Landulf IV of Benevento
Landulf IV (died
13 July 982) was the
prince of Capua (as
Landulf VI) and
Benevento from
968, when he was associated with his father,
Pandulf Ironhead, and
prince of Salerno associated with his father from
977 or
978. In 968, his uncle
Landulf III died and this was the occasion of his rise, Pandulf ignored the rights of Landulf's son
Pandulf, his nephew, and instead associated his own son with the government.
In
969, the Ironhead was captured in the
Battle of Bovino. The
strategos of
Bari, Eugenius, captured the town of
Avellino and besieged Capua, then Benevento. Landulf's mother,
Aloara of Capua and Landulf, Archbishop of Benevento, took over the government in his name, to defend the city from the
Byzantines. In
977, after the Ironhead's release, he joined his father in an expedition in defence of
Monte Cassino against the predations of Count Bernard of Alife.
On Pandulf's death in March
981, the great
Lombard principality was divided: Landulf, the eldest son, received Capua-Benevento and Spoleto, and
Pandulf, the second son, received Salerno. However, the
Emperor Otto II, who was in the
Mezzogiorno at the time, fighting the
Saracens, dispossessed Landulf of the
duchy of Spoleto and gave it to
Thrasimund, duke of
Camerino and count of
Penne. Soon thereafter, Landulf was forced also to recognise the division of Capua-Benevento, united since
899. His cousin, the aforementioned deprived Pandulf, as prince of Benevento, perhaps as an underling. Thereafter, Landulf was merely prince of Capua, in which capacity he supported the
Cluniac reform and founded the church of San Croce at
Caiazzo. He joined his deposed brother Pandulf in
Calabria, where they fought the Saracens with Otto. They both died in the
Battle of Stilo on
13 July. He was succeeded by his younger brother
Landenulf, who was under the regency of Aloara.
*Caravale, Mario (ed).
Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LXIII Labroca â€" Laterza.
Rome,
2004.
-
|
