The County of Lecce was a semi-independent
Italo-Norman
The Italo-Normans ( it, Italo-Normanni), or Siculo-Normans (''Siculo-Normanni'') when referring to Sicily and Southern Italy, are the Italian-born descendants of the first Norman conquerors to travel to southern Italy in the first half of the ...
entity in
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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, in south-eastern
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, which existed from 1055 until 1463. Its capital was at the city of
Lecce
Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...
, and it was bounded by the territories of
Brindisi
Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.
Histo ...
to the north,
Oria and
Nardò to the west, and
Soleto
Soleto (Griko: ; Salentino: ; la, Soletum) is a small Griko-speaking city located in the province of Lecce in Apulia, Italy. The town has a total population of 5,542 and is one of the nine towns of Grecìa Salentina where the greek dialect Griko ...
and
Otranto
Otranto (, , ; scn, label= Salentino, Oṭṛàntu; el, label=Griko, Δερεντό, Derentò; grc, Ὑδροῦς, translit=Hudroûs; la, Hydruntum) is a coastal town, port and ''comune'' in the province of Lecce (Apulia, Italy), in a fertil ...
to the south.
The county was founded by the
Normans
The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...
after their conquest of Apulia in the 1050s. Several Norman monarchs held their court at
Lecce
Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...
, and
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 ...
, who was Count of Lecce from 1149 to 1194, was born here. His daughter Elvira Maria Albina married
Walter III of Brienne
Walter III of Brienne (french: Gautier, it, Gualtiero; died June 1205) was a nobleman from northern France. Becoming Count of Brienne in 1191, Walter married the Sicilian princess Elvira and took an army to southern Italy to claim her inheritanc ...
, whose family held the duchy of Lecce in the following centuries. In 1384
Mary of Enghien
Mary of Enghien, also Maria d'Enghien (1367 or 1370 – 9 May 1446), was Countess of Lecce from 1384 to 1446 and Queen of Naples as well as titular Queen of Sicily, Jerusalem, and Hungary by marriage to Ladislaus of Naples from 1406 to 1414. ...
, a granddaughter of Isabella of Brienne, became Countess of Lecce. When she married Raimondo Orsini del Balzo, Count of Soleto and (from 1393 to 1406) Prince of Taranto, all of the Salento was united into one of the largest fiefdoms in the Kingdom of Naples and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. Raimondo improved the administration of the county and the city.
After his death, the county went to his son, Giovanni Antonio Orsini Del Balzo, who had also inherited the Principality of Taranto in 1420. At his death in 1463, Ferdinand I of Naples named himself as the heir to Giovanni Antonio's rich legacy, annexing the county to the royal estates of the Kingdom of Naples.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lecce, County of
States and territories disestablished in 1463
States and territories established in 1055
Medieval Apulia
Lecce
Norman conquest of southern Italy