Guaimar IV[1] (c. 1013 – 2, 3 or 4 June 1052) wasPrince of Salerno (1027–1052),[2]Duke of Amalfi (1039–1052),Duke of Gaeta (1040–1041), andPrince of Capua (1038–1047) inSouthern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052. He was an important figure in the final phase ofByzantine authority in theMezzogiorno andthe commencement of Norman power. He was, according toAmatus of Montecassino, "more courageous than his father, more generous and more courteous; indeed he possessed all the qualities a layman should have—except that he took an excessive delight in women."[3]
He was born around the year 1013, the eldest son ofGuaimar III of Salerno byGaitelgrima, daughter of DukePandulf II of Benevento. His elder half-brother, John (III), the son of Porpora of Tabellaria, reigned as co-prince from 1015. When he died in 1018, Guaimar was made co-prince. In 1022, theEmperor Henry II campaigned in southern Italy against the Greeks and sentPilgrim, Archbishop of Cologne, to attackPandulf IV of Capua, nicknamed the "Wolf of the Abruzzi", and Guaimar of Salerno. Pandulf was captured and Guaimar submitted, sending the younger Guaimar as a hostage. The emperor remanded him toPope Benedict VIII and he was released. The younger Guaimar succeeded his father in Salerno in 1027 (at the age of fourteen or sixteen, possibly under theregency of his mother during his brief minority). He embarked then on a lifelong quest to control the whole of the southern third of theItalian Peninsula.
In 1036, he received word that his uncle and erstwhile ally, Pandulf of Capua, had attempted to rape his niece, the daughter of his wife's sister and theDuke of Sorrento.[4] He then received the homage of the defectingRainulf Drengot, formerly a vassal of Pandulf. Thus, Guaimar won the support of theNormans in the Mezzogiorno. In 1037, Guaimar made the politically savvy request of arbitration to both theHoly Roman andByzantine emperors over the issue of Pandulf's unfitness to rule.Emperor Conrad II accepted the invitation and traveled south in Spring 1038. He demanded hostages from Pandulf. However, the hostages escaped and Capua was promptly besieged. Having taken that principality, he gave it to Guaimar (May),[5] who asked for a title of nobility for his new Norman vassal. This was granted and Rainulf officially became "Count of Aversa" and a vassal of Salerno.
Guaimar set out to take possession of his new principality immediately. On 15 August, he conqueredRocca Vandra and gave it to the abbey ofMonte Cassino. Meanwhile, the Normans of Aversa pacified the valley of theSangro. After Pandulf fled toConstantinople, Guaimar turned his attention toAmalfi. In April 1039, in support of the deposed and blindedManso II, Guaimar forced the abdication and exile ofJohn II and his mother,Maria, a sister of Pandulf. Guaimar installed himself as duke. Then in July, he conqueredSorrento, which had been conquered by Pandulf in 1034.[6] He gave it to his brotherGuy with the title of duke. He also received the homage of theDuke of Naples as a vassal,John V, who had brought the request for mediation to Constantinople in 1037.
In the north, he broughtComino,Aquino,Traetto (May 1039),Venafro (October 1040),Pontecorvo andSora under his rule. In June 1040, he tookGaeta, which had been conquered by Pandulf in 1032. After October 1041, Guaimar ceases to appear in the acts of Gaeta and it seems he was replaced by a popular usurper related to the old dynasty,Leo. By December 1042, however, Gaeta was in the hands of Rainulf, holding it from Guaimar.
Soon after, he became involved with theHautevilles. The Byzantines, who had not responded to Guaimar's earlier request for help, were preparing an expedition under the great generalGiorgio Maniace. Guaimar sent, at their request, a cohort ofLombard and Norman warriors, the first of which was oneWilliam, who, inSicily, won theepithet "Iron Arm". In 1038, the Normans and Lombards returned in a rebellious state and quickly invaded GreekApulia. In this, Guaimar supported them and, in 1042, they elected William Iron Arm as count and sought the approval of Guaimar, whom they acclaimed, in full opposition to any Byzantine claims,Duke of Apulia and Calabria (1043). Guaimar, in accordance with good feudal theory, granted themMelfi and the republican model on which it was set up. The feudal grounding was not so good in law, however. Guaimar was only duke by acclamation of the men he appointed as vassals and it was by the authority of the ducal title that he installed them in Melfi. This would cause him trouble later.
In 1044, he and the Iron Arm began to take Calabria and built a large castle atSquillace. In his later years, he had trouble retaining his possessions in the face of theHoly Roman Emperor and the Normans. Rainulf Drengot, who still held Aversa, originally from the Duke of Naples, died in 1045 and his county passed, against all protestation from Guaimar, to his nephewAsclettin. Later in that same year, Guaimar opposed the succession of Asclettin's cousinRainulf Trincanocte, but again was overridden. These quarrels led the once-loyal Aversa to return its allegiance to Pandulf, lately returned from exile in Constantinople. War with Pandulf continued from 1042 to 1047. Guaimar secured his own position, however, by recognising William's brotherDrogo shortly after William's death in 1046 and by giving him his sisterGaitelgrima in marriage.
In 1047, however, Guaimar's life's work was undone. In that yearEmperor Henry III came to demand homage from the dukes of the south. He returned Capua to Pandulf and took Aversa and Melfi directly under his suzerainty. Finally, he deprived Guaimar of his title over Apulia and Calabria, bringing to an end that troublesome feudal oddity. The emperor also besieged Benevento, whereEmpress Agnes was being held while the gates were shut to him. At that point, Daufer, the futurePope Victor III, brother ofPandulf III of Benevento, fled the city and sought the protection of Guaimar, who gave him refuge inLa Trinità della Cava. Daufer's nephewLandulf personally traveled to Salerno to meet with Guaimar and negotiate the return of Daufer. Daufer was returned with the promise that his choice of a monastic vocation would be respected.
In 1048, Pandulf, once again prince of Capua, was at war with Guaimar. On the death in that year of Rainulf II of Aversa (Rainulf Trincanocte), his succeeding sonHerman, an infant, required a regent. The first appointment, Bellebouche, was a failure.Richard Drengot, a cousin of Herman's, was then in a Melfitan prison for making war on Drogo. Guaimar soon procured his release and personally brought him to Aversa, where he was installed as regent, and later as count in his own right. Thus, Guaimar recaptured the allegiance of Aversa.
At a synod inBenevento in July 1051,Pope Leo IX besought Guaimar and Drogo to stop the Norman incursions on church lands. Soon Drogo was assassinated, probably by a Byzantine conspiracy. The next year, Guaimar too was assassinated in the harbour of his capital. The four assassins were the brothers of his wife Gemma. Guaimar's brotherPandulf of Capaccio was also killed, but Guy of Sorrento escaped while Guaimar's sister and niece were locked up. The brothers-in-law seized the city and electedPandulf, eldest among them, prince. The date of Guaimar's assassination is given as 2 June in theAnnales Beneventani, as 3 June in Amatus and as 4 June in thenecrology of Monte Cassino.[7]
Guy fled to the Normans and soon the four conspirators were besieged in Salerno by a large Norman force and Guy's Sorrentine army. The assassins' families soon fell into their enemies' hands and they negotiated their release by releasing Gisulf, Guaimar's son and heir, to Guy. Guy accepted their surrender soon after, promising not to harm them. The Normans, however, who maintained they were not bound by Guy's oath, massacred the four brothers and thirty-six others, one for each stab wound found in Guaimar's body. Thus the Normans showed their loyalty to Guaimar even after his death.
Guaimar's legacy includes his dominion, either by conquest or otherwise, over Salerno, Amalfi, Gaeta, Naples, Sorrento, Apulia, Calabria and Capua at one time or another. He was the last great Lombard prince of the south, but perhaps he is best known for his character, which theLord Norwich sums up this way: "...without once breaking a promise or betraying a trust. Up to the day he died his honour and good faith had never once been called in question."[8]Peter Damian, a contemporary, in a tract written forPope Nicholas II, held a different view: Guaimar "was killed by the sword because of his many acts of violence and tyrannical oppression".[7]
Guaimar married Gemma, a daughter of the Capuan countLaidulf. They were married before 1032. They had six sons, five of whom outlived them, and at least four daughters.
In 1037, Guaimar had made his eldest son John co-prince asJohn IV, but John died in 1039. Guaimar was succeeded by his second sonGisulf II (co-prince since 1042), whom the Normans put under their protection. His third son was Landulf, Lord ofPolicastro. His fourth son Guy was an ally ofRobert Guiscard. His fifth son wasJohn, Abbot of Curte. His youngest son, Guaimar, co-ruled with his brother Gisulf.
Guaimar's eldest daughter wasSichelgaita, who married Robert Guiscard. His younger daughter was Gaitelgrima whom he married toDrogo.[a][9] She brought with her a large dowry. She married twice more: toRobert, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo, and to a Count Alfred.[9]Humphrey, Drogo's brother and successor, is said to have married a daughter of Guaimar's, often assumed to be the widow of his brother, but this is impossible. Also,Jordan I of Capua is said to have married a woman named "Gatteclina", a sister of Sichelgaita.
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Prince of Salerno 1027–1052 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Prince of Capua 1038–1047 | Succeeded by |
| Duke of Gaeta 1040–1041 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Duke of Amalfi 1039–1052 | Succeeded by |