Sergius I (died 864) was the first
duke of Naples of his dynasty, often dubbed the "Sergi," which ruled over Naples for almost three centuries from his accession in 840 until the death of his namesake
Sergius VII in 1137.
Sergius was originally the
dux of
Cumae, a Neapolitan dependency. In 840, with the
Franks trying to take the city, the people elected Sergius as duke (or
magister militum) of Naples. This was a move towards complete independence from the
Byzantine Empire, which was incapable of defending the
Ducatus Neapolitanus from the
Lombards. Sergius continued the beneficial alliance the Neapolitans had made with the
Saracens of
Palermo earlier. He aided them in taking
Bari from the Greeks in 841 and
Messina in 842. By turning away from the Greeks and towards the
papacy and the Franks, he opened the way for the expulsion of the Moslems from the
Campania.
The Saracens soon became too dangerous to keep as friends and Naples was forced to ally with
Amalfi,
Gaeta, and
Sorrento, its practically independent underlings, and make war on the Moslems. The Christians forced them out of
Ponza and defended
Rome in 846, though the
Vatican was sacked. In 849, Sergius led his fleet alongside that of Gaeta and the Vatican in the successful
Battle of Ostia.
Sergius allied himself, furthermore, with the Emperors
Lothair I and
Louis II. In 847, Sergius was charged, along with
Guy I of Spoleto, with establishing peace between the Lombard princes
Siconulf of Salerno and
Radelchis I of Benevento. In 850, Sergius attempted (successfully) to make the duchy hereditary when he appointed his eldest son,
Gregory, as co-duke. He began to mint his own coins with his own effigy on them.
In 859, Sergius made war with
Capua. He married his daughter to Landulf,
gastald of
Suessola, son of
Lando I of Capua. With the gastald, he sent his sons Gregory and
Caesar to sack New Capua. They failed. Sergius' other sons,
Athanasius and Stephen, also played an important role in Neapolitan politics. The former became bishop of Naples, an imperial
familiaris, and a papal legate and intimate of the Roman
curia. Stephen held the
bishopric of Sorrento. Before dying, Sergius bade Gregory to follow the counsel of his brother the bishop. Gregory did succeed on Sergius' death and the hereditary, independent dukedom was born.
Sources
- by David Taylor and Jeff Matthews.
- Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LIX Graziando – Grossi Gondi. Rome, 2002.
- Chalandon, Ferdinand. Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie. Paris, 1907.
Category:864 deathsCategory:Italian nobilityCategory:Dukes of NaplesCategory:Magistri militumru:Сергий I (герцог Неаполя)uk:Сергій I (неаполітанський дука)
