Sico ( 758 – 832)"Early Medieval Italy"
p. 160, Retrieved 21 oct 2009. was the Lombard Prince of Benevento from the 817 to his own death. Before becoming the Prince of Benevento, he had been the

gastald A gastald (Latin ''gastaldus'' or ''castaldus''; Italian ''gastaldo'' or ''guastaldo'') was a Lombard official in charge of some portion of the royal demesne (a gastaldate, ''gastaldia'' or ''castaldia'') with civil, martial, and judicial powers. ...

Acerenza Acerenza ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. History With its strategic position above sea-level, Acerenza has been sacked by a series of invaders. The town, then kno ...

. On the assassination of Grimoald IV, Sico succeeded to the princely throne. He made the same empty pledges of tribute and fealty to the

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

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

which Grimoald had made. Sico tried to extend the principality at the expense of

Byzantium Byzantium () or Byzantion ( grc, Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city in classical antiquity that became known as Constantinople in late antiquity and Istanbul today. The Greek name ''Byzantion'' and its Latinization ''Byzantium'' cont ...

. He besieged

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 ...

at an unknown date (perhaps c. 831), but could not take the city. He did, however, remove the body of the Neapolitan patron saint,

Januarius Januarius ( ; la, Ianuarius; Neapolitan and it, Gennaro), also known as , was Bishop of Benevento and is a martyr and saint of the Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. While no contemporary sources on his life are preserved, later ...

, who was originally from Benevento. It was also Sico who founded a line of rulers at Capua by bestowing that ancient fortress on Landulf I as gastald. Landulf honoured his benefactor by naming his first castle Sicopolis.

Children

When Sico died he was succeeded by his son Sicard. His daughter Itta (also spelled Ita or Itana) married Guy I,

Duke of Spoleto The Duke of Spoleto was the ruler of Spoleto and most of central Italy outside the Papal States during the Early and High Middle Ages (c. 500 – 1300). The first dukes were appointed by the Lombard king, but they were independent in practice. Th ...

. Sico is sometimes numbered "Sico I" and

Sico of Salerno Sico II (died 855) was the second prince of Salerno. Son and successor of Siconulf, he ruled the Principality of Salerno from his father's death in 851 to his own Deposition (politics), deposition in 853. He is given the ordinal "II" because he was ...

is numbered "Sico II".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sico of Benevento 750s births 832 deaths Year of birth uncertain Lombard warriors Princes of Benevento 9th-century rulers in Europe 9th-century Lombard people