Duchy of Sorrento | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 840–1137 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||
.svg) Campania and the Duchy of Sorrento in the 9th century | |||||||||
| Status | Independent state | ||||||||
| Capital | Sorrento | ||||||||
| Common languages | Latin,Greek, andNeapolitan | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Government | Elective duchy | ||||||||
| Duke | |||||||||
| Historical era | Early Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Duke elected | 840 | ||||||||
• annexed by theNormans to theKingdom of Sicily | 1137 | ||||||||
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| Today part of | Italy | ||||||||
TheDuchy of Sorrento was a small peninsular duchy of theEarly Middle Ages centred on theItalian city ofSorrento.[1]
Established in the 7th century as a fief of theDuchy of Naples, at the time still part of theByzantine Empire.[1]Subsequently Duchy of Naples became de facto autonomous from the Byzantine Empire, and in 840, Sorrento in turn gained de facto independence from Duchy of Naples.[1]Both duchies remained only nominally territories under the control of theByzantine Empire.
In 839 it resisted, with the help of the Duchy of Naples, under siege by the Lombard princeSicard of Benevento, who the year before had conquered theDuchy of Amalfi.[1]
Being the smallest and the most exposed, being on a peninsula, of the Campanian duchies, often it had to ally themselves to protect themselves from the ever-growing menace of theSaracens.
In 846, the Duchy of Sorrento joined the Lega Campana,[2] promoted and established byPope Leo IV for the defense ofRome and thePapal States against theSaracens.In the 849 summer, the Lega Campana, consisting of a fleet of ships of the duchies ofAmalfi,Gaeta,Naples and Sorrento, under the guidance of the consulCesarius,[3] son of DukeSergius I of Naples, defeated the Saracens who were preparing to land at Ostia with the intent to carry out the invasion and destruction of Rome and the papacy.The Battle of Ostia was won by the Campania League also with the help of a storm that completely destroyed the Saracen fleet off the coast ofOstia.The Battle of Ostia was one of the most famous in history of thePapacy of theEarly Middle Ages and is celebrated in a famous fresco byRaphael, painted by his assistantGiulio Romano, in particular inthe Fire in the Borgo of theVatican Palace in theVatican City.
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