking coinage with Latin inscriptions, as Latin replaced Greek in official usage. Saint Januarius replaced the emperor on

360-502: 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 retired to a monastery. 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. It survived

420-622: A short respite and made it possible for Constans to hold on to the western portions of Armenia. In 654, however, Mu'awiya renewed his raids by sea, plundering Rhodes . Constans led a fleet to attack the Muslims at Phoinike (off Lycia ) in 655 at the Battle of the Masts , but he was defeated: 500 Byzantine ships were destroyed in the battle, and the Emperor himself was almost killed. The sea battle

480-468: Is still traceable in the Piano di Corte of the acropolis . Like their Byzantine enemies, the dukes linked the palace compound with a national church, Saint Sophia . In 788, the principality was invaded by Byzantine troops led by Desiderius's son, Adelchis , who had taken refuge at Constantinople . However, his attempts were thwarted by Arechis' son, Grimoald III , who had, however, partially submitted to

540-580: The Battle of Ostia against the Saracens in 849. Anyway, Naples did not hesitate to ally with infidels if this turned to its advantage: in 836, for example, it asked support to the Saracens in order to push off the siege of Lombard troops coming from the neighbouring Duchy of Benevento . After its dukes rose to highest prominence under the Duke-Bishop Athanasius and his successors—of whom Gregory IV and John II participated at

600-498: The Battle of the Garigliano in 915—Naples declined in importance in the tenth century, until it was captured by its traditional rival, Pandulf IV of Capua . In 1027, duke Sergius IV donated the county of Aversa to a band of Norman mercenaries led by Rainulf Drengot , whose support he had needed in the war with the principality of Capua . In that period he could not imagine the consequences, but this settlement began

660-609: The Campi Flegrei , the Sorrentine Peninsula , Giugliano , Aversa , Afragola , Nola , and the islands of Ischia and Procida . Capri was later part of the duchy of Amalfi . He had authority over the neighbouring seaports of Gaeta , Amalfi , and Sorrento , though each of these was largely autonomous, especially during the later years of the Neapolitan duchy. In this era, the duchy coined monies with

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720-648: The Italian Peninsula that was centred on Benevento , a city in Southern Italy . Lombard dukes ruled Benevento from 571 to 1077, when it was conquered by the Normans for four years before it was given to the Pope. Being cut off from the rest of the Lombard possessions by the papal Duchy of Rome , Benevento was practically independent from the start. Only during the reigns of Grimoald (r. 662–671) and

780-644: The Pantheon ) of their ornaments and bronze to be carried back to Constantinople, and in 666 declared the Pope to have no jurisdiction over the Archbishop of Ravenna , since that city was the seat of the Exarch, his immediate representative. His subsequent moves in Calabria and Sardinia were marked by further strippings and request of tributes that enraged his Italian subjects. According to Warren Treadgold ,

840-522: The Sui dynasty (581–618) as occurring during the reign of Maurice , noting that China had previously been divided politically along the Yangzi River by two warring nations . By his wife Fausta , a daughter of the patrician Valentinus, Constans II had three sons: Duchy of Benevento The Duchy of Benevento (after 774, Principality of Benevento ) was the southernmost Lombard duchy in

900-551: The 11th century. A unique Beneventan script was also developed for writing Latin . The 8th-century writer Paul the Deacon arrived in Benevento in the retinue of a princess from Pavia, the duke's bride. Settled into the greatest of Beneventan monasteries, Monte Cassino , he wrote first a history of Rome and then a history of the Lombards, the main source for the history of the duchy to that time as well. Under Zotto's successors,

960-439: The 15-year old Heraclonas as senior emperor. In September 641, the 10-year old Constans II was crowned co-emperor due to rumors that Heraclonas and Martina poisoned Constantine III. Later that same year, on or around 5 November, Heraclonas was deposed by Valentinus , one of Heraclius’ most trusted generals, and Constans II was left as sole emperor. Constans owed his rise to the throne to a popular reaction against his uncle and to

1020-692: The Arabs ( Da shi 大食) sent their commander "Mo-yi" ( Chinese : 摩拽伐之, Pinyin : Mó zhuāi fá zhī ), to besiege the Byzantine capital , Constantinople , and forced the Byzantines to pay them tribute. This Arab commander "Mo-yi" was identified by historian Friedrich Hirth as Muawiyah I (r. 661–680), the governor of Syria before becoming the Umayyad caliph . The same books also described Constantinople in some detail as having massive granite walls and

1080-551: The Arabs. Now Constans could turn to church matters once again. Pope Martin I had condemned both Monothelitism and Constans' attempt to halt debates over it in the Lateran Council of 649 . The Emperor ordered the Exarch of Ravenna to arrest the Pope. Exarch Olympius excused himself from this task, but his successor, Theodore I Calliopas , carried it out in 653. Pope Martin was brought to Constantinople and condemned as

1140-692: The Bearded " ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : ὁ Πωγωνᾶτος , translit.   ho Pōgōnãtos ), was the Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. Constans was the last attested emperor to serve as consul , in 642, although the office continued to exist until the reign of Leo VI the Wise (r. 886–912). His religious policy saw him steering a middle line in disputes between the Orthodoxy and Monothelitism by refusing to persecute either and prohibited discussion of

1200-527: The Duchy and the Eastern Empire was signed in 680. In the following decades, Benevento conquered some territories from the Byzantines, but the main enemy of the duchy was now the northern Lombard kingdom itself. King Liutprand intervened several times to impose a candidate of his own on the ducal throne. His successor, Ratchis , declared the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento foreign countries where it

1260-526: The Franks. The Franks assisted in the repulsion of Adelchis, but, in turn, attacked Benevento's territories several times, obtaining small gains, notably the annexation of Chieti to the duchy of Spoleto. In 814, Grimoald IV made vague promises of tribute and submission to Louis the Pious , which were renewed by his successor Sico . None of these pledges were followed up, and the decreased power and influence of

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1320-593: The King Godepert against his brother, the co-king Perctarit , and instead killed the former, forced the latter into exile, and captured Pavia. As king of the Lombards, he tried to reinstate Arianism over the Catholicism of the late king Aripert I . However, Arianism was disappearing even in the duchy, as was the distinction between the ethnic Lombard population and the Latin- and Greek-speaking one. In 663,

1380-742: The Lombards again, but he was defeated by the Beneventani at Forino , between Avellino and Salerno . In 663 Constans visited Rome for twelve days—the first emperor since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and, along with John V Palaiologos , one of only two Eastern Roman emperors since the division of the Roman empire in 395 to set foot in Rome—and was received with great honor by Pope Vitalian (657–672). Although on friendly terms with Vitalian, he stripped buildings (including

1440-622: The Neapolitan patriciate. 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 Genoa . Apart from the church of San Giovanni a Mare , Norman buildings in Naples were mainly lay ones, notably castles ( Castel Capuano and Castel dell'Ovo ), walls, and fortified gates. Constans II Constans II ( ‹See Tfd› Greek : Κώνστας , translit.   Kōnstas ; 7 November 630 – 15 July 668), also called "

1500-598: The Norman Robert Guiscard in 1053. Paul the Deacon refers to Benevento as the "Samnite Duchy" ( Ducatum Samnitium ) after the region of Samnium . The circumstances surrounding the creation of the duchy are disputed. According to some scholars, Lombards were present in southern Italy well before the complete conquest of the Po Valley : the duchy by these accounts would have been founded in 571. The Lombards may have entered later, around 590. Whatever

1560-456: The Norman rulers of the south was Robert Guiscard , who captured Benevento in 1053. Guiscard, in turn, gave Benevento to his nominal suzerain, Pope Leo IX. Pope Leo IX and his successors appointed a series of minor Lombards as dukes until Pope Gregory VII appointed Guiscard Prince of Benevento in 1078. Finally, in 1081, Guiscard returned the title to the papacy with little but the city remaining of

1620-551: The Saracens attacked Naples and Salerno unsuccessfully. The Islamic colony in southern Lazio was eliminated only in 915, after the Battle of Garigliano . At the same time, however, the Byzantine Empire reconquered a great part of southern Italy, beginning at Bari , which they retook from the Saracens in 876, and eventually elevating their themes under strategoi into a Catapanate of Italy (999), further reducing

1680-534: The already declining Beneventan power. In 899, Atenulf I of Capua conquered Benevento and united the two duchies. He declared them inseparable and introduced the principle of co-rule, whereby sons would be associated with their fathers, a principle soon borrowed by Salerno. However, all Langobardia minor was unified for the last time by Duke Pandulf Ironhead , who became prince of Salerno in 978. He succeeded in making Benevento an archdiocese in 969. Before his death (March 981), he had gained from Emperor Otto I

1740-572: The case, the first duke was Zotto , a leader of a band of soldiers who descended the coast of Campania . Though at first independent, Zotto was eventually made to submit to the royal authority of the north. His successor was Arechis , his nephew, and the principle of hereditary succession guided the Beneventan duchy to the end. The Lombard duchies, part of the loosely-knit Lombard kingdom, were essentially independent, in spite of their common roots and language, and law and religion similar to that of

1800-662: The citizens of Constantinople, Constans decided to leave the capital and to move to Syracuse in Sicily . On his way, he stopped in Macedonia and fought the Slavs at Thessalonica with success. Then, in the winter of 662–663, he made his camp at Athens. From there, in 663, he continued to Italy. He launched an assault against the Lombard Duchy of Benevento , which then encompassed most of Southern Italy . Taking advantage of

1860-432: The city itself was besieged by the Byzantines during the failed attempt of Constans II , who had disembarked at Taranto , to recover southern Italy. Duke Romuald I defended the city bravely, however, and the Emperor, also fearing the arrival of Romuald's father, King Grimoald, retired to Naples. However, Romuald intercepted part of the Roman army at Forino , between Avellino and Salerno, and destroyed it. A peace between

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1920-402: The civil life of the city starting from the 10th century. In 763, the duke Stephen II switched his allegiance from Constantinople to Rome , putting Naples under papal suzerainty . Already during the reign of the imperially appointed John I (711- ca 719), the papacy had come to the duke's aid against the Lombards, while Byzantine assistance seemed remote. Stephen II's reign is considered

1980-634: The coins. Acts were still dated by the imperial reign, but the emperor was of no consequence in regular Neapolitan affairs. In 813, when Leo V the Armenian called for the fleet of the entire ducatus to aid the Byzantine admiral in combating the Saracen pirates preying on Sicily, Duke Anthimus could ignore the order; only Amalfi and Gaeta responded with contingents. Apparently, the Neapolitans felt themselves practically independent already and their underlings felt themselves independent of Naples. The duchy

2040-587: The continuing hostility of the Frankish sovereigns, Benevento reached its apex, imposing a tribute on Naples and capturing Amalfi under Duke Sicard . When Sicard was assassinated in 839, a civil war broke out. Sicard's brother, Siconulf , was proclaimed prince in Salerno while the assassin Radelchis took the throne in Benevento. After 10 years of civil war, Emperor Louis II ended the conflict by decreeing that

2100-602: The countryside, and eventually the Arab army managed to force him to embark for home. The situation was complicated by the violent opposition to Monothelitism by the clergy in the west and the related rebellion of the Exarch of Carthage , Gregory the Patrician . The latter fell in battle against the army of caliph Uthman, and the region remained a vassal state under the Caliphate until civil war broke out and imperial rule

2160-554: The duchy be split into two distinct principates: Benevento (with Molise and Apulia north to Taranto ) and the Principality of Salerno . As a part of the partition, Capua was made part of the Principality of Salerno. The crisis was aggravated by the beginning of Muslim ravages, the first Saracens having been called in by Radelchis and subsequently Siconulf in their decade-long war. Often spurred by rival Christian rulers,

2220-520: The duchy was expanded against the Byzantine Empire . Arechis, himself from the duchy of Friuli , captured Capua and Crotone , and sacked Byzantine Amalfi , but was unable to capture Naples . After his reign, Byzantine holdings in southern Italy were reduced to Naples, Amalfi, Gaeta , Sorrento , Calabria , and the maritime cities of Apulia ( Bari , Brindisi , Otranto , etc.). In 662, Duke Grimoald I (duke since 647), went north to aid

2280-534: The effigy of the emperor and Greek inscriptions. Greek was the official language, though the population was Latin-speaking . The Neapolitan patriciate of the ducal era was represented by the so-called "magnate families", enrolled in the seats of the medieval city: among them the families of the Capece, Ferrario, Melluso, Piscicelli, Pappansogna, Boccia, de Gennaro, Russo and of the Morfisa, had particular importance in

2340-418: The fact that Lombard king Grimoald I of Benevento was engaged against Frankish forces from Neustria , Constans disembarked at Taranto and besieged Lucera and Benevento . However, the latter resisted and Constans withdrew to Naples . During the journey from Benevento to Naples, Constans II was defeated by Mitolas, Count of Capua, near Pugna. Constans ordered Saburrus , the commander of his army, to attack

2400-580: The failed siege of Troia . The Normans arrived in the Mezzogiorno in these years, and Benevento then acknowledged to be in papal suzerainty, was only an off-and-on ally. The Beneventan duke still had enough prestige to lend his son, Atenulf , to the Norman-Lombard rebellion in Apulia as leader, but Atenulf abandoned the Normans and Benevento lost what was left of its influence. The greatest of

2460-407: The fall of the Lombard principalities: Capua, Salerno, Benevento. It had survived the fall of its fellow Greek duchies: Amalfi, Gaeta, Sorrento. 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 administered by a compalazzo (palatine count), with little independence left to

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2520-464: The first themes were created between 659 and 661, during the reign of Constans II. However, John Haldon states that this idea is not supported by a "a shred of evidence", although redistribution of the armies across the Anatolian provinces did take place, and likely resulted in administrative changes. On 15 July 668, he was assassinated in his bath by his chamberlain , either killed with

2580-414: The individual Carolingian monarchs allowed the duchy to increase its autonomy. The Beneventan dukes employed seal rings to confirm documents, just like the Lombard kings, and the princes may have continued to use them into the ninth century. They indicate a continuation (or imitation) of Roman forms of administration, as well as widespread literacy (or "sub-literacy"). In the following century despite

2640-465: The kings from Liutprand (r. 712–744) on was the duchy closely tied to the Kingdom of the Lombards . After the fall of the kingdom in 774, the duchy became the sole Lombard territory which continued to exist as a rump state , maintaining its de facto independence for nearly 300 years, although it was divided after 849. Benevento dwindled in size in the early 11th century, and was completely captured by

2700-631: The natures of Jesus Christ under the Type of Constans in 648. His reign coincided with Muslim invasions under, Umar, Uthman, and Mu'awiya I in the late 640s to 660s. Constans was the first emperor to visit Rome since the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, and the last one to visit Rome while the Empire still held it. Constans was born on 7 November 630 in Constantinople , the Byzantine capital, to Gregoria and Constantine III . Constantine

2760-479: The north, and in spite of the Beneventan dukes' custom of taking to wife women from the royal family. A swathe of territory that owed allegiance to Rome or to Ravenna separated the dukes of Benevento from the kings at Pavia . Cultural autonomy followed naturally: a distinctive liturgical chant, the Beneventan chant , developed in the church of Benevento: it was not entirely superseded by Gregorian chant until

2820-491: The once-great principality which had determined the direction of South Italian affairs for generations. No dukes or princes were thereafter named. In 1806, Napoleon , after conquering Benevento, named as prince the famous Charles Maurice de Talleyrand . Talleyrand held the title till 1815 and was quite capable in administering the duchy besides his other tasks. Benevento was conquered by Joachim Murat in February 1814 and at

2880-698: The plan, as the first Fitna broke out in 656. In 658, with the eastern frontier under less pressure, Constans defeated the Slavs in the Balkans , temporarily reasserting some notion of Byzantine rule over them and resettled some of them in Anatolia ( c.  649 or 667). In 659 he campaigned far to the east, taking advantage of a rebellion against the Caliphate in Media . The same year he concluded peace with

2940-409: The protection of the soldiers led by Valentinus. Although the precocious emperor addressed the senate with a speech blaming Heraclonas and Martina for eliminating his father, he reigned under a regency of senators led by Patriarch Paul II of Constantinople . In 644, Valentinus attempted to seize power for himself, but failed. Under Constans, the Byzantines completely withdrew from Egypt in 642, and

3000-439: The same year, they raided Africa and killed Gregory. In 648, the Arabs raided into Phrygia , and in 649 they launched their first maritime expedition against Crete . A major Arab offensive into Cilicia and Isauria in 650–651 forced the Emperor to enter into negotiations with Caliph Uthman's governor of Syria , Mu'awiya I ( r.  656–661 ), who later reigned as the first Umayyad caliph. The truce that followed allowed

3060-431: The succession to the duchy hereditary, and thenceforth Naples was de facto independent. In this age, the city was mainly a military centre, ruled by an aristocracy of warriors and landowners, even though it had been compelled to surrender to the neighbouring Lombards much of its inland territory. Naples was not a merchant city as other Campanian sea cities like Amalfi and Gaeta, but had a respectable fleet who took part in

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3120-543: The third Rashidun caliph Uthman ( r.  644–656 ) launched numerous attacks on the islands of the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas . A Byzantine fleet under the admiral Manuel occupied Alexandria again in 645, and the Alexandrians hailed him as a liberator, since the caliphate levied heavier taxes and showed less respect for their religion. However, Manuel squandered his time and popularity in plundering

3180-471: The title of princeps (prince). In 787, he was forced by Charlemagne's siege of Salerno to submit to Frankish suzerainty. At this time, Benevento was acclaimed by a chronicler as a Ticinum geminum —a "twin Pavia". Arechis expanded the Roman city, with new walled enclosures extending onto the level ground southwest of the old city, where Arechis razed old constructions for a new princely palace, whose open court

3240-633: The title of Duke of Spoleto also. However, he split it between his sons: Landulf IV received Benevento-Capua and Pandulf II , Salerno. Soon, Benevento was stripped away again when Pandulf , the Ironhead's nephew, rebelled, demanding his part of the inheritance. The first decades of the eleventh century saw Benevento dwindle to less than either of her sister duchies, Salerno, then prominent, or Capua. Around 1000, Benevento still comprised 34 separate counties. In 1022, Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor conquered both Capua and Benevento, but returned to Germany after

3300-472: Was a son of Emperor Heraclius , while his mother Gregoria was a daughter of Nicetas , a first cousin of Heraclius. Heraclius died in February 641 and was succeeded by Constantine III and Heraclonas , his younger half-brother through Heraclius' second marriage to Martina . Constans was most likely elevated to caesar by his father to ease his succession to the throne against Martina and her sons. Constantine died suddenly after three months of rule, leaving

3360-589: Was again restored. Constans attempted to steer a middle line in the church dispute between Orthodoxy and Monothelitism by refusing to persecute either and prohibiting further discussion of the natures of Jesus Christ by decree in 648 (the Type of Constans ). Naturally, this live-and-let-live compromise satisfied few passionate participants in the dispute. Meanwhile, the advance of the Rashidun Caliphate continued unabated. In 647 they entered Armenia and Cappadocia and sacked Caesarea Mazaca . In

3420-789: Was done to demonstrate "the fact that he, and not the Byzantine emperor, was now God's representative on earth". The Chinese dynastic histories of the Old Book of Tang and New Book of Tang mention several embassies made by Fu lin (拂菻), which they equated with Daqin (the Roman Empire ). These are recorded as having begun in the year 643 with an embassy sent by the king Boduoli (波多力, Constans II Pogonatos) to Emperor Taizong of Tang , bearing gifts such as red glass and green gemstones . Other contacts are reported taking place in 667, 701, and perhaps 719, sometimes through Central Asian intermediaries. These histories also record that

3480-413: Was forbidden to travel without royal permission. In 758, king Desiderius briefly captured Spoleto and Benevento, but with Charlemagne 's conquest of the Lombard kingdom in 774, Arechis II tried to claim the royal dignity and make Benevento a secundum Ticinum : a second Pavia (the old Lombard capital). Seeing that this was impractical and would draw Frankish attention to himself, he opted instead for

3540-468: 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, but he was chased from the city the same year in favour of the elected Stephen III . 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

3600-517: Was so devastating that the emperor escaped only by trading clothes with one of his men. Before the battle, chronicler Theophanes the Confessor says, the Emperor dreamed of being at Thessalonica ; this dream predicted his defeat against the Arabs because the word Thessalonika is similar to the sentence "thes allo niken", which means "gave victory to another (the enemy)". Caliph Uthman was preparing to attack Constantinople , but he did not carry out

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