Sergius VI (died 1107) was the ''

magister militum (Latin for "master of soldiers", plural ) was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine the Great. The term referred to the senior military officer (equivalent to a war theatre commander, ...

'' and

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 1077 to his death. He was the son of the Neapolitan senator John, and succeeded his uncle, John's elder brother, Sergius V. His sister Inmilgia married Duke

Landulf of Gaeta Landulf (or LandoChalandon, p 297, calls him Landon.), either a Lombard count or a Docibilian senator, was the Duke and Consul of Gaeta from 1091 to 1103. With the death of Jordan I of Capua in November 1090, anarchy erupted in the fiefs of the ...

. Patricia Skinner (1995), ''Family Power in Southern Italy: The Duchy of Gaeta and Its Neighbours, 850–1139'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), p. 48. His reign is very obscure because of the slight documentary evidence. In the face of the Norman conquests, Sergius reinforced the Neapolitan relationship with the

Byzantine Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...

and was at some point granted the

Byzantine title Through the 5th century Hellenistic political systems, philosophies and theocratic Christian-Eastern concepts had gained power in the eastern Greek-speaking Mediterranean due to the intervention of Important religious figures there such as ...

of ''

protosebastos The title of ''protosebastos'' ( el, πρωτοσέβαστος, ''prōtosébastos'', "first ''sebastos''") was a high Byzantine court title created by Emperor Alexios I Komnenos. History Although the title first appears in a document of 1049, wher ...

''. He apparently gave aid to the Norman prince

Jordan I of Capua Jordan I ( it, Giordano) (after 1046 – 1091), count of Aversa and prince of Capua from 1078 to his death, was the eldest son and successor of Prince Richard I of Capua and Fressenda, a daughter of Tancred of Hauteville and his second wife, a ...

when the latter broke his alliance with

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...

and did homage for his principality to the

German emperor The German Emperor (german: Deutscher Kaiser, ) was the official title of the head of state and hereditary ruler of the German Empire. A specifically chosen term, it was introduced with the 1 January 1871 constitution and lasted until the offi ...

Henry IV. The pope wrote to Prince

Gisulf II of Salerno Gisulf II (also spelled ''Gisulph'', Latin ''Gisulphus'' or ''Gisulfus'', and Italian ''Gisulfo'' or ''Gisolfo'') was the last Lombard prince of Salerno (1052–1077). Gisulf was the eldest son and successor of Guaimar IV and Gemma, daughter o ...

asking him to persuade Sergius to break off his support for Jordan and Henry. Around 1078, Sergius married Limpiasa, a daughter of Prince

Richard I of Capua Richard Drengot (died 1078) was the count of Aversa (1049–1078), prince of Capua (1058–1078, as Richard I) and duke of Gaeta (1064–1078). Early career in Italy Richard, who came from near Dieppe in the Pays de Caux in eastern Normandy, was t ...

and Fressenda, daughter of

Tancred of Hauteville Tancred of Hauteville (c. 980 – 1041) was an 11th-century Norman petty lord about whom little is known. He was a minor noble near Coutances in the Cotentin. Tancred is also known by the achievements of his twelve sons. Various legends arose ...

. He was succeeded by their son, John VI, whom he had made co-ruler in 1090.Catherine Heygate (2013), "Marriage Strategies among the Normans of Southern Italy in the Eleventh Century", ''Norman Expansion: Connections, Continuities and Contrasts'' (Ashgate), pp. 165-86, at 182.

References

External links

Medieval Lands Project: Southern Italy.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sergius 06 Of Naples 1107 deaths 11th-century dukes of Naples Year of birth unknown