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on the Exarch of Ravenna; and that condition re- mained, even after the invasion of the Lombards. In 616, the dux Cousinus attempted to estabhsh his independence, but the exarch Eleutherius defeated and killed him in the following year. A hundred years later, at the instance of the iconoclast, Leo the Isau- rian, Exhileratus moved upon Rome to assassinate Pope St. Gregory II, but he was compelled to turn back, and was killed by the infuriated people. From that time on, the Byzantine rule at Naples was merely nominal; in place of a dux, there was frequently a consul in command of the city, which flourished in wealth, and displayed mihtary virtues in the defence of its independence against the Lombard dukes of Benevento, Spoleto, Capua, and Salerno, and also against the Saracens; in 850, however, the town was nearly taken by Duke Sico of Benevento. The consul Sergius drove the Saracens from the island of Ponza, while his son Caesarius, in 846, went to the assistance of Leo IV against the same foe, and in 852, freed Gaeta; but to save their commerce, the Neapolitans thereafter allied themselves with the Mohammedans. Bishop Athanasius II imprisoned Sergius and pro- claimed himself duke, but following the same friendly policy towards the Saracens, he was excommunicated by John VIII.

In the eleventh century, Pandolfo of Capua suc- ceeded in taking possession of Naples, but, assisted by the Norman Rainulf, Duke Sergius was able to re- turn to that city (1029), and through gratitude, gave Aversa to his ally. In 1038 the Normans assisted the Byzantine general, Maniakis, in his Sicihan undertak- ing, and, indignant at being defrauded of their reward, turned their arms against the Byzantines. Their sub- sequent conquests laid the foundation of what came to be the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, or the Kingdom of Naples. After their victory near Canna; in 1041, the Normans were masters of Calabria and Apulia, with the exception of the seaboard towns; their capital was estabhshed at Melfi, and the twelve counts divided the territory among themselves — its reconquest by the Byzantines having been frustrated by the defection of Maniakis. In 1052, Argyros was again defeated, near Sipontum, and the troops of Leo IX were defeated near Civitella; whereupon the pope confirmed the Normans in the possession of their conquests. The first count of Apulia whose title was recognized was William of the Iron Arm, who was succeeded by his brothers, Drogo (1046), assassinated at the instigation of the Byzantines; Humphrey; and, in 1057, Robert, called Guiscard, who by the capture of Reggio (1060), Otranto (1068), and Bari and Brindisi (1071), put an end to Byzantine rule in Italy, while (1059) he ob- tained from Nicholas II the title of Duke of Calabria, Apulia, and Sicily, which island he had yet to conquer. On the other hand, he took the oath of allegiance to the pope, so that all his possessions and future con- quests should be fiefs of the Holy See. The pope acquired a new defender, especially against the em- pire, and also a new encumbrance. The conquest of Sicily was accomplished by Roger, a brother of Robert, after a struggle of thirty years (1061-1091); the first city of the island that was taken from the Saracens was Messina; Girgenti and Syracuse were among the last (1086-10S7); the Mussulmans, how- ever, were given tlic freedom of the country. Mean- while, Robert confiuercil the Republic of Amalfi (1073) and the Duchy of Salerno (1077), the last remnant of the Lombard power. He attempted the conquest of Epirus in 1082, but died in 10S5, contemplating a movement against Venice. Robert was succeeded by Roger I (108.5-1111), William II (1111-1127), and then, Roger II, son of tln' conqueror of Sicily. The latter, in 1098, ha<l reduced Prince Richard of Capua to vassalage, and, it is said, obtained from Urban H the dignity of hereditary legate of the Holy See (see MoNARCHiA Sicula); and his son Roger 11 became

duke of all those states, with Palermo for his capital. In 1 130 the antipope, Anacletus II, conferred upon him the title of king, confirmed by Innocent II (1139), to whom Roger renewed the oath of allegiance. On the other hand, Naples under its duke, Sergius VII, had thrown open its gates to Roger, who extended hia power in Epirus and Greece (1142 sq.), and also in Africa (Tripoh and Bona, 1152). He gave new consti- tutions to his states, protected education, promoted agriculture and the industries, especially the silk and textile branches, and during his reign Sicily increased in population. His successor William the Wicked (11.54) became a prisoner of Matteo Bonellocapo, one of the conspiring barons, but was freed by the people. Wil- liam the Good (1166-89) conquered Durazzo and Saloniki. His heiress was his aunt, Constance, who married Henry VI, the future Emperor of Germany. As this was contrary to the wishes of the people and of the Holy See, who desired the kingdom to be indepen- dent of the empire, Tancred was acclaimed king.

Tancred, an illegitimate offspring of the royal house, was soon succeeded by his son William III. Henry VI triumphed in 1194, and was crowned in the cathedral of Palermo, in which city he died (1197), leaving as his heir the infant Frederick I (the II of Germany), whose tutelage was entrusted by Constance to Innocent III. In the long contest for the succession of the empire. Innocent finally permitted Frederick to occup}- both thrones, on condition that the two Governments should remain separate and independent of each other, and that, at the death of Frederick, the two crowns should not be inherited by the same prince. These conditions were not fulfilled, and the long struggle be- tween the emperor and the Holy See arose, made all the more bitter by the ecclesiastical usurpations of Frederick. Conrad and Conradin continued the strug- gle, as did King Manfred, a natural son of Frederick, whom the latter made administrator, but who reigned in reality as sovereign. The Holy See (Innocent IV, Clen.cnt IV, and Urban 1\) as suzerain of the king- dom, offered it to whoever would free the pope of the domination of the Swabians; and Charles of Anjou, a brother of St. Louis, King of France, offered himself. Manfred perished in the tsattle of Benevento (1266), and Conradin, after his defeat at Tagliacozzo, was taken to Naples and executed in the Piazza del Mer- cato (1268). Naples then became the eajjital of the kingdom, to which, however, Peter III of Aragon laid claim on account of his marriage to a daughter of Manfred. The people, who could not endure French rule, opened the way for him by the Sicilian Vespers (1282), and Sicily remained in the power of the Ara- gonese; but, under James, second son of Peter, it became an independent kingdom. When the former was called to the throne of Aragon (1295) he wished to restore Sicily to Charles II, but a brother of James, Frederick II, was acclaimed king by the Sicilians, and Charles, although several times victorious, was obliged at the peace of Caltabellotta (1302) to recognize Fred- erick as King of Trinacria. Frederick was succeeded by Peter II (1336), Louis (1342), and Frederick III (1355-77), who were continually at war with Naples, and always under the domination of the two parties into which the nobility was divided, the National and the Catalonian. Mary, daughter and heiress of Fred- erick, was married to Martin, son of the King of Aragon, who re-united Sicily to that realm in 1410, and wais succeeded by Alfon.so V (1416-.58). The throne of Naples had been inherited bv Robert the Wise (1.309-1343), whom the Gueljihs of Italy re- garded as their leader, and who aspired to the con- quest of the Italian peninsula, lie was succeeded by his daughter Joanna 1, who was niariied four times, and the first of whose husbands, .Vndrew nl' Hungary, was brutally nuirdereji in 1345. Louis of Hungary came to avenge his brother's death, and drove Joanna from Naples ; but he was obliged to return to his coun-