Sora

Who holds it

Name

Conrad of Marlenheim

Title

Lord of Sora and castellan of Sorella, for the Staufen party

Since

1191 (granted by Henry VI; kept after the court at Bari in 1195)

Confidence

high

An Alsatian ministerial from Marlenheim who came south with Henry VI in 1191 and received the fortress of Sora and the castle of Sorella; he kept them after the Bari court of 1195, sided with Markward after Henry VI's death, and was still fighting alongside Diepold against Walter of Brienne in 1205. On 5 January 1208 the citizens of Sora gave their town to the abbot of Montecassino; Conrad then surrendered himself and Sorella to Riccardo dei Conti and vanishes from the record (DBI on Conrad). In October 1208, at Ferentino, Innocent III invested his brother Riccardo with the county of Sora; the Holy See had bought Rocca d'Arce the same year (DBI on Riccardo Conti).

What it holds

• Sora: town on the Liri, held by Conrad of Marlenheim's garrison
• Sorella: the castle on the rock above Sora, Conrad's stronghold
• No papal garrison or officer: the pope's claim is that of the king's guardian and overlord

How it was acquired

Sora belonged to the Kingdom of Sicily (Terra di Lavoro) after the Norman conquest. Henry VI granted it to Conrad of Marlenheim in 1191. It came to the papal side only in 1208.

How things stand that morning

Occupied, from the papal point of view, by Conrad of Marlenheim for the Staufen and Markward's party. Not part of the Papal State.

Wealth

The Liri crossing and the road from the Campagna into the Kingdom; the junction with the roads to the Marsica and the Val Comino; river mills.

Threats

• Raids by papal and Campanian knights from Ceprano and Veroli
• The townsmen's dislike of the German garrison (they hand the town over in 1208)
• Montecassino's ambitions

Advocates and rivals

Conrad of Marlenheim and his Germans; Diepold, who holds Rocca d'Arce and Aquino nearby (DBI on Diepold); the abbot of Montecassino, to whom the townsmen will turn in 1208; the papal rector of the Campagna across the frontier; the Conti family.

Places of note

• Sorella: Rock castle above Sora, Conrad of Marlenheim's stronghold

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign notes (Parts 2 and 5) say Innocent took back Sora from Conrad of Urslingen in 1198. The DBI entries on Conrad of Marlenheim and on Riccardo Conti say Sora and Sorella were held by Conrad of Marlenheim, a different German, from 1191 until January 1208, and the DBI on Conrad of Urslingen lists only Cesi, Gualdo and Assisi as surrendered in 1198. On 1 January 1200 Sora is a German-held lordship inside the Kingdom, not a papal one. The two Conrads seem to have been run together; the campaign should rule.

Evidence: Two independent DBI entries agree on the dates; Sora's own history page has nothing for these years.

On the map: Drawn only as the modern commune of Sora, grey-hatched as occupied: it is a papal target, not a papal possession, on 1 January 1200.

Primary sources for Diepold's Germans

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• Annals of Montecassino; Annals of Ceccano (Fossanova) (12th and early 13th centuries; Ceccano to 1217). Two sets of annals from either side of the papal and Sicilian frontier. Read online
• Chronicle of Richard of San Germano, Richard of San Germano (first version about 1216, enlarged to 1243). The fullest southern narrative of the Hohenstaufen kingdom, written by a notary on the border of the Terra di Lavoro. Read online
• Chronicle of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Sicard of Cremona (about 1210 to 1213). A universal chronicle whose last part is a well-placed eyewitness account by a Lombard bishop who served emperors and popes. Read online
• The Deeds of Innocent III, Anonymous (a curial official, perhaps Peter of Benevento) (about 1208 to 1209). The curia's own account of the pontificate's first decade, with letters copied in. Read online
• Book in honour of the Emperor, or On Sicilian affairs, Peter of Eboli (1195 to 1197). An illustrated verse account of Henry VI's conquest of Sicily, preserved in a single manuscript made at the imperial court. Read online