Marinus II (died 992) was the

Duke of Naples The Dukes of Naples were the military commanders of the ''ducatus Neapolitanus'', a Byzantine outpost in Italy, one of the few remaining after the conquest of the Lombards. In 661, Emperor Constans II, highly interested in south Italian affairs (h ...

from 968 to his death. He was the son and successor of John III and brought Naples back into the Byzantine fold, receiving the title ''eminentissimus consul et dux, atque imperialis anthipatus patricius''. In 970, Marinus did homage for his duchy to the Byzantine patrician Eugene after the imprisonment of

Pandulf Ironhead Pandulf I Ironhead (died March 981) was the Prince of Benevento and Capua from 943 (or 944) until his death. He was made Duke of Spoleto and Camerino in 967 and succeeded as Prince of Salerno in 977 or 978. He was an important nobleman in the fi ...

. He then participated in the siege of

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 Etrusc ...

. He devastated the surrounding countryside and took an enormous booty before an army of

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

forced the Greeks to retreat. In 974, Marinus allied with

Manso I of Amalfi Manso I ( it, Mansone) (died 1004) was the duke of Amalfi (966–1004) and prince of Salerno (981–983). He was the son of Duke Sergius I and the greatest independent ruler of Amalfi, which he controlled for nearly half a century. He is s ...

and

Landulf of Conza Landulf of Conza (died after 979), a Lombard nobleman, was briefly Prince of Benevento in 940 and then briefly Prince of Salerno in 973. The son of Atenulf II of Benevento, Landulf ruled on his father's death (940) as co-prince with his uncle, La ...

to depose

Gisulf I of Salerno Gisulf I (also ''Gisulph'', ''Gisolf'', ''Gisulfo'', ''Gisolfo'', ''Gisulphus'', or ''Gisulfus'') (May 930 – November or December 977) was the eldest son of Guaimar II, Lombard Prince of Salerno, and his second wife Gaitelgrima. He was associate ...

. They were defeated, however, by the intervention of Pandulf Ironhead. On 4 November 981, the

Emperor Otto II An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...

was in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, probably with the permission of Marinus, who was moving away from his pro-Byzantine policy. He was succeeded by his son Sergius III. In 975, Marinus made a donation to the urban church of Saints Severinus and Sossus in Naples. Patricia Skinner, "Urban Communities in Naples, 900–1050", ''Papers of the British School at Rome'' 62 (1994), 289.

Notes

Sources

*Gay, Jules. ''L'Italie méridionale et l'empire Byzantin: Livre II''. New York: Burt Franklin, 1904.
Medieval Lands Project: Southern Italy.
992 deaths 10th-century dukes of Naples Year of birth unknown Patricii {{Italy-noble-stub