The Dukes of Naples were the military commanders of the ducatus Neapolitanus, a Byzantine

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

 outpost in Italy, one of the few remaining after the coming of the Lombards

Lombards

The Lombards , also referred to as Longobards, were a Germanic tribe of Scandinavian origin, who from 568 to 774 ruled a Kingdom in Italy...

 and Saracens. In 661

661

Year 661 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 661 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* Perctarit and Godepert become co-rulers of...

, Emperor Constans II

Constans II

Constans II , also called Constantine the Bearded , was Byzantine emperor from 641 to 668. He also was the last emperor to become consul in 642, becoming the last Roman consul in history....

, highly interested in south Italian affairs (he moved his capital to Syracuse), appointed a Neapolitan named Basil dux

Dux

Dux is Latin for leader and later for Duke and its variant forms ....

or magister militum

Magister militum

Magister militum was a top-level military command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. Used alone, the term referred to the senior military officer of the Empire...

. Thereafter a line of dukes, often largely independent and dynastic from the mid-ninth century, ruled until the coming of the Normans

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...

, a new menace they could not weather. The thirty-ninth and last duke, Sergius VII

Sergius VII of Naples

Sergius VII was the thirty-ninth and last duke of Naples. He 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...

, surrendered his city to King Roger II of Sicily

Roger II of Sicily

Roger II was King of Sicily, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria , then King of Sicily...

 in 1137.

Dukes appointed by Byzantium

• 661–666 Basil
  Basil of Naples
  Basil was the first Duke of Naples from 661 to 666. Neapolitan by birth, soldier of the Byzantine Empire by trade, he was nominated by the emperor Constans II to be dux Campaniae in 661.-Sources:* by David Taylor and Jeff Matthews....
  
  
• 666–670 Theophylactus I
• 670–673 Cosmas
• 673–677 Andrew I
• 677–684 Caesarius I
• 684–687 Stephen I
• 687–696 Bonellus
• 696–706 Theodosius
• 706–711 Caesarius II
• 711–719 John I
  John I of Naples
  John I was the duke of Naples from September 711 to his death, probably in 719. The main source for his reign is the Chronicon ducum et principum Beneventi, Salerni, et Capuae et ducum Neapolis....
  
  
• 719–729 Theodore I
• 729–739 George
  George of Naples
  George was the Duke of Naples for a decade beginning in 729. During his tenure, the dukes of Naples defended the coast of Italy from Terracina, north of Gaeta, to Palermo, on the western tip of Sicily. Indeed, at Terracina there stands an ancient monument dedicated to George.-Sources:*Gay, Jules....
  
  
• 739–755 Gregory I
  Gregory I of Naples
  Gregory I was the Duke of Naples from 740. He also bore the title hypatus.-Sources:...
  
  
• 755–766 Stephen II
  Stephen II of Naples
  Stephen II was the duke of Niples during an important transitionary period in its history, from 755 to his death. He was styled by nipleseminentissimus consul and was the leader of the niples local aristocracy when he was appointed by the patrician of Sicily. By the end of his reign, through a...
  
  
• 767–794 Gregory II
  Gregory II of Naples
  Gregory II was the Duke of Naples from 766 to his death in 794.He was the eldest son of Stephen II, who augmented his power against his Byzantine suzerains and then abdicated to a monastery, leaving Naples to his son...
  
  
• 794–801 Theophylactus II
• 801– Anthimus
  Anthimus of Naples
  Anthimus or Anthemus was the Duke of Naples for from 801 until around 818, when the patrician of Sicily reestablished Byzantine control over the ducatus...
  
  –821 Theoctistus
  Theoctistus of Naples
  Theoctistus was the Duke of Naples during a very confused period in her history. His reign began sometime around 818 and lasted until 821.On the death of Anthimus, a war of succession broke out in Naples on account of the number of pretenders to the ducal throne...
  
  
• 821 Theodore II
• 821–832 Stephen III
  Stephen III of Naples
  Stephen III was the duke of Naples during an important transitionary period in its history, from 821 to his death. By the end of his reign, Naples was completely independent....
  
  
• 832–834 Bonus
• 834 Leo
• 834–840 Andrew II
  Andrew II of Naples
  Andrew II was the duke of Naples from 834 to 840. During his reign, he was constantly at war with the Lombards and he allowed Gaeta, his vassal, to move towards independence under its own consuls....
  
  
• 840 Contardus
  Contardus of Naples
  Contard , a Frank, was briefly the Duke of Naples in 840.He was sent by Lothair I, King of Italy, in 839 to aid Duke Andrew II against the warring Lombards of the Principality of Benevento. Fearful of Contard's power and Frankish influence, Andrew promised him his daughter Eupraxia in marriage...
  
  

Hereditary dukes

These dukes were more independent than their predecessors and they were not chosen by the emperor, but the descendants of Sergius I

Sergius I of Naples

Sergius I was the first duke of Naples of his dynasty, often dubbed the "Sergi," which ruled over Naples for almost three centuries from his accession in 840 until the death of his namesake Sergius VII in 1137....

, who was elected by the citizens.

Sergi Dynasty

• 840–864/865 Sergius I
  Sergius I of Naples
  Sergius I was the first duke of Naples of his dynasty, often dubbed the "Sergi," which ruled over Naples for almost three centuries from his accession in 840 until the death of his namesake Sergius VII in 1137....
  
  
• 864/865–870 Gregory III
  Gregory III of Naples
  Gregory III , eldest son of Sergius I of Naples and Drusa, was the duke of Naples as co-regent with his father from 850 and as successor to his father from his father's death in 864 to his own some six years later. He was recorded as a man of learning, fluent in both Greek and Latin.During his...
  
  
• 870–877/878 Sergius II
  Sergius II of Naples
  Sergius II was Duke of Naples from 870 to 877.He continued the policies of his father, Gregory III, and grandfather, Sergius I. He maintained good relations with the Franks or the Byzantines only as it suited Neapolitan interests....
  
  
• 877/878–898 Athanasius
  Athanasius of Naples
  Athanasius was the Bishop and Duke of Naples from 878 to his death. He was the son of Gregory III and brother of Sergius II, whom he blinded and deposed in order to seize the throne while he was already bishop....
  
  
• 898– Gregory IV
  Gregory IV of Naples
  Gregory IV was the firstborn son of Duke Sergius II of Naples and successor of his paternal uncle, Bishop Athanasius, in 898, when he was elected dux, or magister militum, unanimously by the aristocracy. His other paternal uncle, Stephen, succeeded Athanasius as bishop...
  
  –919 John II
  John II of Naples
  John II was the duke of Naples from 915 to his death. He succeeded his father Gregory IV on the latter's death late in 915.He had accompanied his father to the Battle of the Garigliano under Nicholas Picingli, where the Christian coalition defeated the Moslems of the fortress on the Garigliano....
  
  
• 919–928 Marinus I
  Marinus I of Naples
  Marinus I was the Duke of Naples from 919 to his death. He was the second son of Gregory IV and successor of his brother John II. The Chronicon ducum et principum Beneventi, Salerni, et Capuae et ducum Neapolis calls him Marianus. According to that document, he reigned eight years, nine months,...
  
  
• 928–968/969 John III
  John III of Naples
  John III was the longest-reigning Duke of Naples . He was the son and successor of Marinus I.At the beginning of his reign, he warred against the Saracens and then made a treaty with them after they appeared beneath his walls in 929...
  
  
• 968/969–992/997 Marinus II
  Marinus II of Naples
  Marinus II was the Duke of Naples from 968 to his death. He was the son and successor of John III and brought Naples back into the Byzantine fold, receiving the title eminentissimus consul et dux, atque imperialis anthipatus patricius. In 970, Marinus did homage for his duchy to the patrician...
  
  
• 992–997/999 Sergius III
  Sergius III of Naples
  Sergius III was a duke of Naples. He was preceded by his father Marinus II and succeeded by John IV....
  
  
• 997/999–1002 John IV
  John IV of Naples
  John IV was the mostly absentee duke of Naples from 997 to after 1002. He was the son and successor of Sergius III. John IV originally recognised the suzerainty of the Byzantine Emperor....
  
  
• 1002– Sergius IV
  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...
  
  
  • 1027–1029/1030 under control of 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...
    
     John V
    John V of Naples
    John V was the son and successor of Sergius IV as Duke of Naples from 1034 until his death.In 1034 Pandulf IV of Capua instigated a revolt in Sorrento and annexed it to Capua. In the same year, Sergius IV's sister died and her husband, Rainulf Drengot, returned to Pandulf's allegiance...
    
    
• 1053–after 1074 Sergius V
  Sergius V of Naples
  Sergius V was the son and successor of John V as Duke of Naples from 1042 to 1082.In Summer 1074, hostilities flared up between Richard I of Capua and Robert Guiscard. Sergius allied with the latter and made his city a supply centre for Guiscard's troops. This pitted him against Aversa and Capua,...
  
  
• after 1074–1107 Sergius VI
  Sergius VI of Naples
  Sergius VI was the Duke of Naples from 1077 or 1082 to his death. He was the son of the senator John, and thus nephew and successor of John's elder brother Sergius V. His reign is very obscure on the basis of slight documentary evidence...
  
  
• 1107–1120/1123 John VI
  John VI of Naples
  John VI was the Duke of Naples from 1097 or 1107 to his death. He was the son and successor of Sergius VI. His reign is very obscure on the basis of slight documentary evidence. He followed his father's policy of close relations with Byzantium in light of Norman attacks, and was at some point...
  
  
• 1120/1123–1137 Sergius VII
  Sergius VII of Naples
  Sergius VII was the thirty-ninth and last duke of Naples. He 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...
  
  

Alfonso

Alfonso of Hauteville

Alfonso of Hauteville , third son of Roger II of Sicily and Elvira of Castile, was the prince of Capua from 1135 to his death.He was named after his maternal grandfather, Alfonso VI of Castile...

, Prince of Capua, was elected by the Neapolitans to succeed Sergius and Naples became 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...

 possession afterwards.

Sources

• Naples in the Dark Ages by David Taylor and Jeff Matthews.
• Chalandon, Ferdinand
  Ferdinand Chalandon
  Ferdinand Chalandon was a French medievalist and Byzantinist.Chalandon’s work remains the most substantial study of the Normans in Italy and though the details of what he wrote a hundred years ago have in places been modified, it remains the single most important work available to historians.Being...
  
  . Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile, 2 vol. 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.
• 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 Kingdom in the Sun 1130–1194. Longman: London, 1970.
• Oman, Charles
  Charles Oman
  Sir Charles William Chadwick Oman was a British military historian of the early 20th century. His reconstructions of medieval battles from the fragmentary and distorted accounts left by chroniclers were pioneering...
  
  . The Dark Ages 476–918. Rivingtons: London, 1914.
• Skinner, Patricia. Family Power in Southern Italy: The Duchy of Gaeta and its Neighbours, 850-1139. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. ISBN 0 521 46479 X.