Nicholas of AjelloHe was not a native of Ajello (

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

), but

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

. His elder brother,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

, received the county of Ajello from King Tancred and the name has been applied to the entire family. (; died 10 February 1221) was the second son of the Sicilian

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

Matthew of Ajello and the archbishop of Salerno from 1181, when he succeeded the historian Romuald Guarna. He was a trusted advisor in the Norman

Kingdom of Sicily The Kingdom of Sicily (; ; ) was a state that existed in Sicily and the southern Italian peninsula, Italian Peninsula as well as, for a time, in Kingdom of Africa, Northern Africa, from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 until 1816. It was ...

at the time of its fall to

Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI (German language, German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was ...

(1194). Henry was helping his wife

Constance I of Sicily Constance I (; 2 November 1154 – 27 November 1198) was the queen of Sicily from 1194 until her death and Holy Roman empress from 1191 to 1197 as the wife of Emperor Henry VI. As queen regnant of Sicily, she reigned jointly with her spouse an ...

press her claim to the Sicilian throne, which had been bequeathed to her by her late nephew William II, King of Sicily. When Henry was marching to besiege

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

in 1191,

sent a letter promising him its loyalty and the Archbishop Nicholas, hostile to Germans, abandoned the faithless city for

, where he took control of the city's defences after

Richard, Count of Acerra Richard, count of Acerra (died 30 November 1196) was an Italo-Norman nobleman, grandson of Robert of Medania, a Frenchman of County of Anjou, Anjou. Brother of Sibylla of Acerra, Sibylla, queen of Tancred of Sicily, Richard was the chief peninsular ...

, was wounded. Together, he and the '' ammiratus ammiratorum''

Margaritus of Brindisi Margaritus of Brindisi (also Margarito; Italian language, Italian: ''Margaritone'', Greek language, Greek: ''Megareites'' or ''Margaritoni'' �αργαριτώνη c. 1149 – 1197), called "the new Neptune", was the last great ''ammiratus ...

successfully defended the ancient city and forced Henry to lift the siege. When Henry retreated, he left Constance at Salerno as a sign that he would soon return. Nicholas wrote letters to tell the events to his friends in Salerno, and the populace of Salerno resubmitted to King Tancred and besieged Constance. Constance spoke to them trying to explain that the defeat of Henry was exaggerated by Nicholas, but the Salernitani were determined to capture her in favor of Tancred; finally they handed her to Tancred. Though it was of little effect in the long term. The empress was released the next year; Henry was crowned on 25 December 1194 in

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, with not only Nicholas, but Richard, Margaritus, and Queen Sibylla present. Four days later, they were all arrested on charges of conspiracy (probably trumped up) and shipped off to German prisons. There he remained for many years, despite the prayers and pleas of

Pope Innocent III Pope Innocent III (; born Lotario dei Conti di Segni; 22 February 1161 – 16 July 1216) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1198 until his death on 16 July 1216. Pope Innocent was one of the most power ...

References

* Norwich, John Julius. ''The Kingdom in the Sun, 1130–1194''. London: Longman, 1970. {{DEFAULTSORT:Salerno, Nicholas, Archbishop of 12th-century Roman Catholic archbishops in Sicily Archbishops of Salerno 1221 deaths