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County of Apulia and Calabria | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1043–1130 | |||||||||||||||||
| Motto: Servire Nescit (Latin) | |||||||||||||||||
 The Duchy (in green) in the political context of Italy and the Balkans in 1084. | |||||||||||||||||
| Status | Vassal state of thePapacy | ||||||||||||||||
| Capital | Melfi (1043–1077) Salerno (1077–1130) | ||||||||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism Greek Orthodoxy | ||||||||||||||||
| Demonyms | Normans (generally), Lombards,Apulians,Calabrians | ||||||||||||||||
| Government | Feudalmonarchy | ||||||||||||||||
| Count/Duke | |||||||||||||||||
• 1043–1046 | William I | ||||||||||||||||
• 1059–1085 | Robert I | ||||||||||||||||
• 1085–1111 | Roger Borsa | ||||||||||||||||
• 1111–1127 | William II | ||||||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||||||
| 1043 | |||||||||||||||||
• Emperor Henry III recognizes the County | 1047 | ||||||||||||||||
• Battle of Civitate;Pope Leo IX recognizes the County | 1053 | ||||||||||||||||
• Treaty of Melfi; the County becomes a Duchy | 1059 | ||||||||||||||||
| 1076 | |||||||||||||||||
• Death of the childlessWilliam II | 1127 | ||||||||||||||||
• Coronation of Roger; Duchy annexed toSicily | 1130 | ||||||||||||||||
| Currency | Follis (common) | ||||||||||||||||
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| Today part of | Italy | ||||||||||||||||
TheCounty of Apulia and Calabria (Latin:Comitatus Apuliae et Calabriae), later theDuchy of Apulia and Calabria (Latin:Ducatus Apuliae et Calabriae), was aNorman state founded byWilliam of Hauteville in 1043, composed of the territories ofGargano,Capitanata,Apulia,Vulture, and most ofCampania. It became a duchy whenRobert Guiscard was raised to the rank of duke byPope Nicholas II in 1059.
The duchy was disestablished in 1130, when the last duke of Apulia and Calabria,Roger II, becameKing of Sicily. The title of duke was thereafter used intermittently as a title for the heir apparent to theKingdom of Sicily.
William I of Hauteville returned toMelfi in September 1042 and was recognized by all the Normans as supreme leader. He turned toGuaimar IV,Prince of Salerno, andRainulf Drengot,Count of Aversa, and offered both an alliance. With the unification of the Norman families of Altavilla and Drengot, Guaimar gave official recognition to the Norman conquests. At the end of the year and extending into 1043, William and Rainulf met in an assembly at Melfi with the Norman barons and the Lombards.
In the meeting, Guaimar IV of Salerno ensured the Hauteville dominance over Melfi. William of Hauteville formed the second core of his possessions and differentiated himself from Rainulf I of Aversa, head of the territories of Campania. All the barons present offered a tribute as a vassal to Guaimar, which recognized William I of Hauteville as the first to receive the title ofCount of Apulia. To tie it to himself, he offered to marry Guaimar's niece Guide, daughter ofGuy, Duke of Sorrento. Guaimar reconfirmed the title of count to Rainulf as well, which created the County of Puglia.
In 1047,Drogo of Hauteville was made "count" of Apulia and Calabria by EmperorHenry III, with territories lost byGuaimar IV of thePrincipality of Salerno.[1][2]
In 1043, the prince of Salerno,Guaimar IV, had been acclaimedDuke of Apulia and Calabria although the legitimacy of this title (as it was not officially recognized by anyuniversal power) could be considered juridically doubtful; in fact, in 1047, the emperor Henry III intervened to claim the ducal title.[3]
However, after 1059, the county was officially namedDucato di Puglia e Calabria ("Duchy of Apulia and Calabria"), becauseRobert Guiscard was named a "duke" byPope Nicholas II.
Salerno was conquered in 1077 by the Normans, and these territories were added to the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria and with this conquest, the Normans controlled all of continental southern Italy, with the exception of the smallDuchy of Naples. The next year, the capital was moved from Melfi to Salerno, and the Normans began to focus on completing the conquest ofSicily. They gradually created, until 1091, the precursor of theKingdom of Sicily, the first unified state in southern Italy that was founded in 1130.
Salerno remained the capital of this southern Italian political entity for half a century (from 1078 to 1130), the city flourished with theSchola Medica Salernitana, the first medical school in Europe.
| Name | Portrait | Birth | Reign | Marriage | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | |||||
| Azzo of Spoleto (circa 969–983) | ||||||
Azzo of Spoleto | ? | 969 | circa983 | ? | OfLangobard origins, he was named Duke byOtto the Great. He disappeared under dubious circumstances, at the time in which Byzantines recaptured Calabria.[4] | |
| Name | Portrait | Birth | Reign | Marriage | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | |||||
| Melus of Bari (1015–1020) | ||||||
Melus of Bari | circa970 | 1015 | 1020 | Maralda 1 son | OfLangobard origins, but of Greek culture, he rebelled against the byzantines.Emperor Henry II gave him the title of Duke. | |
| Name | Portrait | Birth | Reign | Marriage | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | End | |||||
| Guaimar (1043–1047) | ||||||
Guaimar |  | 1013 circa | 1043 | 1047 | Gemma of Capua 1 son, 3 daughters | He was the first son ofGuaimar III of Salerno and Gaitelgrima of Benevento. In 1042-43 atMelfi, by approving the election ofWilliam of Hauteville as Count of Apulia, he obtained the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria. |
William is usually considered the first count of Apulia and Calabria, but he was never recognized as such by the emperor. In 1047, Holy RomanEmperor Henry III took away Guaimar's ducal title. He christened William's successor (and brother) DrogoDux et Magister Italiae comesque Normannorum totius Apuliae et Calabriae and made him a direct vassal of the empire.
In 1127 the duchy passed to thecount of Sicily. It was thereafter used intermittently as a title for the heir apparent.
The title was left vacant after the death of Roger IV. It may have been revived for a short-lived son ofWilliam II:
It was revived byKing Tancred for his eldest son in 1189:
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