Richard, Count of Molise

Richard, Count of Molise

Richard of Mandra was a Norman nobleman in the Kingdom of Sicily appointed count of Molise and chancellor by the queen regent Margaret of Navarre.

In 1157, as the constable of Robert II of Bassunvilla, he was captured by King William I. He joined the conspiracy of Matthew Bonnellus in 1161, but when Simon of Taranto and Tancred of Lecce assaulted the palace and William was arrested, Richard put his body between certain especially violent knights and saved the king's life. For this, he was rewarded when the rebellion collapsed. On William's death in 1166, the queen, Margaret, took up the regency for the young William II. She gave him the old and important county of Molise and the chancellery because she trusted his loyalty to the royal family.

In 1167, he was accused of having affair with the queen, who was clearly infatuated with him. However, these claims were probably intended by his enemies solely to provoke the queen's brother, Henry, Count of Montescaglioso, into acting against Richard. In that year, however, Margaret replaced him as chancellor with Stephen du Perche.

In 1168, Bohemond of Tarsia accused Richard of conspiracy against the new chancellor. A duel was scheduled when Count Robert of Caserta came forward with a second accusation. It was alleged that the Apulian town of Mandra among others near Troia were unlawfully obtained from the crown. A jury of his peers was assembled and found him guilty of illegally retaining the lands after the flight of the caïd Peter. He was dispossessed of all his lands and when he complained to the king was imprisoned. It is likely that the whole trial was engineered by Gilbert, Count of Gravina, a political opponent of Richard's.

ources

*Norwich, John Julius. "The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194". Longman: London, 1970.
*Matthew, Donald. "The Norman Kingdom of Sicily". Cambridge University Press: 1992.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Richard, Count of Acerra — Richard, count of Acerra, was the brother of Sibylla, queen of Tancred of Sicily. He was the chief peninsular supporter of his brother in law during his claim for the throne in 1189. Richard was the co commander of the army attached to Tancred s… …   Wikipedia

  • Henry, Count of Montescaglioso — Henry, born Rodrigo, was the son of Marguerite de l Aigle, the queen of García Ramírez of Navarre, and brother or half brother of Queen Margaret of Sicily. He was never acknowledged as a son by the Navarrese king and he was widely considered a… …   Wikipedia

  • Richard Palmer (archbishop) — Richard Palmer, an Englishman, was the bishop of Syracuse from 1169 and archbishop of Messina from 1182. Palmer first rose to prominence in 1160 as one of the triumvirate of grandees who replaced the assassinated Emir Maio of Bari. He was a man… …   Wikipedia

  • Gilbert, Count of Gravina — from 1159, was a cousin of Margaret of Navarre, the queen of Sicily. He arrived in Sicily sometime around 1159 and, through Margaret s influence, was created Count of Gravina in Apulia immediately. Late in that same year, Gilbert joined a… …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret of Navarre, Queen of Sicily — Margaret of Navarre ( fr. Marguerite, es. Margarita, it. Margherita) (1128 ndash; 1183) was the queen consort of the Kingdom of Sicily during the reign of William I (1154 1166) and the regent during the minority of her son, William II.She was a… …   Wikipedia

  • Margaret of Navarre (1128–1183) — Margaret of Navarre redirects here. For the 16th century author and queen of Navarre, see Marguerite de Navarre. Margaret of Navarre (French: Marguerite, Spanish: Margarita, Italian: Margherita) (c. 1128 – 12 August 1183) was the queen consort of …   Wikipedia

  • Bohemond II of Manoppello — Bohemond II [Sometimes called Bohemond of Tarsia after his father] (died 1169) was the count of Manoppello, succeeding his father, Bohemond I, in 1156 or 1157. In 1160, Bohemond joined a conspiracy of nobles, including Richard of Aquila, Roger of …   Wikipedia

  • Isernia — Infobox CityIT img coa = Isernia Stemma.png official name = Comune di Isernia region = Molise province = Isernia (IS) elevation m = 423 area total km2 = 68.74 population as of = December 31, 2004 population total = 21500 population density km2 =… …   Wikipedia

  • Italy — /it l ee/, n. a republic in S Europe, comprising a peninsula S of the Alps, and Sicily, Sardinia, Elba, and other smaller islands: a kingdom 1870 1946. 57,534,088; 116,294 sq. mi. (301,200 sq. km). Cap.: Rome. Italian, Italia. * * * Italy… …   Universalium

  • Norman conquest of southern Italy — The Kingdom of Sicily (in green) in 1154, representing the extent of Norman conquest in Italy over several decades of activity by independent adventurers The Norman conquest of southern Italy spanned the late eleventh and much of the twelfth… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”