Counts · Kingdom of Sicily under the regency · as at first light, 1 January 1200

Berard of Loreto

The county of Loreto lies in the hills between the Pescara and the Tavo, under the Gran Sasso, carved in the twelfth century partly out of the old county of Penne.

Berard holds it in right of his wife Maria Margherita, a granddaughter of King Roger II. He sided with Henry VI against Tancred in 1190 and had ties to Henry's German legate Berthold; he quarrelled with the abbey of San Bartolomeo di Carpineto over Santa Maria in Piano (1192); and in July 1197 he and his wife founded Santa Maria di Casanova, the first Cistercian house in the Abruzzi, to profit from the sheep roads and to hold their own against greater neighbours. With his cousin Peter of Celano he saw the child king Frederick brought safely from Foligno to Palermo (Kamp; Richard of San Germano as quoted by Medieval Lands).

His side in the winter of 1199-1200 is not recorded; his record is that of a royalist of Constance's party.

Who he is

Name
Berard (Berardo) of Loreto
Title
Count of Loreto (comes Laureti); Richard of San Germano also calls him count of Conversano in Apulia
Since
By 1 August 1192, when Celestine III wrote against 'the noble Bernard count of Loreto and Maria' (Federiciana); the county came to him with his wife
Born
not known
Family
Married to Maria Margherita, daughter of Count Joscelin (Gezzolino) of Loreto, once justiciar of the Abruzzi, who died on the Third Crusade (1189), and of Adelisa, a daughter of King Roger II; she brought him the county as her dowry. Children not pinned.
Confidence
high

Enciclopedia Federiciana for the marriage, the county and the founding of Casanova; Kamp (DBI, Pietro di Celano) makes him Peter of Celano's cousin; Medieval Lands (fmg.ac) for Richard of San Germano's notice and a charter of 16 February 1239 naming him imperial vicar in the kingdom of Arles.

Overlord

The crown of Sicily.

What it holds

  • Loreto and the castles of the county between the Tavo and the Pescara (list for 1200 not pinned)
  • Lands taken from San Bartolomeo di Carpineto: the territory of Valero, Santa Maria in Piano and the castle of Monte Somato (some later returned)
  • The patronage of Santa Maria di Casanova (founded July 1197)
  • The county of Conversano in Apulia, if Richard of San Germano's style is right (see the Apulia records)

How it was acquired

By marriage to the heiress of Count Joscelin of Loreto (Federiciana).

Allies and rivals

Cousin and companion of Peter of Celano; at odds with the abbeys of Carpineto and Casauria over land; neighbours are the Palear of Manoppello to the south and the bishop of Penne to the north-west.

How things stand that morning

Holding his county quietly; no fighting is recorded there that winter. Presumed with the regency council, as a man of Constance's party, but not pinned.

Wealth

Pasture and the transhumance to the Gran Sasso's high plains (the Casanova monks later hold a grange at Campo Imperatore, 1222), grain and oil in the Tavo and Pescara hills.

Military

Castles of the county; no figures.

Threats

  • Greater neighbours (Celano, Manoppello) and the abbeys' lawsuits
  • A German return to the Abruzzi

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

  1. 1200No dated event of 1200 is known for this lordship.Depends on: nothing Stopped by: nothing

Places of note

  • Loreto: Seat of the county
  • Santa Maria di Casanova: Cistercian abbey founded by Berard and Maria Margherita in July 1197

Where the sources disagree

  • Richard of San Germano, as quoted by Medieval Lands, names Berard of Loreto and Conversano among those who escorted the infant Frederick; the Federiciana entry does not mention Conversano. Check with the Apulia records before drawing Conversano as his.

Evidence: Founding charter of Casanova (1197), a papal letter of 1192 and Richard of San Germano; his acts in 1199-1200 are not recorded in what could be checked.

On the map: The county's castles in 1200 are not listed in any source checked; the block follows the later district round Loreto and Casanova.

Primary sources for Sicily

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.

7 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.

Sources and studies

  1. 'Berardo di Loreto', Enciclopedia Federiciana (treccani.it)
  2. N. Kamp, 'Celano, Pietro di', Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 23 (1979), treccani.it
  3. Medieval Lands: Central Italy (counties in Abruzzo), fmg.ac

Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.