Jonathan (or Jonathas, Italian ''Gionata''; died July 1121), a member of a cadet branch of the

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 ...

, was the

Duke of Gaeta This is a list of the hypati, patricians, consuls, and dukes of Gaeta. Many of the dates are uncertain and sometimes the status of the rulership, with co-rulers and suzerain–vassal relations, is vague. Native rule (839–1032) Anatolian dynasty ...

from 1113 until his death. He is known from the '' Codex Caietanus'' to have been in the fourth year of his minority in 1116 and the seventh of his rule in 1119. There are three theories of his paternity. He may have been the son of Count Jonathan I of Carinola or his grandson by an unnamed son, or else the grandson of Count Bartholomew of Carinola. He was under the regency of his cousin or uncle, Count Richard of Carinola. After the death of Duke Andrew of Gaeta without heirs in 1113, the duchy escheated to Prince

Robert I of Capua Robert I (born 1080 – died 1120), was count of Aversa and prince of Capua from 1106, on the death of his elder and heirless brother Richard. Robert was the second eldest son of Jordan I of Capua and Gaitelgrima, daughter of Guaimar IV of Salern ...

, who bestowed it on Jonathan and appointed Richard his regent. As a sign of Gaeta's semi-independence, between March 1113 and July 1114 he and Richard issued charters dated to the joint-reign (1092–1118) of the

Byzantine emperor The foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, which Fall of Constantinople, fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as legitimate rulers and exercised s ...

s Alexios I and

John II John II may refer to: People * John Cicero, Elector of Brandenburg (1455–1499) * John II Casimir Vasa of Poland (1609–1672) * John II Comyn, Lord of Badenoch (died 1302) * John II Doukas of Thessaly (1303–1318) * John II Komnenos (1087–114 ...

. The succession of Jonathan was not without incident. The widow of Duke

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

tried with her new husband to seize the duchy, but Richard of Carinola succeeded in getting control of it after a short war. There are no Gaetan ''

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 ...

'' (copper coins) definitively attributable to the reign of Jonathan. Specimens with the inscriptions IOAN and IOHS DVX may belong to him, but are more usually ascribed to John IV (991–1012).

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * {{s-end 1121 deaths Italo-Normans Dukes of Gaeta 12th-century Italian nobility Year of birth unknown