Palamede Bozzuto (

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intellig ...

: ''Palamides Bochut''; fl. 1381–1382) was an Italian knight and nobleman who took part in the wars of the succession of the Kingdom of Naples between the Angevins and the Durazzo. He was a partisan of the latter. In the

Western Schism The Western Schism, also known as the Papal Schism, the Vatican Standoff, the Great Occidental Schism, or the Schism of 1378 (), was a split within the Catholic Church lasting from 1378 to 1417 in which bishops residing in Rome and Avignon b ...

, he was a fierce supporter of

Pope Urban VI Pope Urban VI ( la, Urbanus VI; it, Urbano VI; c. 1318 – 15 October 1389), born Bartolomeo Prignano (), was head of the Catholic Church from 8 April 1378 to his death in October 1389. He was the most recent pope to be elected from outside the ...

.. A native of

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 ...

, Palamede was the son of Nicola and nephew of the Archbishop Ludovico Bozzuto. His brother was Giovanni Bozzuto, captain of Bari. At the siege of Naples in 1381, Palamede was instrumental in getting the Hungarian soldiers of Charles of Durazzo into the city on 16 July. Charles rewarded him by placing him on his council and granting him several

fief A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form ...

s, including Rosito, Calogenario and the

castle of Muro Lucano The Castle of Muro Lucano is a castle in the commune of Muro Lucano in the Potenza province of the Basilicata region of southern Italy. It was originally built in the 9th century and parts of it are still inhabited by the Martuscelli family, rela ...

. He also became one of the founding members of Charles' new order of knighthood, the

Order of the Ship The Order of the Ship (French ''Ordre de la Nef'') was a secular order of knighthood in the Kingdom of Naples founded and dedicated to the Holy Trinity by King Charles III of the House of Durazzo on 1 December 1381 and defunct by 1386. Charles III ...

.. Charles also placed Palamede in charge of his captured rival, Queen Joan I, who was locked up in Muro Lucano. According to a letter of 1385, Palamede was a brutal jailer. He forcefully removed the queen's jewellery, dismissed most of her servants and limited her food. She was not allowed visitors and saw only Palamede, her lady-in-waiting and three servants. It is probable that he had a hand in Joan's assassination on 27 July 1382, but there is no proof. Palamede is not mentioned in any document after this.

References

{{reflist 14th-century Neapolitan people Nobility from Naples Medieval Italian knights