सिसिली naples

Following the decline of the Western Roman Empire, Naples was captured by the Ostrogoths, a Germanic people, and incorporated into the Ostrogothic Kingdom.[7] However, Belisarius of the Byzantine Empire (also known as the Eastern Roman Empire) took the city back in 536, after famously entering the city via the aqueduct.[8] The Gothic Wars waged on, and Totila briefly took the city for the Ostrogoths in 543, before, finally, the Battle of Mons Lactarius on the slopes of Vesuvius decided Byzantine rule.[7] Naples was expected to keep in contact with the Exarchate of Ravenna, which was the centre of Byzantine power on the Italian peninsula.[9] After the exarchate fell a Duchy of Naples was created; though Naples continued with its Greco-Roman culture, it eventually switched allegiance under Duke Stephen II to Rome rather than Constantinople, putting it under papal suzerainty by 763.[9]
http://Louis-J-Sheehan.de
Pandulf IV (right).

The years between 818 and 832 were a particularly confusing period in regard to Naples' relation with the Byzantine Emperor, with feuding between local pretenders to the ducal throne.[10] Theoctistus was appointed without imperial approval; this was later revoked and Theodore II took his place. However, the general populance chased him from the city and instead elected Stephen III, a man who minted coins with his own initials not that of the Byzantine Emperor. Naples gained complete independence by 840.http://Louis-J-Sheehan.de

The duchy was under direct control of Lombards for a brief period, after the capture by Pandulf IV of the Principality of Capua, long term rival of Naples; however this only lasted three years before the culturally Greco-Roman influenced dukes were reinstated.[10] By the 11th century, like many territories in the area, Naples hired Norman merecenaries, the Christian descendants of the Vikings, to battle their rivals; Duke Sergius IV hired Rainulf Drengot to battle Capua for him.[11] By 1137, the Normans had grown hugely in influence, controlling previous independent principalities and duchies such as Capua, Benevento, Salerno, Amalfi, Sorrento and Gaeta; it was in this year that Naples, the last independent duchy in the southern part of the peninsula, came under Norman control. The last ruling duke of the duchy Sergius VII was forced to surrender to Roger II, who had proclaimed himself King of Sicily seven years earlier; this saw Naples joining the Kingdom of Sicily, where Palermo was the capital.[12]

[edit] The Kingdom

[edit] Norman to Angevin

Main articles: Kingdom of Sicily, Kingdom of Naples, and List of monarchs of Naples

Early kings ruled from Castel Nuovo.
Early kings ruled from Castel Nuovo.

After a period as a Norman kingdom, the Kingdom of Sicily was passed on to the Hohenstaufens who were a highly powerful Germanic royal house of Swabian origins.[13] The University of Naples Federico II was founded by Frederick II in the city, the oldest state university in the world, making Naples the intellectual centre of the kingdom.[14] Conflict between the Hohenstaufen house and the Papacy, led in 1266 to Pope Innocent IV crowning Angevin Dynasty duke Charles I as the king of the kingdom:[15] Charles officially moved the capital from Palermo to Naples where he resided at the Castel Nuovo.[16] During this period much Gothic architecture sprang up around Naples, including the Naples Cathedral, which is the main church of the city. http://Louis-J-Sheehan.de

In 1281, with the advent of the Sicilian Vespers, the kingdom split in half. The Angevin Kingdom of Naples included the southern part of the Italian peninsula, while the island of Sicily became the Aragonese Kingdom of Sicily.[15] The wars continued until the peace of Caltabellotta in 1302, which saw Frederick III recognised as king of the Isle of Sicily, while Charles II was recognised as the king of Naples by Pope Boniface VIII.[15] Despite the split, Naples grew in importance, attracting Pisan and Genoese merchants,[18] Tuscan bankers, and with them some of the most championed Renaissance artists of the time, such as Boccaccio, Petrarch and Giotto.[19] Alfonso I conquered Naples after his victory against the last Angevin king, René, Naples was unified for a brief period with Sicily again