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

Brienne claim

On 1 January 1200 Tancred's family holds nothing in the kingdom.

Sibylla and her daughters, carried to Germany in 1194, either escaped or were freed through the pope and reached France in 1199. At a council at Melun under Philip Augustus it was agreed that the eldest daughter, Albiria (Elvira), should marry Walter III of Brienne, a Champagne count who had taken the cross at Écry in November 1199; the wedding falls between Easter 1199 and Easter 1200, so whether it has happened by first light is not pinned. Their claim is to the fiefs Henry VI promised William III in 1194: the county of Lecce and the principality of Taranto.

It is a claim, not a holding: the pope has protected Lecce's present count since September 1199, and Taranto is the crown's.

Who he is

Name
Sibylla of Acerra, widow of King Tancred; her eldest daughter Albiria (Elvira, Maria Albinia); Walter III, count of Brienne in Champagne, Albiria's husband (married between Easter 1199 and Easter 1200)
Title
Claimants to the county of Lecce and the principality of Taranto
Since
1194 (the broken Caltabellotta promise); pressed from 1200
Family
Tancred of Lecce, king 1190-1194; his sons Roger III (died 1193) and William III (taken to Germany in 1194, dead by the late 1190s); daughters Albiria, Constance and Medania (Mandonia); Sibylla's brother Richard, count of Acerra, executed by Henry VI's men in 1196 or 1197; Walter's younger brother John of Brienne
Confidence
high

Federiciana (Gualtiero di Brienne): Walter married Albiria between Easter 1199 and Easter 1200; in spring 1200 he came to the curia with Albiria and Sibylla; in May 1200 he swore fealty in consistory. en.wikipedia (Elvira of Sicily): Sibylla reached France with her daughters in 1199; Philip II convened a council at Melun, where it was decided that Elvira should marry Walter. Walter took the cross at Écry on 28 November 1199 (Villehardouin).

Overlord

They would hold Lecce and Taranto of the king of Sicily, under the pope.

What it holds

  • Nothing in the kingdom on 1 January 1200
  • The claim to the county of Lecce and the principality of Taranto
  • Walter's own county of Brienne in Champagne (outside this sheet)

How it was acquired

Claim from Henry VI's promise to William III and Sibylla at Caltabellotta (1194), broken at Christmas 1194.

Allies and rivals

Patron: Philip Augustus (the Melun council). Will seek the pope. Rivals: Robert of Biccari (Lecce), the crown's officers at Taranto, and every German captain, since Walter's sword is wanted against Markward and Diepold. The chancellor Walter of Palear will see Brienne as a threat to his own power.

How things stand that morning

In France, holding nothing in the kingdom; the claim is not yet before the pope.

Wealth

Walter's county of Brienne; no resources in the kingdom.

Military

In 1201 Walter enters Italy with a small army (en.wikipedia: sixty knights and forty mounted sergeants). Nothing in arms in the kingdom on 1 January 1200.

Threats

  • The pope's refusal
  • The crusade, which Walter has sworn to join
  • Diepold and the German captains
  • The chancellor's hostility

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.

In 1200

  1. Between Easter 1199 and Easter 1200 (not pinned)Walter marries Albiria.Depends on: The Melun agreement holding Stopped by: A rival match for Albiria
  2. Spring to May 1200Walter, Albiria and Sibylla at the curia; the pope recognizes the claim; Walter swears fealty in consistory (May 1200) and returns to France to raise an army.Depends on: Innocent wanting a sword against Markward Stopped by: The pope refusing; a player intervening at the curia

Later, on the likely course

  1. April to October 1201Walter returns in April 1201, wins at Capua on 10 June, enters Apulia in July (Melfi, Montepeloso, Matera, Otranto, Brindisi, Barletta and Lecce submit; Monopoli and Taranto hold out), and on 22 October 1201 near Canne beats Diepold and the chancellor's men, taking Count Peter of Celano and Diepold's brother Siegfried prisoner (Kamp's date; the Federiciana gives 22 or 26 October).Depends on: His recruitment in France and papal backing Stopped by: Defeat by Diepold
  2. 11-14 June 1205Walter is wounded in an ambush by Diepold at Sarno and dies on 14 June 1205; Albiria bears him a posthumous son, Walter IV.Depends on: The war going on to 1205 Stopped by: Any earlier settlement

Where the sources disagree

  • The brief puts the papal grant in 1201. The Federiciana dates the recognition of the claim and Walter's oath to spring and May 1200, with Walter's return and campaign in 1201; it.wikipedia puts his visit to Rome in 1201. We follow the Federiciana: the recognition is May 1200, the campaign 1201; both are later than 1 January 1200.

Evidence: The marriage window and the 1200 consistory come from the Federiciana; the Melun council and the 1199 arrival in France from en.wikipedia.

On the map: Claimed ground only; the claimants hold nothing on 1 January 1200.

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. Gualtiero di Brienne, Enciclopedia Federiciana (treccani.it)
  2. Elvira of Sicily (en.wikipedia)
  3. Gualtieri III di Brienne (it.wikipedia)

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