Landulf II (died 961), called the Red, was the Lombard prince of Benevento and

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 ...

(as Landulf IV) from 939 or 940, when his father, Landulf I, first associated him with the government. His mother was Gemma, daughter of

Athanasius of Naples Athanasius (died 898) was the Bishop (as Athanasius II) and Duke of Naples from 878 to his death. He was the son of Gregory III and brother of Sergius II, whom he blinded and deposed in order to seize the throne while he was already bishop. In ...

. He may have been associated as early as 933, when his elder brother, Atenulf III, was made co-regent. His uncle Atenulf II died in 940 and it is likely that Landulf served as a replacement. Landulf married Yvantia on an unknown date. Whatever the case, when the elder Landulf died on 10 April 943, Landulf removed his elder brother Atenulf to Benevento and his uncle Atenulf's son Landulf to Capua. Fearing for their lives, the two fled to

Guaimar II of Salerno Guaimar II (also ''Waimar'', ''Gaimar'', or ''Guaimario'', sometimes called Gybbosus, meaning "Hunchback") (died 4 June 946) was the Lombard prince of Salerno from 901, when his father retired (or was retired) to a monastery, to his death. His fath ...

and Landulf the Red became sole prince. His first act was to continue the family policy of associating younger sons as co-princes in the government. He made his eldest son Pandulf co-prince. Other than that, Landulf made few attempts to continue the family policy of alliance with his fellow Lombards and détente with the Byzantines. He distanced himself from Constantinople, while trying not to enter into open warfare, and made several tries at reuniting the Lombard

principality of Salerno The Principality of Salerno ( la, Principatus Salerni) was a medieval Southern Italian state, formed in 851 out of the Principality of Benevento after a decade-long civil war. It was centred on the port city of Salerno. Although it owed alle ...

with the united Capua-Benevento. He abandoned imperial dating and dated from his own reign. In 946, he allied with John III of Naples to oust

Gisulf I of Salerno Gisulf I (also ''Gisulph'', ''Gisolf'', ''Gisulfo'', ''Gisolfo'', ''Gisulphus'', or ''Gisulfus'') (May 930 – November or December 977) was the eldest son of Guaimar II, Lombard Prince of Salerno, and his second wife Gaitelgrima. He was associate ...

, son of Guaimar. He was ambushed in a pass at La Cava by

Mastalo I of Amalfi Mastalus I ( it, Mastalo) (died 953) was the penultimate Duke of Amalfi, ''patricius'' of Amalfi. He was succeeded by his son, Mastalus II of Amalfi, Mastalus II, who was raised to the status of ''dux''. His own father was the last prefect, Manso, P ...

and the ousting failed. He soon broke his alliance with Naples and allied with Gisulf to besiege Neapolitan

Nola Nola is a town and a municipality in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, southern Italy. It lies on the plain between Mount Vesuvius and the Apennines. It is traditionally credited as the diocese that introduced bells to Christian worship. ...

. In 950, he was called to the aid of Aligerno, abbot of

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first h ...

. His descendants would prove to be some of the worst persecutors of the monastery. He followed up his Salernitan and Neapolitan failures with successful campaigns against 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. ...

of Aquino, Atenulf Megalu, whom he exiled to the court of

Docibilis II of Gaeta Docibilis II ( it, Docibile) ( 880 – c. 954) was the ruler of Gaeta, in one capacity or another, from 906 until his death. He was the son of the hypatus John I, who made him co-ruler in 906 or thereabouts. Docibilis took part in the Battle of G ...

. In 955, Landulf made his biggest failure in supporting an

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

n revolt against Greek authority, and subsequently was forced to recognize Byzantine supremacy. The rest of his reign was less eventful, as he failed in his two great ambitions: conquering Salerno and opposing the Byzantines. He associated his second son, Landulf, with him in 959 and died in 961.

Sources

*Caravale, Mario (ed). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LXIII Labroca – Laterza''.

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, 2004.
, - {{DEFAULTSORT:Landulf 02 Of Benevento 961 deaths Lombard warriors Landulf 2 Landulf 4 10th-century Lombard people 10th-century rulers in Europe Year of birth unknown