Grimoald Alferanites was the

prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. T ...

of Bari from 1121 to 1132. After a civil war broke out in Bari, Risone, the archbishop of the city, was murdered (1117) and the

princess of Taranto This is a list of the Princesses of Taranto, a principality in Southern Italy. Countess consort of Taranto Princess consort of Taranto House of Hauteville, 1088–1194 House of Hohenstaufen, 1194–1266 Capetian House of Anjou, ...

, Constance of France, was imprisoned at

Giovinazzo Giovinazzo ( Barese: ) is a town, '' comune'' (municipality) and former bishopric within the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia region, southeastern Italy. History It was a small fortified centre of the Romans, who called it Natolium, maybe bui ...

(1119) by Grimoald and

Alexander, Count of Conversano Alexander (died after 1142) was the second count of Conversano (1085–1132), the son and successor of Geoffrey the Elder. Alexander, with his brother Tancred, was a constant thorn in the side of Roger II of Sicily. He took part in a civil wa ...

Pope Callistus II Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1 February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy, ...

intervened to procure the release of Princess Constance in 1120, who recognised her captor in his later titles. During this conflict, Grimoald was elected ruler in 1121, in opposition to

William II, Duke of Apulia William II (1095 – July 1127) was the Duke of Apulia and Calabria from 1111 to 1127. He was the son and successor of Roger Borsa. His mother, Adela of Flanders, had previously been queen of Denmark, and he was a half-brother of Charles the Good. ...

, the proper legal suzerain of Bari. He first used the title ''dominus'' or ''dominator'', as in ''barensium dominator'' in October 1121. In June 1123, a

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

-inspired blue diploma with gold script calls him ''Grimoaldus Alferanites gratia Dei et beati Nikolai barensis princeps''. In May 1122, he entered into an alliance with the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

. In October 1127, he was drawn to the side of Roger II of Sicily in his claim to the Apulian succession. However, in 1129, Grimoald and several other notable barons in Apulia flew into revolt after the papal approval of Roger's title by

Pope Honorius II Pope Honorius II (9 February 1060 – 13 February 1130), born Lamberto Scannabecchi,Levillain, pg. 731 was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 December 1124 to his death in 1130. Although from a humble background, ...

. With a fleet of sixty ships, George of Antioch blockaded the Bariot harbour and besieged Grimoald for months from Spring to August, when the prince finally gave in. Nevertheless, Grimoald was granted a full pardon from Roger and confirmed in his own chosen princely title. When, the next year (1130), Roger sought the royal title, receiving an honour higher than that of prince (as the rulers of Capua and Bari held) was one of his many motives. Joined with

Tancred of Conversano Tancred of Conversano, the youngest son of Geoffrey, Count of Conversano, became the count of Brindisi on his father's death in 1100. Tancred's elder brother Alexander succeeded their father as count of Conversano. In 1121, Count Roger II of Sic ...

, an old ally and renegade, Grimoald rose up in revolt in 1131 and captured the

port of Brindisi The port of Brindisi is a port in Brindisi, Italy. It is used for tourism, commercial and industrial shipping on the Adriatic Sea. Tourist traffic offer connections with the Balkan Peninsula and Turkey, while commercial concerns include coal, fuel ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

time. It took until May 1132, after astronomic omens and papal urgings, for Roger to leave comfortable

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

to go and deal with insurrection in Apulia. A brief siege convinced the Bariots to give up their prince and Grimoald and his whole family were given over on the city's surrender. The deposed prince was brought with his family to prison in Sicily and Tancred was only forgiven on condition he leave on Crusade. Grimoald was replaced by Roger's own son,

Tancred Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from ''thank-'' (thought) and ''-rath'' (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and espe ...

. According to

Falco of Benevento Falco of Benevento ( it, Falcone Beneventano; lng, Falco Penevent) was an Italian-Lombard twelfth-century historian, notary and scribe in the papal palace in Benevento, his native city, where he was born to high-standing parents. He is an im ...

, Grimoald was a ''vir mirabilis et bellicosi spiritus'' and Orderic Vitalis calls him ''liberalem et strenuum virum''. It seems, from the dating of the events, that the prince of Bari who rescued the saintly Giovanni di Matera from prison and then demanded that the holy man give an account of his theology to prove its orthodoxy was Grimoald. He was known to have tight control over his own churches and was a great patron of the Church of Saint Nicholas which housed the relics of Saint Nicholas, whom he championed as a Bariot patron saint, as seen in his official title. {{s-end

Sources

* Norwich, John Julius. ''The Normans in the South 1016-1130''. Longman:

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, 1967. * Norwich, John Julius. ''The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194''. Longman:

, 1970. *Caravale, Mario (ed). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani''.

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 2003. 12th-century Lombard people Lombard warriors