Robert II (died 1156) was the count of

Aversa Aversa () is a city and '' comune'' in the Province of Caserta in Campania, southern Italy, about 24 km north of Naples. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the ''Agro Aversano'', producing wine and cheese (famous for the typical ...

and the

prince of Capua This is a list of the rulers of the Principality of Capua. Lombard rulers of Capua Gastalds and counts The gastalds (or counts) of Capua were vassals of the princes of Benevento until the early 840s, when Gastald Landulf began to clamour for the ...

from 1127 until his death . He was the only son and successor of

Jordan II of Capua Jordan II ( it, Giordano) (died 19 December 1127) was the third son of Prince Jordan I of Capua and Princess Gaitelgrima, a daughter of Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno. He was, from at least May 1109, the lord of Nocera, and, after June 1120, Pri ...

. According to the Lombard chronicler

Falco of Benevento Falco of Benevento ( it, Falcone Beneventano; lng, Falco Penevent) was an Italian-Lombard twelfth-century historian, notary and scribe in the papal palace in Benevento, his native city, where he was born to high-standing parents. He is an impor ...

, he was "of delicate constitution, he could endure neither labour nor hardship."

Early reign and coronation

In the final month of 1127,

Pope Honorius II Pope Honorius II (9 February 1060 – 13 February 1130), born Lamberto Scannabecchi,Levillain, pg. 731 was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 December 1124 to his death in 1130. Although from a humble background, ...

came to

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and the ...

to preach a

crusade The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and sometimes directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The best known of these Crusades are those to the Holy Land in the period between 1095 and 1291 that were ...

against Count

Roger II of Sicily Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria i ...

in order to prevent the union of his county with the duchy of

Apulia it, Pugliese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographic ...

( Duke William II being recently deceased). At the start of 1128, Honorius II granted investiture to Robert which made the principalities of Capua independent from Apulia. The pope endeavoured to gain Robert's loyalty to help defeat Roger II of Sicily in return for remissions of his sins. He was quickly recruited for the endeavour by the pope, who went to

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 ...

for the ceremony. The pope probably hoped to use Capua as a counterpoise against

, as in the days of Robert's grandfather and great grandfather. Likewise, Robert may have intended to be the chief papal protector, as his ancestors had been. However, he was weak-willed and he soon fell ill and wanted out. Eventually, the coalition commenced negotiations on Roger's arrival with an army. Honorius even successfully negotiated the independence of Capua. In 1129, however, Robert submissively surrendered suzerainty to the duke of Apulia and, the next year (on 25 December 1130) it was believed by Falco of Benevento that, as Roger's vassal-in-chief, laid the crown on his head at his royal coronation. This is difficult to believe as it was such a crucial role and Roger II would not have wanted Robert, as one of his vassals, to perform such an important task, even if he was one of the highest rank.

Rebellion against Roger II of Sicily

In 1132, Robert rebelled with many other south Italian vassals of the king of Sicily and with the support of

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

and his coalition of King

Louis VI of France Louis VI (late 1081 – 1 August 1137), called the Fat (french: link=no, le Gros) or the Fighter (french: link=no, le Batailleur), was King of the Franks from 1108 to 1137. Chronicles called him "King of Saint-Denis". Louis was the first member ...

, King

Henry I of England Henry I (c. 1068 – 1 December 1135), also known as Henry Beauclerc, was King of England from 1100 to his death in 1135. He was the fourth son of William the Conqueror and was educated in Latin and the liberal arts. On William's death in ...

, and Emperor Lothair II. Robert defeated Roger at the

Battle of Nocera The Battle of Nocera or Scafati was the first major battle of Roger II of Sicily and the first of his two major defeats (the other being the Battle of Rignano) at the hands of Count Ranulf of Alife. Background In 1132, the disaffected Ranulf h ...

on 24 July, but Roger burnt Aversa and, by 1134, forced Count

Ranulf of Alife Ranulf II (or Rainulf II, it, Rainulfo; died 30 April 1139) was the count of Alife and Caiazzo, and duke of Apulia. He was a member of the Italo-Norman Drengot family which dominated the Principality of Capua for most of the century between 1 ...

and the nominally

Byzantine 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 ...

Duke

Sergius VII of Naples Sergius VII (died 30 October 1137) was the thirty-ninth and last duke (or ''magister militum'') of Naples. He succeeded his father John VI on the Neapolitan throne in 1122 at a time when Roger II of Sicily was rising rapidly in power. When Roger ...

to submit. Robert was given an ultimatum; if he wanted to keep his title, he must submit to Roger. After the death of Roger's wife,

Elvira Elvira is a female given name. First recorded in medieval Spain, it is likely of Germanic (Gothic) origin. Elvira may refer to: People Nobility * Elvira Menéndez (died 921), daughter of Hermenegildo Gutiérrez and wife of Ordoño II of Leó ...

, and the false news of Roger's death, Robert went to Naples from Pisa with 8000 men. He was met by Rainulf and Duke Sergius when Roger arrived in June 1135, he again offered Robert a choice to keep his title. Roger made his third son

Alfonso Alphons (Latinized ''Alphonsus'', ''Adelphonsus'', or ''Adefonsus'') is a male given name recorded from the 8th century (Alfonso I of Asturias, r. 739–757) in the Christian successor states of the Visigothic kingdom in the Iberian peninsula. ...

prince in his stead (1135). Robert fled to

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the ci ...

, where he gathered a navy and made war against Roger in Sicily, but it was a stalemate. The Pisan fleet ravaged

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramati ...

and took much loot. Laden with this plunder and accompanied by a papal legation, Robert went to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

to plead for the aid of the emperor. In Spring 1137, the emperor came down with

;

Henry the Proud Henry the Proud (german: Heinrich der Stolze) (20 October 1139), a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Bavaria (as Henry X) from 1126 to 1138 and Duke of Saxony (as Henry II) as well as Margrave of Tuscany and Duke of Spoleto fro ...

duke of Bavaria The following is a list of rulers during the history of Bavaria. Bavaria was ruled by several dukes and kings, partitioned and reunited, under several dynasties. Since 1949, Bavaria has been a democratic state in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

; and a large force. They took

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Ital ...

, and Capua itself, installing Ranulf as duke of Apulia and Robert in Capua, vindicating these actions in battle. But when the emperor left Italy, Roger sacked Capua yet again. On 25 July 1139, Robert and the pope were defeated in battle on the

Garigliano The Garigliano () is a river in central Italy. It forms at the confluence of the rivers Gari (also known as the Rapido) and Liri. Garigliano is actually a deformation of "Gari-Lirano" (which in Italian means something like "Gari from the Liri") ...

, at

Galluccio Galluccio is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Caserta in the Italian region Campania, located about northwest of Naples and about northwest of Caserta. It is at the feet of the southern slopes of Monte Camino. History Prehistori ...

, ambushed by Roger. The pope was captured, though Robert escaped. They thereafter acknowledged him as ''principatus Capuae''.

Exile, return, and capture

He spent most of the next fifteen years in exile in Germany. When Alfonso died in 1144, Roger made his fourth son

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

prince. However, following Roger's death in 1154, there was a revolt on the mainland, led by Robert II of Basunvilla, cousin of the new king

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

. When William was excommunicated by

Pope Adrian IV Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...

, and with (unjustified) rumours that the Emperor

Frederick I Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt o ...

was set to invade southern Italy, Prince Robert was tempted to make a comeback. He swore homage to Adrian retook Capua (1155), taking advantage of William's serious illness. However, in the spring of 1156 William recovered and took a fleet to the mainland. He dealt, first, with the more serious threat from Robert of Basunvilla and the other Apulian and Campanian rebels, but then he turned to Capua. Robert was captured. He might have been executed as a traitor, but instead William sent him as a prisoner to Palermo, where he was possibly blinded.Houben, p 169, quoting Hugo Falcandus, ''The History of the Tyrants of Sicily''

Family

Robert left a son named Jordan who lived in

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 (" ...

, where he served the

Emperor 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 ( ...

Manuel I Comnenus Manuel I Komnenos ( el, Μανουήλ Κομνηνός, translit=Manouíl Komnenos, translit-std=ISO; 28 November 1118 – 24 September 1180), Latinized Comnenus, also called Porphyrogennetos (; " born in the purple"), was a Byzantine empero ...

as ''

sebastos ( grc-gre, σεβαστός, sebastós, venerable one, Augustus, ; plural , ) was an honorific used by the ancient Greeks to render the Roman imperial title of . The female form of the title was (). It was revived as an honorific in the 11th-ce ...

'' and diplomat. He journeyed to Rome in 1166–1167 to try and aid the reunion of the

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and

Eastern Orthodox Eastern Orthodoxy, also known as Eastern Orthodox Christianity, is one of the three main branches of Chalcedonian Christianity, alongside Catholicism and Protestantism. Like the Pentarchy of the first millennium, the mainstream (or " canonical ...

churches.

Notes

References

Alexander of Telese Alexander of Telese ( it, Alessandro Telesino) was an Italian chronicler and historian, and the abbot of San Salvatore, near Telese, in southern Italy from before 1127 to before November 1143. His most famous work is ''The Deeds Done by King Rog ...

, The Deeds of Roger. *Houben, Hubert (translated by Graham A. Loud and Diane Milburn). Roger II of Sicily: Ruler between East and West. Cambridge University Press, 2002. *Matthew, Donald. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily (Cambridge Medieval Textbooks), 1992. , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Robert 02 Of Capua 1156 deaths Italo-Normans Norman warriors Robert 2 Robert 2 Year of birth unknown