The Duchy of Naples, independent since 763,…
September 1137 CE
The Duchy of Naples, independent since 763, was the last of the southern Italian states which the Normans had met when they first entered Italy.
It had survived the fall of the Lombard principalities: Capua, Salerno, Benevento; it had survived the fall of its fellow Greek duchies: Amalfi, Gaeta, Sorrento.
Sergius VII had succeeded his father John VI on the Neapolitan throne in 1120 or 1123 at a time when Roger II of Sicily was rising rapidly in power.
When Roger succeeded as duke of Apulia in 1127 and was crowned king in 1130, the fate of Naples hinged on Sergius' relations with the Sicilian court.
In 1131, Roger had demanded from the citizens of Amalfi the defenses of their city and the keys to their castle.
When the citizens refused, Sergius was initially prepared to aid them with a fleet, but Roger’s admiral George of Antioch had blockaded the port city with a larger fleet and Sergius had submitted to Roger.
According to the chronicler Alexander of Telese, Naples "which, since Roman times, had hardly ever been conquered by the sword now submitted to Roger on the strength of a mere report."
Sergius' prestige was not high and all of southern Italy was now in Roger's hands.
In 1134, Sergius had supported the rebellion of Robert II of Capua and Ranulf II of Alife, but had avoided any direct confrontation with Roger.
After the fall of Capua, he had done homage to the king.
In the late summer of 1137, Sergius, terrified of Roger and his advancing army, is forced to acknowledge him as overlord of Naples and sway his allegiance to Anacletus: this moment marks the fall of an independent Neapolitan duchy, and hereafter the ancient city is fully integrated into the Norman realm.
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