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Margaritus of Brindisi (also Margarito; Italian ''Margaritone'' or Greek ''Megareites'' or ''Margaritoni'' αργαριτώνη c. 1149 – 1197), called "the new Neptune", was the last great '' ammiratus ammiratorum'' (Grand Admiral) of Sicily. Following in the footsteps of Christodulus,
George of Antioch George of Antioch ( gr, Γεώργιος Ἀντιοχείας, died 1151 or 1152) was the first to hold the office of '' ammiratus ammiratorum'' (emir of emirs) in the Norman Kingdom of Sicily. He was a Syrian-born Byzantine Christian of Gree ...
, and Maio of Bari, Margaritus led the fleets of the kingdom in the reigns of William II (1166–1189) and
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 ...
(1189–1194). He probably began as a Greek pirate and gradually rose to the rank of privateer before becoming a permanent admiral of the navy. In 1185, he became the first count palatine of
Cephalonia Kefalonia or Cephalonia ( el, Κεφαλονιά), formerly also known as Kefallinia or Kephallenia (), is the largest of the Ionian Islands in western Greece and the 6th largest island in Greece after Crete, Euboea, Lesbos, Rhodes and Chios. It i ...
and Zakynthos (or Zante). In 1192, he became the first count of Malta. He also held the titles of Prince of Taranto and
Duke of Durazzo The Kingdom of Albania (, lat, Regnum Albaniae) was established by Charles of Anjou in the Albanian territories he conquered from the Byzantine Empire in 1271, with the help of the local Albanian nobility. The Kingdom of Albania was declared in ...
.


Biography

Margaritus first appears as a leader of the fleet alongside Tancred, then just count of
Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...
, which took Cephalonia and the Ionian Islands in 1185 and then harassed the fleet of Isaac II Angelos at Cyprus and captured many of his ships, taking them back to Sicily. In Autumn 1187, King William sent him with a fleet to the
Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
, where, on 2 October, Saladin had captured Jerusalem. Margaritus, with 60 ships and 200 knights, patrolled the
Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...
coast constantly, preventing Saladin from taking any of the vital seaports of the Latin crusader kingdom. In July 1188, he arrived at
Tripoli Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to: Cities and other geographic units Greece *Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece *Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece * Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in t ...
and forced Saladin to raise the siege of Krak des Chevaliers. Something similar happened at Marqab,
Latakia , coordinates = , elevation_footnotes = , elevation_m = 11 , elevation_ft = , postal_code_type = , postal_code = , area_code = Country code: 963 City code: 41 , geocode ...
, and Tyre in the following year. On 11 November 1189, William died and his fleet returned. On 4 October 1190, Margaritus, the ''
strategos ''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...
''
Jordan du Pin Jordan Lupin ( it, Giordano Lupino; died 1197) was the first count of Bovino in the Norman kingdom of Sicily. He played a major role in the final years of Norman rule and first years of the Staufer dynasty. Twice he was involved in opposing crusad ...
, and many other nobles of
Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
were forced to flee when the English king Richard the Lionheart sacked the city and burnt it. Margaritus took little part thereafter in the Third Crusade. Margaritus was a staunch supporter of Tancred against the king of Germany, Henry VI, who married
Constance Constance may refer to: Places *Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English *Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada * Constance, Kentucky * Constance, Minnesota * Constance (Portugal) * Mount Constance, Washington State People * Consta ...
, aunt of both Tancred and William II. Henry besieged Naples in 1191 and Margaritus came to the city's defence. He harassed Henry's
Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...
n navy and nearly destroyed the late-arriving
Genoese Genoese may refer to: * a person from Genoa * Genoese dialect, a dialect of the Ligurian language * Republic of Genoa (–1805), a former state in Liguria See also * Genovese, a surname * Genovesi, a surname * * * * * Genova (disambiguati ...
contingent and kept the harbour approaches open.
Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...
had surrendered to Henry and invited Constance there, but when Henry was forced to retreat, its population turned against Constance and captured her, and it was Margaritus who delivered her to
Messina Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
to Tancred on a typical bireme galley or dromon. Tancred made Margaritus the first count of Malta sometime in 1192, perhaps for this unexpected success, granting him considerable resources. The war for the kingdom, however, was not given up. Tancred was forced to release Constance the same year; and later Henry sent a second, more powerful navy—mostly Pisan and Genoese—to Naples under the command of
Markward von Anweiler Markward von Annweiler (died 1202) was Imperial Seneschal and Regent of the Kingdom of Sicily. Biography Markward was a ministerialis, that is, he came not from the free nobility, but from a class of unfree knights and administrators whose purp ...
. The fleet was augmented by fifty galleys from the Lionheart, forced to promise his support as part of the conditions of his release from a German prison. It landed in the Neapolitan bay on 25 August 1194; Naples surrendered. Next
Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
, where Margaritus defended the citadel, surrendered on November 20. Margaritus and many nobles of the old guard, including
Nicholas, Archbishop of Salerno Nicholas of AjelloHe was not a native of Aiello Calabro, Ajello (Calabria), but Salerno. His elder brother, Richard of Ajello, Richard, received the county of Ajello from King Tancred of Sicily, Tancred and the name has been applied to the entire fa ...
, the son of Matthew of Ajello, and Tancred's widow,
Sibylla of Acerra Sibylla of Acerra (1153–1205) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of King Tancred. She was regent in 1194 for their son, King William III. She was the sister of Count Richard of Acerra. Life Tancred was always in a struggle with his aunt Empress C ...
, and brief successor,
William III William III or William the Third may refer to: Kings * William III of Sicily (c. 1186–c. 1198) * William III of England and Ireland or William III of Orange or William II of Scotland (1650–1702) * William III of the Netherlands and Luxembourg ...
, were present at the Christmas coronation. However, four days later, they were arrested on charges of conspiracy and sent to Germany. He was blinded and died there in 1197, while the Chronicle of Roger of Howden reported that the blind Margaritus was killed in Rome by a servant of his in 1200s by when he, while serving Philip II, King of France, had gone to Brindisi where he had gathered a fleet.


Family

He married Marina, the illegitimate daughter of
Roger II of Sicily Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār''; Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Rog ...
.
Karl Hopf Karl Hopf may refer to: * Karl Hopf (historian) Karl Hopf (Hamm, Westphalia, February 19, 1832 – Wiesbaden, August 23, 1873) or Carl Hermann Friedrich Johann Hopf was a historian and an expert in Medieval Greece, both Byzantine and Frankish. ...
's undocumented conjecture that two daughters of him married respectively Riccardo Orsini, therefore ruler of the county of Cephalonia and Zakynthos, and
Leone Vetrano Leone may refer to: Geography *Leone, American Samoa *Monte Leone, mountain in the ''Leone-Gruppe'' as part of Western Alps *Sierra Leone, independent nation in West Africa Leone as a given name * Leone Battista Alberti (1404–1472), Italian R ...
, ruler of
Corfu Corfu (, ) or Kerkyra ( el, Κέρκυρα, Kérkyra, , ; ; la, Corcyra.) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea, of the Ionian Islands, and, including its small satellite islands, forms the margin of the northwestern frontier of Greece. The isl ...
from 1199 until his execution by the Venetians in 1206, has been rejected by modern scholarship.Kiesewetter, 2006, p. 339 and 353


Sources

* Norwich, John Julius. ''The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194''. Longman: London, 1970.
The Genoese Annals of Ottobuono Scriba
(pdf) **''Annales Ianuenses Otoboni Scribae'', in ''Annali Genovesi di Caffaro e de' suoi continuatori, ii (1189-1196)''. ed L. T. Belgrano and C. Imperiale di Sant'Angelo (Fonti per la storia d'Italia, 1902), pp. 38–41, 45–53. *Garufi, C. A. "Margarito di Brindisi, conte di Malta e ammiraglio del re di Sicilia," in: ''Miscellanea di archeologia, storia e filologia dedicata al prof. Antonino Salinas'', Palermo 1907, 273–282. * * {{cite book , last = Kiesewetter , first = Andreas , chapter = Preludio alla Quarta Crociata? Megareites di Brindisi, Maio di Cefalonia e la signoria sulle isole ionie (1185-1250) , pages=317-358 , editor1= Gherardo Ortalli , editor2=Giorgio Ravegnani , editor3=Peter Schreiner , title = Quarta Crociata. Venezia - Bisanzio - Impero latino. Atti delle giornate di studio. Venezia, 4-8 maggio 2004 , language = it , publisher = Istituto veneto di scienze, lettere ed arti , location = Venice , year = 2006 , isbn = 8888143742


References


External links



1140s births 1197 deaths 12th-century Byzantine people 12th-century Greek people 12th-century Italian people Medieval admirals Christians of the Third Crusade Military history of the Kingdom of Sicily Counts of Malta Counts palatine of Cephalonia and Zakynthos Medieval pirates