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Castle Of Melfi
The Castle of Melfi in Basilicata is a monument owned by the Italian State and one of the most important medieval castles in Southern Italy. Its construction, at least the components still visible, dates back to the Norman conquest and has undergone significant changes over time, especially under the House of Anjou and the Crown of Aragon. History Normans The castle was built in the late 11th century by the Normans in a strategic location that serves as a gateway between Campania and Apulia. Its placement was essential to defend itself from external attacks and as a refuge for Norman allies. The structure was a place of several "historic" events during the Norman period. In Melfi, the residential seat of the County of Apulia (''Contea di Puglia''), there were five ecumenical councils, organized by five different Popes between 1059 and 1137. In the summer of 1059, Pope Nicholas II stayed at the fortress: on 24 June he concluded an agreement with Count Robert Guiscard and Prince ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical region. Italy is also considered part of Western Europe, and shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia and the enclaved microstates of Vatican City and San Marino. It has a territorial exclave in Switzerland, Campione. Italy covers an area of , with a population of over 60 million. It is the third-most populous member state of the European Union, the sixth-most populous country in Europe, and the tenth-largest country in the continent by land area. Italy's capital and largest city is Rome. Italy was the native place of many civilizations such as the Italic peoples and the Etruscans, while due to its central geographic location in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean, the country has also historically been home ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counts And Dukes Of Apulia And Calabria
The County of Apulia and Calabria (), later the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria (), was a Norman state founded by William of Hauteville in 1042 in the territories of Gargano, Capitanata, Apulia, Vulture, and most of Campania. It became a duchy when Robert Guiscard was raised to the rank of duke by Pope Nicholas II in 1059. The duchy was disestablished in 1130 when the last duke of Apulia and Calabria, Roger II of Sicily became King of Sicily. The title of duke was thereafter used intermittently as a title for the heir apparent to the Kingdom of Sicily. Creation Drogo of Hauteville was made "count" of Apulia & Calabria by Emperor Henry III, with territories lost by Guaimario IV of the Principality of Salerno. William I of Hauteville, who returned in September 1042 in Melfi, was recognized by all the Normans as supreme leader. He turned to Guaimar IV, Lombard, Prince of Salerno, and Rainulf Drengot, Count of Aversa, and offered both an alliance. With the unification of the two N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty's most prominent rulers – Frederick I (1155), Henry VI (1191) and Frederick II (1220) – ascended the imperial throne and also reigned over Italy and Burgundy. The non-contemporary name of 'Hohenstaufen' is derived from the family's Hohenstaufen Castle on the Hohenstaufen mountain at the northern fringes of the Swabian Jura, near the town of Göppingen. Under Hohenstaufen rule, the Holy Roman Empire reached its greatest territorial extent from 1155 to 1268. Name The name Hohenstaufen was first used in the 14th century to distinguish the 'high' (''hohen'') conical hill named Staufen in the Swabian Jura (in the district of Göppingen) from the village of the same name in the valley below. The new name was only applied to the hill ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was a successor state of the County of Sicily, which had been founded in 1071 during the Norman conquest of the southern peninsula. The island was divided into three regions: Val di Mazara, Val Demone and Val di Noto. In 1282, a revolt against Angevin rule, known as the Sicilian Vespers, threw off Charles of Anjou's rule of the island of Sicily. The Angevins managed to maintain control in the mainland part of the kingdom, which became a separate entity also styled ''Kingdom of Sicily'', although it is commonly referred to as the Kingdom of Naples, after its capital. From 1282 to 1409 the island was ruled by the Spanish Crown of Aragon as an independent kingdom, then it was added permanently to the Crown. After 1302, the isl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antipope Anacletus II
Anacletus II (died January 25, 1138), born Pietro Pierleoni, was an antipope who ruled in opposition to Pope Innocent II from 1130 until his death in 1138. After the death of Pope Honorius II, the college of cardinals was divided over his successor. Unusually, the election was entrusted to eight cardinals, who elected Papareschi (Innocent II). A larger body of cardinals then elected Pierleoni, which led to a major schism in the Roman Catholic Church. Anacletus had the support of most Romans, including the Frangipani family, and Innocent was forced to flee to France. North of the Alps, Innocent gained the crucial support of the major religious orders, in particular Bernard of Clairvaux's Cistercians, the Abbot of Cluny Peter the Venerable; and Norbert of Xanten, the Archbishop of Magdeburg who established the Premonstratensians and held a high rank in the Court of the German Emperor Lothar III. The lack of support from these key figures left Anacletus with few patrons out ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Innocent II
Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the first eight years of his reign were marked by a struggle for recognition against the supporters of Anacletus II. He reached an understanding with King Lothair III of Germany who supported him against Anacletus and whom he crowned as Holy Roman emperor. Innocent went on to preside over the Second Lateran council. Early years Gregorio Papareschi came from a Roman family, probably of the ''rione'' Trastevere. Formerly a Cluniac monk, he was made cardinal deacon of San Angelo in 1116 by Pope Paschal II. Gregorio was selected by Pope Callixtus II for various important and difficult missions, such as the one to Worms for the conclusion of the Concordat of Worms, the peace accord made with Holy Roman Emperor Henry V in 1122, and also the one tha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paschal II
Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was created the cardinal-priest of San Clemente by Pope Gregory VII (1073–85) in 1073. He was consecrated as pope in succession to Pope Urban II (1088–99) on 19 August 1099. His reign of almost twenty years was exceptionally long for a medieval pope. Early career Ranierius was born in Bleda, near Forlì, Romagna. He became a monk at Cluny at an early age. Papacy During the long struggle of the papacy with the Holy Roman emperors over investiture, Paschal II zealously carried on the Hildebrandine policy in favor of papal privilege, but with only partial success. Henry V, son of Emperor Henry IV, took advantage of his father's excommunication to rebel, even to the point of seeking out Paschal II for absolution for associating with his fat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
First Crusade
The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic rule. While Jerusalem had been under Muslim rule for hundreds of years, by the 11th century the Seljuk takeover of the region threatened local Christian populations, pilgrimages from the West, and the Byzantine Empire itself. The earliest initiative for the First Crusade began in 1095 when Byzantine emperor Alexios I Komnenos requested military support from the Council of Piacenza in the empire's conflict with the Seljuk-led Turks. This was followed later in the year by the Council of Clermont, during which Pope Urban II supported the Byzantine request for military assistance and also urged faithful Christians to undertake an armed pilgrimage to Jerusalem. This call was met with an enthusiastic popular response across all social classes in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermont which served as the catalyst for the Crusades. Pope Urban was a native of France, and was a descendant of a noble family from the French commune of Châtillon-sur-Marne. Reims was the nearby cathedral school where he began his studies in 1050. Before his papacy, Urban was the grand prior of Cluny and bishop of Ostia. As pope, he dealt with Antipope Clement III, infighting of various Christian nations, and the Muslim incursions into Europe. In 1095 he started preaching the First Crusade (1096–99). He promised forgiveness and pardon for all of the past sins of those who would fight to reclaim the holy land from Muslims and free the eastern churches. This pardon would also apply to those that would fight the Muslims ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roger I Of Sicily
Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Roger Bosso and The Great, was a Norman nobleman who became the first Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was a member of the House of Hauteville, and his descendants in the male line continued to rule Sicily down to 1194. Roger was born in Normandy, and came to southern Italy as a young man in 1057. He participated in several military expeditions against the Emirate of Sicily beginning in 1061. He was invested with part of Sicily and the title of count by his brother, Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, in 1071. By 1090, he had conquered the entire island. In 1091, he conquered Malta. The state he created was merged with the Duchy of Apulia in 1127 and became the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130. Conquest of Calabria and Sicily Roger was the youngest son of Tancred of Hauteville by his second wife Fredisenda. Roger arrived in Southern Italy in the summer of 1057. The Ben ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gisulf II Of Salerno
Gisulf II (also spelled ''Gisulph'', Latin ''Gisulphus'' or ''Gisulfus'', and Italian ''Gisulfo'' or ''Gisolfo'') was the last Lombard prince of Salerno (1052–1077). Gisulf was the eldest son and successor of Guaimar IV and Gemma, daughter of the Capuan count Laidulf. He appears as a villain and a pirate in the chronicle of Amatus of Montecassino, ''Ystoire de li Normant''. Historian John Julius Norwich (''The Normans in the South'' pg. 201''n'') speaks "of one unfortunate victim n Amalfitanwhom Gisulf kept in an icy dungeon, removing first his right eye and then every day one more of his fingers and toes. He matusadds that the Empress Agnes—who was spending much of her time in South Italy—personally offered a hundred pounds of gold and one of her own fingers in ransom, but her prayers went unheard." He was made co-prince with his father in 1042 while very young and, only a decade later, his father was assassinated in the harbour of his capital by four brothers, sons o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Alexander II
Pope Alexander II (1010/1015 – 21 April 1073), born Anselm of Baggio, was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1061 to his death in 1073. Born in Milan, Anselm was deeply involved in the Pataria reform movement. Elected according to the terms of his predecessor's bull, ''In nomine Domini'', Anselm's was the first election by the cardinals without the participation of the people and minor clergy of Rome. He also authorized the Norman Conquest of England in 1066. Early life and work Anselm was born in the parish of Cesano Boscone in the town of Corsico some 7 km (5 mi) from Milan of a noble family. The family took its name from Baggio. a suburb of Milan, where the family held the office of "captain". According to the ''Liber pontificalis'', his father's name was Anselmus or Ardericus. Contemporary sources do not provide any information on where Anselm might have obtained his education. It was traditionally believed that An ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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