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Michael Palaeologus (general)
Michael Palaiologos Doukas (, died 1156) was an early member of the family of the Palaiologoi, which later ruled the Byzantine Empire. Michael has often been identified as a son of the dynasty's ancestor, George Palaiologos, and his wife Anna Doukaina, a sister-in-law of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, but his late chronology mitigates against this view. In all likelihood he was one of their grandsons, likely a son of Nikephoros Palaiologos, the eldest son of George Palaiologos and Anna Doukaina. It is from his grandmother that Michael derived his second surname of "Doukas". According to the historian John Kinnamos, Michael for an unknown reason fell into disfavour with his cousin, Emperor John II Komnenos () and was exiled, being recalled only after the accession of Manuel I Komnenos (). Michael may have lived in southern Greece or have possessed property there, as he is known to have come into conflict with the local governor, Joseph Balsamon, in the 1140s. By 1147, Michael held th ...
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Palaiologoi
The House of Palaiologos ( Palaiologoi; , ; female version Palaiologina; ), also found in English-language literature as Palaeologus or Palaeologue, was a Byzantine Greek noble family that rose to power and produced the last and longest-ruling dynasty in the history of the Roman Empire. Their rule as Byzantine emperors lasted almost two hundred years, from 1259 to the fall of Constantinople in 1453. The origins of the family are unclear. Their own medieval origin stories ascribed them an ancient and prestigious origin in ancient Roman Italy, descended from some of the Romans that had accompanied Constantine the Great to Constantinople upon its foundation in 330. It is more likely that they originated significantly later in Anatolia since the earliest known member of the family, possibly its founder, Nikephoros Palaiologos, served as a commander there in the second half of the 11th century. Over the course of the 12th century, the Palaiologoi were mostly part of the military a ...
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Southern Italy
Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or culture of the Historical region, historical and cultural region that was once politically under the administration of the former Kingdoms of Kingdom of Naples, Naples and Kingdom of Sicily, Sicily (officially denominated as one entity and , i.e. "Kingdom of Sicily on the other side of Strait of Messina, the Strait" and "across the Strait") and which later shared a common organization into Italy's largest List of historical states of Italy, pre-unitarian state, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. The island of Sardinia, which was not part of the aforementioned polity and had been under the rule of the Alps, Alpine House of Savoy, which would eventually annex the Bourbons' southern Italian kingdom altogether, is nonetheless often subsumed into the ...
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Giovinazzo
Giovinazzo ( Barese: ) is a town, ''comune'' (municipality) and former bishopric within the Metropolitan City of Bari, Apulia region, southeastern Italy. History It was a small fortified centre of the Romans, who called it Natolium, possibly built on the ruins of the Peucete ''Netium'' which was destroyed during the Punic Wars.Collenuccio da Pesaro, ''Historia del Regno di Napoli'', Naples, 1557 After the Byzantine period, it became a countship (later a duchy). It later became a flourishing commercial centre, that had trading connections with Venice. Main sights * The co-cathedral, dedicated to ''Santa Maria Assunta'' ( Mary's Assumption), built in the Norman period (1150–1180), in characteristic Apulian Romanesque style featuring Eastern and Western elements, consecrated in 1283 under bishop Giovanni II; under bishop Paolo De Mercurio (1731–1752) it got a thorough Baroque remodeling. * Ducal Palace/Castle (17th century) * Two columns of the Via Traiana, which however ...
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Trani, Apulia
Trani () is a seaport of Apulia, Southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, by railway west-northwest of Bari. It is one of the capital cities of the province of Barletta-Andria-Trani (BAT). History Overview The city of ''Turenum'' appears for the first time in the , a 13th-century copy of an ancient Roman itinerary. The name, also spelled ''Tirenum'', was that of the Greek hero Diomedes. The city was later occupied by the Lombards and the Byzantines. First certain news of an urban settlement in Trani, however, trace back only to the 9th century. The most flourishing age of Trani was the 11th century, when it became an episcopal see in place of Canosa, destroyed by the Saracens. Its port, well placed for the Crusades, then developed greatly, becoming the most important on the Adriatic Sea. In the year 1063 Trani issued the '' Ordinamenta et consuetudo maris'', which is "the oldest surviving maritime law code of the Latin West".Paul Oldfield, ''City and Community in Norman ...
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Bari
Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and university city as well as the city of Saint Nicholas. The city itself has a population of 315,473 inhabitants, and an area of over , while the urban area has 750,000 inhabitants. Its Metropolitan City of Bari, metropolitan province has 1.2 million inhabitants. Bari is made up of four different urban sections. To the north is the closely built old town on the peninsula between two modern harbours, with the Basilica di San Nicola, Basilica of Saint Nicholas, the Cathedral of San Sabino (1035–1171) and the Castello Normanno-Svevo (Bari), Norman-Swabian Castle, which is now also a major nightlife district. To the south is the Murat quarter (erected by Joachim Murat), the modern heart of the city, which is laid out on a rectangular grid-plan ...
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Vieste
Vieste (; ) is a town, ''comune'' and former Catholic bishopric in the province of Foggia, in the Apulia region of southeast Italy. A marine resort in Gargano, Vieste has received Blue Flags for the purity of its waters from the Foundation for Environmental Education. The area covered by the comune is included in the Gargano National Park. History In medieval times, the port was frequently attacked by pirates, Saracens and other enemies of the Kingdom of Naples. In 1554 approximately 7,000 inhabitants were enslaved by the Turks. Those deemed too elderly or infirm for slavery were executed. This event is commemorated in an annual ceremony. Geography The town is bordered by Mattinata, Monte Sant'Angelo, Peschici and Vico del Gargano. The coastal cliffs are composed of chalk-like white limestone, sparsely banded with thin layers of flint. Next to the town there are two large, straight beaches. The remainder of the coast is composed of gulfs and small, hidden sandy ...
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Ancona
Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic Sea, between the slopes of the two extremities of the promontory of Monte Conero, Monte Astagno and Monte Guasco. The hilly nature around Ancona is a strong contrast to the flatter coastline in areas further north. Ancona is one of the main ports on the Adriatic Sea, especially for passenger traffic, and is the main economic and demographic centre of the region. History Greek colony Before the Greek colonization, the territory was occupied by separated communities of the Picentes tribes. Ancona took a more urban shape by Greek settlers from Syracuse, Italy, Syracuse in about 387 BC, who gave it its name: ''Ancona'' stems from the Greek word (''Ankṓn''), meaning "elbow"; the harbour to the east of the town was o ...
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Alexander Of Conversano
Alexander (died after 1142) was the second count of Conversano (1085–1132), the son and successor of Geoffrey the Elder. Alexander, with his brother Tancred, was a constant thorn in the side of Roger II of Sicily. He took part in a civil war that broke out in Bari. Risone, the archbishop of the city, was murdered (1117) and the princess of Taranto, Constance of France, was imprisoned at Giovinazzo (1119) by Grimoald Alferanites, the prince of Bari, and Alexander. After Roger was defeated at the Battle of Nocera in 1132, Tancred returned to the Mezzogiorno and entered into open rebellion again, taking the cities of Montepeloso and Acerenza, with the support of their populations. He raised a force with his brother Tancred, Count Godfrey of Andria, Count Ranulf of Alife, and Prince Robert II of Capua. Roger crossed the Straits of Messina with a large force and Alexander was so afraid that he abandoned his city of Matera to his son, Geoffrey the Younger, and fled to the court ...
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Count Of Gravina
The counts of Gravina, later the dukes of Gravina, were medieval rulers of Gravina in Puglia, in the old Kingdom of Sicily and the Kingdom of Naples. The county was settled on various royal favorites, and was held by members of the Neapolitan royal family from about 1300 until 1385. In 1417, it was granted to Francesco Orsini, who was created a duke in 1436; his descendant holds the title today, and represents the remaining branch of the Orsini family. Among the Orsini dukes, Pietro Francesco resigned his temporal dignities in 1667 to become a Dominican, and subsequently ascended the papal throne as Pope Benedict XIII. His nephew, Duke Domenico II, was created cardinal. Francesco (d. 1503) also achieved notoriety by being strangled while a captive of Cesare Borgia. Counts of Gravina *Robert, in 1132 *Alexander, mid-12th century * Gilbert, 1159–1167 * Richard de Say, from 1168 *William de Say, ca. 1210 *Riccardo Orsini (d. 1304), 1284–1291, also Count palatine of Cephalonia and ...
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Robert III Of Loritello
Robert of Bassunvilla (also Basunvilla and Bassonville) (''c.'' 1125 – died 15 September 1182) was the count of Conversano (from 1138) and Loritello (from 1154, as Robert III). His family had a long history in Vassonville, near Dieppe. Robert (II) was the son of Robert I of Bassunvilla, who had been granted Conversano by Roger II. Robert inherited this possession on his father's death. Roger II had cause later to confiscate the county of Loritello from William, his own relative. On his deathbed, he asked his son William I to appoint Robert count of Loritello, a quasi-autonomous post. Soon however, he was implicated (truly or falsely) in rebellion and fled first to the Holy Roman imperial court of Frederick Barbarossa and then the Byzantine imperial court of Manuel I Comnenus. He may have laid claim to the throne, on the basis of a forged will. He had the assistance of John Ducas when he returned to lead the revolt of 1155–1156, but the Byzantine general Michael Palaeolog ...
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Apulia
Apulia ( ), also known by its Italian language, Italian name Puglia (), is a Regions of Italy, region of Italy, located in the Southern Italy, southern peninsular section of the country, bordering the Adriatic Sea to the east, the Strait of Otranto and Ionian Sea to the southeast and the Gulf of Taranto to the south. The region comprises , and has 3,874,166 inhabitants as of 2025. It is bordered by the other Italian regions of Molise to the north, Campania to the west, and Basilicata to the southwest. The regional capital is Bari. In ancient times, more precisely at the beginning of the first millennium BC, the region of Apulia was inhabited by the Iapygians, while during the 8th century BC its coastal areas were populated by Magna Graecia, ancient Greeks. Later, the region was conquered by the ancient Romans. It was then conquered by the Byzantine Empire, Byzantines, followed by the Normans, the Kingdom of Aragon, Aragonese and the Spanish Empire, Spanish. Subsequently, it bec ...
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Frederick I Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt am Main, Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 1152. He was crowned King of Italy on 24 April 1155 in Pavia and emperor by Pope Adrian IV on 18 June 1155 in Rome. Two years later, the term ' ("holy") first appeared in a document in connection with his empire. He was later formally crowned King of Burgundy, at Arles on 30 June 1178. His nickname of ' (meaning "Red Beard" in Italian) "was first used by the Republic of Florence, Florentines only in 1298 to differentiate the emperor from his grandson, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II ... and was never employed in medieval Germany" (the colour red was "also associated in the Middle Ages with malice and a hot temper"; in reality, Frederick's hair was "blond", although his beard was described by a contemporar ...
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