Alfonso, also called Anfuso or Anfusus (''c''. 1120 – 10 October 1144), was 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 i ...

from 1135 and

Duke of Naples The dukes of Naples were the military commanders of the ''ducatus Neapolitanus'', a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine outpost in Italy, one of the few remaining after the conquest of the Lombards. In 661, Emperor Constans II, highly interested in south I ...

from 1139. He was an Italian-born Norman of the noble

Hauteville family The Hauteville family (, ) was a Normans, Norman family, originally of petty lords, from the Cotentin, Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. The Hautevilles rose to prominence through their part in the Norman conquest of southern Italy. In 1130, Roger ...

. After 1130, when his father

Roger Roger is a masculine given name, and a surname. The given name is derived from the Old French personal names ' and '. These names are of Germanic languages">Germanic origin, derived from the elements ', ''χrōþi'' ("fame", "renown", "honour") ...

became

King of Sicily The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816. The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which oc ...

, he was the third in line to the throne; second in line after the death of an older brother in 1138. He was the first Hauteville prince of Capua after his father conquered the principality from the rival Norman

Drengot family The Drengots were a Norman family of mercenaries, one of the first to head to Southern Italy to fight in the service of the Lombards. They became the most prominent family after the Hautevilles. Origins The family came from Carreaux, near Avesn ...

. He was also the first Norman duke of Naples after the duchy fell vacant on the death of the last Greek duke. He also expanded his family's power northwards, claiming lands also claimed by the Papacy, although he was technically a

vassal A vassal or liege subject is a person regarded as having a mutual obligation to a lord or monarch, in the context of the feudal system in medieval Europe. While the subordinate party is called a vassal, the dominant party is called a suzerain ...

of the Pope for his principality of Capua.

Early life

Alfonso was the third son of Count

Roger II of Sicily Roger II or Roger the Great (, , Greek language, Greek: Ρογέριος; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Kingdom of Sicily, Sicily and Kingdom of Africa, Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon, C ...

, who became king in 1130, and his first wife, Elvira of Castile. He was probably named after his maternal grandfather, King

Alfonso VI of Castile 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. I ...

, but contemporary sources invariably use the spellings Anfusus, Anphusus or Amphusus. According to

Alexander of Telese Alexander of Telese () 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 Roger of Sicily'' (''Gesta ...

, in August 1135 Alfonso was a mere "boy" (''puer'') too young to be knighted alongside his brothers

(died 1148) and

Tancred Tancred or Tankred is a masculine given name of Germanic origin that comes from ''thank-'' (thought) and ''-rath'' (counsel), meaning "well-thought advice". It was used in the High Middle Ages mainly by the Normans (see French Tancrède) and espec ...

(died 1138). While the Latin term ''puer'' might refer to a man up to the age of 28, Alfonso was less than sixteen years old, the age at which a boy was knighted in medieval Sicily. He was also older than two other brothers,

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and Henry, described as ''infantes'' (infants), that is, under fourteen. Alfonso's birth therefore took place around 1120. After the refusal of Prince

Robert II of Capua Robert II (died 1156) was the count of Aversa and the prince of Capua from 1127 until his death . He was the only son and successor of Jordan II of Capua. According to the Lombard chronicler Falco of Benevento, he was "of delicate constitution ...

to submit to King Roger in June 1135, Roger declared him deposed and in October appointed Alfonso to the principality, "with the support of all the best knights". To underline the royal authority, Roger and his sons made a solemn entry into Capua and had the principality's vassals swear fealty to their new prince and to their king and his heir. In this way, the traditional principalities of southern Italy nominally retained their autonomy, but as integral parts of the kingdom, royal

appanage An appanage, or apanage (; ), is the grant of an estate, title, office or other thing of value to a younger child of a monarch, who would otherwise have no inheritance under the system of primogeniture (where only the eldest inherits). It was ...

s. Roger's chancellor

Guarin Guarin ( French: ''Guérin'', Italian: ''Guarino'', Norman: ''Warin'') (died 21 January 1137) was the chaplain (''magister capellanus'') and chancellor of Roger II of Sicily from about 1130 to his death, during the first decade of the Norman king ...

, who had administered Capua on behalf of Roger since royal troops had occupied it in 1134, continued to administer on behalf of the young Alfonso. After Guarin,

Robert of Selby Robert of Selby (or Salebia) (died 1152) was an Englishman, a courtier of Roger II and chancellor of the Kingdom of Sicily. It is likely that his name indicates that he was from Selby in Yorkshire. He probably journeyed to Sicily about 1130. In hi ...

was appointed to administer Capua until Alfonso came of age. He was still governing there during the imperial invasion of 1137, when the army of the

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

Lothair II Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was a Carolingian king and ruler of northern parts of Middle Francia, that came to be known as Lotharingia, reigning there from 855 until his death in 869. He also ruled over Burgundy, holding from 855 just th ...

briefly occupied Capua and reinstated Prince Robert.

Administration of Capua and Naples

On 25 July 1139, in a meeting at Mignano, Pope

Innocent II Pope Innocent 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 first eight years o ...

finally recognised Roger as King of Sicily, in exchange Roger accepted Innocent as his feudal lord. The pope also recognised Alfonso as Prince of Capua and invested him with a

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also, ...

. Although the granting of a banner implied that Capua was a direct fief of the papacy, in fact it was an arrière-fief. Alfonso was a vassal of his father, who was a vassal of the pope. Nonetheless, after receiving his papal investiture Alfonso took personal charge of his principality. In 1137, 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 ...

died and his duchy fell vacant. In 1139, the Neapolitans made their submission to King Roger at

Benevento Benevento ( ; , ; ) is a city and (municipality) 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 Sabato (r ...

on papal territory. The contemporary historian

Falco of Benevento Falco of Benevento (; ) 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 important chronicler for the years between 1102 a ...

records how "in those days the citizens of Naples came to Benevento, and bringing the city of Naples to the fealty of the Lord King they took his son o be theirduke, and submitted their necks to his lfonso'sfealty." This took place in July 1139. The acquisition of Naples and the papal banner occurred around the same time, and Alfonso thus became the ruler of two small principalities at about the age of nineteen. Alfonso did not initially control the revenues of his principality, which were overseen by a royal chamberlain, Jocelin. It is also unclear what judicial authority he exercised. His principality corresponded to a single circuit of royal justiciars, the later

Terra di Lavoro Terra di Lavoro (Liburia in Latin) is the name of a historical region of Southern Italy.William of Capua and Lord Hamo of Arienzo, were appointed in 1135. Later evidence from the reign of King

, suggests that the prince of Capua had supreme judicial authority in his province. Alfonso was only intermittently resident in Capua, and he often visited Sicily. On the whole, his office appears to have been primarily a military one, and he acted more as a representative of the royal power than as the prince of an old and well-defined country. He initially bore the Latin title ''princeps Capue'', but after acquiring Naples he used the longer title ''princeps Capuanorum et dux Neapolitanorum'', "Prince of the Capuans and Duke of the Neapolitans". At Capua he minted copper ''

follari The follis (plural ''folles''; , ) was a type of coin in the Roman and Byzantine traditions. Roman coin The term ''follis'' is used for a large bronze Roman coin denomination introduced by Diocletian in about 294. The term "nummus" is now tho ...

'' in the style of the old princes but much smaller in size. Six types are known, some bearing the inscription AN (for ''Anfusus'') or A P (for ''Anfusus princeps'') and some even with

Pseudo-Kufic Pseudo-Kufic, or Kufesque, also sometimes pseudo-Arabic, is a style of decoration used during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,Encyclopaedia BritannicaBeautiful Gibberish: Fake Arabic in Medieval and Renaissance Art/ref> consisting of imitation ...

inscriptions. He had his own court and his own officials, who dated charters by the years of his reign. Perhaps because of the independent-mindedness of the Capuan barons, Alfonso's government in Capua was more formally organised than that of his brother Roger in Apulia. Sometime after 1135, probably towards 1140, Duke

Richard III of Gaeta Richard III (died 1140/1), also known as Richard of Caleno, was the Norman count of Carinola and last quasi-independent Duke of Gaeta, ruling from 1121 to his death. From 1113, he was regent of Gaeta for his cousin or nephew, Duke Jonathan; in 1 ...

was compelled to swear homage to King Roger, Duke Roger and Prince Alfonso.

Wars in the north

In March 1140, acting on his father's orders, Alfonso commenced the conquest of the

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...

, which belonged to the

Duchy of Spoleto The Duchy of Spoleto () was a Lombards, Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard ''dux'' Faroald I of Spoleto, Faroald. Its capital was the city of Spoleto. Lombards The Lombards invaded northern Italy in 568 and b ...

, part of the

kingdom of Italy The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy wa ...

. Shortly after he was joined by his brother Roger. They took the strategic fortresses of Arce and Sora, and extended the kingdom over all the territory from the river

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

to the

Tronto The Tronto () is a long Italian river that arises at Monti della Laga and ends in the Adriatic Sea at Porto d'Ascoli, San Benedetto del Tronto. It traverses the Lazio, Marche, and Abruzzo regions of Italy. The source of the Tronto is in the Mon ...

. The chronicler

records that they took many castles and settlements, burned others and left with great spoils. The king then joined his sons and, on 28 April 1140, Alfonso witnessed the king's charter by which he founded the

Cappella Palatina The Palatine Chapel /ˈpælətaɪn ˈtʃæpəl/ () is the royal chapel of the Palazzo dei Normanni, Norman Palace in Palermo, Sicily. This building is a mixture of Byzantine architecture, Byzantine, Norman architecture, Norman and Fatimid archite ...

in Palermo. By July 1140 the frontier of the kingdom had been pushed north as far as

Ceprano Ceprano (Central-Northern Latian dialect: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Frosinone, in the Valle Latina, part of the Lazio region of Central Italy. It is south of Rome and about north of Naples. In 1994, the Ceprano Man, a 450,000 year o ...

in the papal state. According to the '' Chronica Ferrariensis'', when Pope Innocent wrote to Alfonso demanding that he cease invading his lands, he wrote back that "he would not seek another's lands, but wanted only to reintegrate lands belonging to his Capuan principality, and so subjugate all the lands of the principality of Capua and the duchy of Apulia to himself." In July 1142, the king and Alfonso held a great court at Silva Marca near

Ariano Ariano may refer to: Places * Ariano Irpino, Campania, Italy ** ''Ariano di Puglia'' until 1930 * Ariano nel Polesine, Veneto, Italy * , Mesola, Emilia-Romagna, Italy * Ariano, Olevano sul Tusciano, Campania, Italy People * Ariano Fernandes ...

, attended by all the counts of the mainland. Alfonso then invaded the papal territory of

Marsia A marsiya (; ) is an elegiac poem written to commemorate the martyrdom and valour of Hussain ibn Ali, his family, and his companions at the tragedy of Karbala. Marsiyas are essentially religious lamentations. Background The word ''Marsiya'' is d ...

, which Alfonso claimed belonged to the princes of Capua, although they had no exercised power there since the reign of Prince

Richard I Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199), known as Richard the Lionheart or Richard Cœur de Lion () because of his reputation as a great military leader and warrior, was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ru ...

in the 1070s. Alfonso also intervened in a dispute within the family of the counts of

Teramo Teramo (; ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Abruzzo, the capital of the province of Teramo. The city, from Rome, is situated between the highest mountains of the Apennines ( Gran Sasso d'Italia) and the Adriatic coast. Th ...

. He removed Count Matthew and replaced him with his brothers, William and Robert. In November 1143 the conquest of Marsia was completed and its feudal lords accepted the authority of the King of Sicily. All the conquered territories in the Abruzzo and Latium were then divided by the between Apulia and Capua, Alfonso taking the lands to the west of the

Gran Sasso d'Italia Gran Sasso d'Italia (; ) is a massif in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Its highest peak, Corno Grande , is the highest mountain in the Apennines, and the second-highest mountain in Italy outside the Alps. The mountain lies within Gran Sass ...

. At Ceprano in early June 1144, King Roger and Alfonso opened negotiations with Pope

Lucius II Pope Lucius II (died 15 February 1145), born Gherardo Caccianemici dal Orso, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1144 to his death in 1145. His pontificate was notable for the unrest in Rome associated with ...

, who demanded the restoration of the Principality of Capua as a full papal fief. After fifteen days, the negotiations were broken off. The king left to prepare a naval expedition, while Alfonso invaded the papal state, taking the towns of

Rieti Rieti (; , Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina region. T ...

and Amiterno. Lucius quickly agreed to a seven-year truce with Alfonso, but Roger refused to ratify it. The prince of Capua died on 10 October 1144, probably in the course of this campaign. Roger signed a treaty with Lucius shortly after, relinquishing Alfonso's most recent conquests. Alfonso was succeeded at Capua and Naples by his younger brother William, and the government of Capua was again entrusted to Robert of Selby. An

elegy An elegy is a poem of serious reflection, and in English literature usually a lament for the dead. However, according to ''The Oxford Handbook of the Elegy'', "for all of its pervasiveness ... the 'elegy' remains remarkably ill defined: sometime ...

for an unnamed "son of Roger the Frank, lord of Sicily" by the Sicilian poet Abū l-Ḍawʾ was about either Alfonso or his older brother Tancred.

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso of Hauteville Sicilian people of Norman descent Italo-Normans Norman warriors 1144 deaths Princes of Capua Year of birth uncertain Sons of kings Children of Roger II of Sicily