Maria (985 – c. 1040) was ruling Duchess of Amalfi in co-regency with her sons twice: in 1028–29 and in 1034–39. During the reigns of her sons, she appears to have held the actual power.

Life

She was one of the two daughters of

Pandulf II of Benevento Pandulf II the Old (died August 1014) was the prince of Benevento from 981 and prince of Capua (as Pandulf III) from 1008 or 1009 to his death, and was the son of Landulf III who was co-prince between 959 and 968. Pandulf was first associated as ...

, who was also Pandulf III of Capua. She married

Sergius II of Amalfi Sergius II was the Patrician and Duke of Amalfi, the son and successor of John I, who co-reigned with his father until the latter's death in 1007. Sergius made his own eldest son John II co-duke, but both of them were deposed in 1028 by his wife ...

around 26 April 1002. Her sister

Gaitelgrima {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Gaitelgrima is a Lombard feminine name. There are several notable Gaitelgrimas in history. The identities of these six women (as well as some others of the same name) are often confused because they were all cl ...

married

Guaimar III of Salerno Guaimar III (also ''Waimar'', ''Gaimar'', ''Guaimaro'', or ''Guaimario'' and sometimes numbered Guaimar IV) (c. 983 – 1027×31) was the Lombard prince of Salerno from around 994 to his death. Under his reign, Salerno entered an era of great splen ...

, while her brothers, Landulf and Pandulf, became princes respectively of Benevento and

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrus ...

First rule

Maria had two sons,

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and Manso. In 1028, she and the younger son, Manso, seized the Amalfitan throne and expelled Sergius and John, who fled to

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...

. This was probably done at the instigation and with the support of her brother Pandulf. In 1029, John returned and deposed both Maria and Manso.

Second rule

In April or May 1034, John was again deposed by his mother and brother. This time it was certainly the result of Pandulf's interference, for Maria's daughter was married to

Ranulf Drengot Rainulf Drengot (also Ranulph, Ranulf, or Rannulf; died June 1045) was a Norman adventurer and mercenary in southern Italy. In 1030 he became the first count of Aversa. He was a member of the Drengot family. Early life and arrival in Italy When ...

, the

count of Aversa In 1030, the first Norman foothold in the Mezzogiorno was created when Sergius IV of Naples gave the town and vicinity of Aversa as a county to Ranulf. The following are the counts of Aversa: *Rainulf I 1030–1045 * Asclettin 1045 (nephew of pr ...

, in order to cement the alliance between Pandulf and the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

. This daughter's existence is recorded by

Amatus of Montecassino Amatus of Montecassino ( la, Amatus Casinensis), (11th century) was a Benedictine monk of the Abbey of Montecassino who is best known for his historical chronicles of his era. His ''History of the Normans'' (which has survived only in its medieval ...

: "the

Patrician Patrician may refer to: * Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage * Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...

of Amalfi's daughter, who was Prince Pandulf's niece, as the Patrician's wife was Pandulf's sister." The identity of this daughter had been confused, as has that of Ranulf's first wife.Chalandon, p. 79, makes Pandulf's niece a daughter of Manso. Maria took the title ''ducissa et patricissa'': "duchess and patricia". It is indicative of her power that Manso received no titles, not even from Byzantium, as his father and brother had before him. In 1038, her brother was deposed in Capua and John was able to return to Amalfi. He deposed his brother and reconciled with Maria, who subsequently joined him in blinding Manso and exiling him to the fortress of Castelluccia on Li Galli. This act of cruelty outraged the Amalfitans, who deposed both of them and accepted the rule of

Guaimar IV of Salerno Guaimar IV (c. 1013 – 2, 3 or 4 June 1052) was Prince of Salerno (1027–1052), Duke of Amalfi (1039–1052), Duke of Gaeta (1040–1041), and Prince of Capua (1038–1047) in Southern Italy over the period from 1027 to 1052 ...

Notes

References

*''Chronicon Amalfitanum'' c. 1300. *Caravale, Mario (ed). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LV Ginammi – Giovanni da Crema''. Rome, 2000. * Chalandon, Ferdinand. ''Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie''. Paris, 1907.

External links

Southern Italy.
{{Authority control 985 births 1040 deaths 10th-century Italian nobility 10th-century Italian women

Maria Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial * 170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 * Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, ...

11th-century women rulers 11th-century Italian women 11th-century Italian nobility