qāʾid
Qaid ( ar , قائد ', "commander"; pl. '), also spelled kaid or caïd, is a word meaning "commander" or "leader." It was a title in the Norman kingdom of Sicily, applied to palatine officials and members of the ''curia'', usually to those w ...
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The city is noted for it ...
during the latter years of the reign of
William I of Sicily
William I (1120 or 1121May 7, 1166), called the Bad or the Wicked ( scn, Gugghiermu lu Malu), was the second king of Sicily, ruling from his father's death in 1154 to his own in 1166. He was the fourth son of Roger II
Roger II ( it, Ruggero ...
and during the
regency
A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
of his wife,
Margaret of Navarre
Margaret of Navarre (french: Marguerite, es, Margarita, it, Margherita) (c. 1135 – 12 August 1183) was Queen of Sicily as the wife of William I (1154–1166) and the regent during the minority of her son, William II.
Queen consort
Margaret ...
Great Chamberlain
Holders of the office of Lord Chamberlain of Scotland are known from about 1124.
It was ranked by King Malcolm as the third great Officer of State, called ''Camerarius Domini Regis'', and had a salary of £200 per annum allotted to him. He ancien ...
, or ''magister camerarius'', when William I died in 1166.
Origin
Richard was a Muslim convert to Christianity, and likely a
eunuch
A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function.
The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2n ...
. He possibly appears in the records of the royal council in January 1161, but he rose to prominence in the political affairs of the day only in 1166.
Career during the regency for William II
Appointment as master chamberlain and ''familiaris regis''
In that year, King William I died on 17 May, leaving his underage son William II on the throne, under the regency of the Queen-mother, and advised by a council of three ''familiares regis'' under the leadership of Peter the Qaid. Although in effective control of the government, Peter was unable to counter the court intrigues, led by a faction around the Queen-regent's cousin,
Gilbert, Count of Gravina Gilbert was a Norman Count of Gravina from 1159 until 1167. His father Bertrand was the illegitimate son of Rotrou III, Count of Perche. He was a cousin of Margaret of Navarre, the queen of Sicily. He arrived in Sicily sometime around 1159 and, ...
, which paralysed the Kingdom. As a result, in the summer of the same year, Peter fled to
. Richard succeeded him as master chamberlain of the palace (''magister camerarius regii palatii''), and became a member of the council of the ''familiares regis'', now expanded to five members (alongside Richard, these were Richard, Count of Molise, the Bishop-elect of Syracuse Richard Palmer, the notary Matthew, and Martin the Qaid).
Opposition to Stephen du Perche
In October or November 1166,
Stephen du Perche
Stephen du Perche (1137 or 1138 – 1169) was the chancellor of the Kingdom of Sicily (1166–68) and Archbishop of Palermo (1167–68) during the early regency of his cousin, the queen dowager Margaret of Navarre (1166–71).
Stephen is desc ...
was appointed chancellor and
Archbishop of Palermo
The Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Palermo ( la, Archidioecesis Panormitana) was founded as the Diocese of Palermo in the first century and raised to the status of archdiocese in the 11th century.Calabria. Richard soon emerged as a leading opponent of the chancellor. The latter's efforts to combat corruption in the Sicilian administration soon led to an attack against Muslims or suspected crypto-Muslims, and a clash with the palace eunuchs, whose chief Richard was. Richard began plotting against the chancellor, gaining the support of
Abu'l-Qasim ibn Hammud ibn al-Hajar
zth
Abu'l-Qasim ibn Hammud ibn al-Hajar ( ar, أبو القاسم بن حمود بن الحجر, Abū al-Qāsim ibn Ḥammūd ibn al-Ḥajar) was a senior official or Qaid (, Arabic for 'commander') of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, and a leader o ...
—according to the contemporary traveller
Ibn Jubayr
Ibn Jubayr (1 September 1145 – 29 November 1217; ar, ابن جبير), also written Ibn Jubair, Ibn Jobair, and Ibn Djubayr, was an Arab geographer, traveller and poet from al-Andalus. His travel chronicle describes the pilgrimage he made to M ...
, the hereditary leader of the Sicilian Muslims—and turning the initially supportive Muslim community of the island against Stephen. In autumn, he began marshalling his forces for a coup: these included, beside his own household troops, the royal knights (''milites regis'') and the court archers (''curie sagitari''), whose backing he had won through gifts and favours. However, the chancellor moved the king and the court to
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 in ...
, where he was able to neutralize his Norman opponents, the queen regent's brother,
Henry, Count of Montescaglioso
Henry (before 1144–1173×77), born Rodrigo according to Hugo Falcandus, was an alleged son of the Navarrese king García Ramírez and his wife, Margaret of L'Aigle, and brother of the Sicilian queen dowager Margaret, who made him Count of Montesc ...
, and
Richard of Molise Richard of Mandra (died ca. 1170) was a Norman nobleman in the Kingdom of Sicily appointed count of Molise and chancellor by the queen regent Margaret of Navarre.
Richard was son of Hugues II, Count of Molise and Clemenza, an illegitimate daughter ...
.
According to the history of
Hugo Falcandus Hugo Falcandus was a historian who chronicled the reign of William I of Sicily and the minority of his son William II in a highly critical work entitled ''The History of the Tyrants of Sicily'' (or ''Liber de Regno Sicilie''). The Latin of the work ...
, when Stephen returned with the king and court to Palermo on 20 March 1168, Richard and other courtiers plotted to have him assassinated on
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday is a Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Palm Sunday marks the first day of Ho ...
, four days later. The conspiracy was discovered, and Richard's co-conspirators were arrested; Richard himself was protected from arrest by the Queen, but was confined to the palace and forbidden from speaking to the knights. This marked the high point of Stephen's power, but events soon began to turn against him, as a popular revolt broke out in Messina and spread across the island. Even in Palermo, there were clashes between Richard's supporters and Stephen's men, forcing the chancellor and his supporters to flee to the cathedral's bell tower. Richard and
Matthew of Salerno Matthew of Ajello ( it, Matteo d'Aiello) was a high-ranking member of the Norman court of the Kingdom of Sicily in the 12th century. His brother John was a bishop.
Career
He first appears as the notary of the Admiral Maio of Bari who drew up th ...
now resumed their previous positions, and mobilized the mob to surround the bell tower. Stephen accepted the terms now offered, leaving Sicily with his supporters.
Richard was re-appointed to the now ten-member council after Stephen's flight in spring 1168 and until September 1169, when
Walter Ophamil
Walter Ophamil or Offamil (fl. 1160–1191), italianised as Gualtiero Offamiglio or Offamilio from Latin ''Ophamilius'', was the archdeacon of Cefalù, dean of Agrigento, and archbishop of Palermo (1168–1191), called "''il primo minis ...
took the reins of government. The poet
Ibn Qalaqis
Abu ʾl-Fatḥ Naṣr Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh (; 1137–1172), known as Ibn Qalāqis (or Ḳalāḳis) and also al-Qāḍī al-aʿazz ("he most honorable judge"), was an Egyptian Arab poet and author. He spent his last few years travelling widel ...
, who visited Sicily during that time, dedicated a '' qaṣīda'' to "Richard the
vizier
A vizier (; ar, وزير, wazīr; fa, وزیر, vazīr), or wazir, is a high-ranking political advisor or minister in the near east. The Abbasid caliphs gave the title ''wazir'' to a minister formerly called '' katib'' (secretary), who was ...
". The poem praises Richard's qualities and high station, but does not provide many details about him.
Later years
After that, he concentrated on his duties as master chamberlain, remaining in the position at least until 1183. Two other Qaids, the aforementioned Martin who for a time was a ''familiaris regis'', and Materacius, served as his subordinate chamberlains.
Richard also held a position as one of the directors of the ''dīwān al-taḥqīq'' (the "bureau of verification", the executive department of the government, rendered as ''duana de secretis'' in Latin) until March 1187, which is the last time he is attested in the sources. In this capacity he was sent in December 1170 to investigate illegal appropriation of royal property in Messina, and is again attested as ordering investigations for similar offences in January 1183.
In 1186, Richard bought an estate near Patti from the
Bishop of Lipari
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Lipari was a Latin diocese of the Roman Catholic Church located in the town of Lipari in the Aeolian Islands of Sicily, Italy. The diocese consists of the entire island of Lipari as well as seven smaller adjacent isla ...
. In the deed, he is named as a chamberlain and master of the ''duana de secretis''. Richard was to renovate the dilapidated property and enjoy its proceeds until his death, when it would revert to the Church. A similar arrangement was made a year later with the archbishop of Palermo in the capital itself.