Ranulf II, Count of Alife

Ranulf II (or Rainulf, Italian: "Rainolfo d'Alife"; died 30 April 1139) was the count of Alife and Caiazzo, and for a contested period, Duke of Apulia. He was a member of the Norman Drengot clan which ruled Aversa and Capua for most of the century between 1050 and 1150. As the third Ranulf in his family he is sometimes called Ranulf III. Ranulf's wife, Matilda, was the sister of Roger II of Sicily.

Ranulf II was the son of Robert, count of Alife, and Caiazzo and Gaitelgrima. His grandfather was Ranulf I of Alife and brother of Richard I of Capua. His greatgrandfather was Asclettin, count of Acerenza. Asclettin was a brother of the Ranulf Drengot, the first Norman lord in Italy.

Rise to influence

In 1127, Duke William II of Apulia died and the duchy passed to Roger II of Sicily. However, this was opposed almost universally by the nobility, and in this they had the support of Pope Honorius II. That December, Honorius visited Capua, seat of the only other independent prince in southern Italy and a longtime papal ally, and there the pope organised the resistance to Roger's claim, recruiting both Ranulf and Prince Robert II of Capua to his cause. Robert's leadership was less than stellar and Ranulf was soon the leader of the opposition. When Roger arrived on the peninsula with an army, the rebels opened negotiations which led to a truce by which Honorius invested Roger as Duke of Apulia and Calabria in August 1128.

On 12 August 1127, Count Jordan of Ariano died and Ranulf asserted his suzerainty over that count's young successor. From this acquisition, he began to build a larger base of power.

Ranulf remained loyal to Roger after Roger's coronation as King of Sicily on December 30 1130. In 1132, he and Robert even took a force of 200 knights at Roger's bequest to Rome in a show of force in support of Antipope Anacletus II. While Ranulf was away at Rome, his wife, Matilda, fled to her brother Roger alleging marital cruelty and Roger was also forced by his vassal's contumacy and perfidy to annex the county of Avellino from Richard, Ranulf's brother. Ranulf demanded the restitution of both wife and countship. Both were denied and Ranulf left Rome, against orders. Roger gave him the opportunity to submit to a formal proceeding at Salerno, but Ranulf instead went to Robert, who also left Rome, and the two began planning another insurrection.

Rebel leader

. The rebels were victorious and Roger fled.

A large army under Lothair of Germany was expected, but instead the Emperor left Italy after his coronation, despite Ranulf's attendance. Therefore, that year, 1133, Roger was able to return to the peninsula from his stronghold in Sicily and reverse many of the rebel successes. But new revolts opened up. Ranulf supported Tancred of Conversano with men under Roger of Plenco, but otherwise, kept a lower profile, awaitng reinforcements from Pisa and Genoa. Ranulf failed to deliver Nocera from a siege and Robert of Capua fled north. By June 1134, Ranulf's own supporters had melted away and he was forced to make peace with the king. According to Alexander of Telese, the two kissed and embraced such that "those that were present were seen to be shedding tears for very joy." Ranulf's gains since the outbreak of rebellion were taken back, but his wife and son returned to him amicably (his cruelty being apparently not so egregious).

In 1135, a Pisan fleet with Robert of Capua laid anchor in Naples. With rumours of Roger's death circulating, Ranulf joined Robert and Duke Sergius VII of Naples in that city and prepared for a siege.

In 1136, Lothair II and the duke of Bavaria, Henry the Proud, descended the peninsula to support the three rebels. Ranulf, with Robert and Henry, took a large contingent of troops to besiege the peninsular capital of the kingdom, Salerno. Salerno surrendered and the large army of Germans and Normans marched to the very south of Apulia. Having thus left most of southern Italy under his control, Lothair decided to appoint a new duke of Apulia and since Robert and Sergius were already powerful potentates, Ranulf was raised to that position. Lothair claimed the right to investiture, but so did Pope Innocent II; the former on the grounds that Emperor Henry III had appointed Drogo of Hauteville in 1047 and the latter on the grounds that Pope Nicholas II had raised Robert Guiscard to ducal status in 1059. Together, pope and emperor handed power to Ranulf in Salerno and the Germans departed for home, leaving Ranulf to defend his hard-won duchy. Ranulf accompanied the emperor as far as Aquino and received 800 knights for his fight.

Dukedom and death

On 30 October 1137, at the Battle of Rignano, Ranulf met his chief foe, Roger's son Roger, whom the king had named as Duke of Apulia in 1134. Though the younger Roger fought valiantly, the elder fled the field and their ally, Sergius VII of Naples, died in the fray. Rignano was the second great victory of Ranulf over Roger (after Nocera), but it, like the first, had no lasting effect. Roger's campaign of 1138 was a failure and Ranulf for a moment appeared secure in his title, even without Salerno. However, Ranulf fell sick with fever at Troia, his capital, and died on 30 April 1139. He was buried in the cathedral of that city, whence Roger exhumed him and threw him in a ditch, only to later rebury him decently. While the modern scholar John Julius Norwich says that "the sorrow that attended his death was more than he deserved", the contemporary chronicler Falco of Benevento records that the death of this "virum bellicosum et magnanimum" ("bellicose and magnanimous man") was accompanied by the wailing of virgins and tearing of hair.

ources

*Falco of Benevento. [http://www.cesn.it/Cronisti/falcone_benevento.htm "Chronicon Beneventanum"] .
*Houben, Hubert. Trans. G. A. Loud and Diane Milbourne; 2002 "Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler between East and West". Cambridge University Press.
*Matthew, Donald. "The Norman Kingdom of Sicily". Cambridge University Press: 1992.
*Norwich, John Julius. "The Normans in the South 1016-1130". Longmans: London, 1967.
*Norwich, John Julius. "The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194". Longman: London, 1970.