John V was the consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...

 and duke of Gaeta from 1012 to 1032. He was the son of John IV

John IV of Gaeta

John IV was the eldest son of John III of Gaeta who was appointed co-duke in 991 while still young . John succeeded his father in 1008 or 1009 and ruled for a brief four years....

 and Sichelgaita, sister of Sergius IV of Naples

Sergius IV of Naples

Sergius IV was Duke of Naples from 1002 to 1036. He was one of the prime catalysts in the growth of Norman power in the Mezzogiorno in the first half of the eleventh century...

. He was either very young (an infant) when he succeeded his father or perhaps he was even born posthumously.

His regency was disputed by Leo

Leo II of Gaeta

Leo II was the regent and tutor of John V of Gaeta in opposition to his own mother, Emilia, from 1014 to January 1025. He undersigned documents as consul et dux. He was the son of John III of Gaeta and thus uncle of John V....

, his father's brother, and the senatrix Emilia

Emilia of Gaeta

Emilia was the duchess of Gaeta first as consort of John III and then as the regent for her grandson John V until at least 1029....

, his father's mother. From 1014 to 1024, Leo acted as co-duke, but then he retired to Itri

Itri

Itri is a small city and comune in the central Italian region of Latium and the Province of Latina.Itri is an agricultural centre divided in two parts by a small river, the Pontone. It lies in a valley between the Monti Aurunci and the sea, not far from the Gulf of Gaeta...

 and left the regency to Emilia (1025). In 1027, John gave refuge to Sergius IV, who had been forced out of Naples

Naples

Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

. The two of them together plotted his retaking of Naples and recruited Ranulf Drengot, a Norman

Normans

The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...

 mercenary, to their cause.

Later, when Ranulf had realigned himself with Pandulf IV of Capua

Pandulf IV of Capua

Pandulf IV was the Prince of Capua on three separate occasions.From February 1016 to 1022 he ruled in association with his cousin Pandulf II. In 1018, the Byzantine catapan Boiannes destroyed the Lombard army of Melus of Bari and his Norman allies at Cannae...

, Sergius and John's old enemy and the old captor of Naples, John was threatened by the new Lombard-Norman alliance. In 1032, Pandulf conquered Gaeta

Gaeta

Gaeta is a city and comune in the province of Latina, in Lazio, central Italy. Set on a promontory stretching towards the Gulf of Gaeta, it is 120 km from Rome and 80 km from Naples....

 and John went into hiding, where he continued to harass Pandulf and tried to control his territories without his capital. He died around 1040.

Sources

• Chalandon, Ferdinand. Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicilie. Paris, 1907.
• Norwich, John Julius
  John Julius Norwich
  John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich CVO — known as John Julius Norwich — is an English historian, travel writer and television personality.-Early life:...
  
  . The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.