Manso (''

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

'' ) was a Lombard viceduke ('' vicedux'') who ruled the

Duchy of Amalfi The Duchy of Amalfi () or the Republic of Amalfi was a '' de facto'' independent state centered on the Southern Italian city of Amalfi during the 10th and 11th centuries. The city and its territory were originally part of the larger Duchy of Na ...

during the reign of

Roger Borsa Roger Borsa (1060/1061 – 22 February 1111) was the Norman Duke of Apulia and Calabria and effective ruler of southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its sou ...

, the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

Duke of Apulia The County of Apulia and Calabria (), later the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria (), was a Norman state founded by William of Hauteville in 1043, composed of the territories of Gargano, Capitanata, Apulia, Vulture, and most of Campania. It becam ...

. He is known only from his coins: large, 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 ...

'' bearing the inscription MANSO VICEDUX on the reverse. Irregular and poor in quality, mostly overstrikes of Salernitan coins, they were originally attributed to Manso of Salerno (981–83). The term ''vicedux'' is probably a title formed from Latin ''dux'' (duke), the traditional title of the rulers of Amalfi since the mid-tenth century, and the prefix ''vice-'', indicating a deputy. It may, however, be an abbreviation, either for ''vicerosissimus'' (most beloved) ''dux'' or ''vicarius et dux'' (

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

and duke). Every coin attributed to Manso bears his name and title, sometimes surrounding a cross. Among the obverse images—many unexplained—found on coins bearing this inscription are: a bonneted bust (sometimes between two stars on a field of pellets), a crowned head, an open hand (the hand of God, ''manus Dei''), a bull beneath the lettering VIC or IMA, a horse, a castle, and two towers (or perhaps one tower and the letter G). No mention is made of a ''Manso vicedux'' in contemporary documents, but

Manso II of Amalfi Manso II the Blind was the duke of Amalfi on three separate occasions: from 1028 to 1029, from 1034 to 1038, and from 1043 to 1052. He was the second son of Sergius II and Maria, sister of Pandulf IV of Capua. His whole ducal career consisted of wa ...

, deposed 1052/3, is known to have had a son named Manso, who in turn had a son Manso. This last Manso married a certain Gaitelgrima and was the father of John. Both Mansos appear in documents of 1080 and 1098 bearing the title ''dominus'' (lord). Probably one of these was appointed by

Robert Guiscard Robert Guiscard ( , ; – 17 July 1085), also referred to as Robert de Hauteville, was a Normans, Norman adventurer remembered for his Norman conquest of southern Italy, conquest of southern Italy and Sicily in the 11th century. Robert was born ...

or his son and successor, Roger Borsa, to rule Amalfi on their behalf. Since Robert preferred to use the title prince (''princeps'') after his conquest of the

Principality of Salerno The Principality of Salerno () was a Middle Ages, medieval Mezzogiorno, 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 ...

(1078), Roger, who consistently used the title duke, is the more likely, since the title viceduke implies a duke. Roger also had a reputation among his Norman followers for favouring Lombards in his service and is known to have permitted (or been too weak to resist) at least one other baronial coinage, that of

Fulco of Basacers Fulco of Basacers (''floruit'' 1083–1120) was an Italo-Norman knight and landholder with considerable possessions in the Val di Crati in Calabria. The seat of his lordship was "Brahalla", a place or castle that no longer exists.''Medieval Europe ...

. There is conflicting testimony that either a coin of Manso's was struck over one of Robert's, or vice versa. It is certain that a coin of Manso's was struck over an anonymous coin (of the so-called ''Italie'' type) that is probably Roger's.The ''Italie'' type contains a bonneted bust on the obverse. The balance of evidence suggests that Manso minted his coins in

Amalfi Amalfi (, , ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Salerno, in the region of Campania, Italy, on the Gulf of Salerno. It lies at the mouth of a deep ravine, at the foot of Monte Cerreto (1,315 metres, 4,314 feet), surrounded by dramatic c ...

under Roger before 1096, when the Amalfitans rebelled against Norman rule under Marinus Sebastos. Manso likewise could not have been in power in 1088, when Gisulf II, the Salernitan prince deposed by Robert, briefly seized power in Amalfi with the support of the citizens.

Notes

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References

*Philip Grierson, Mark A. S. Blackburn, and Lucia Travaini, edd. ''Medieval European Coinage: Italy'', III (South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998. * Patricia Skinner. ''Family Power in Southern Italy: The Duchy of Gaeta and its Neighbours, 850-1139''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press: 1995. 11th-century Lombard people Italian nobility