Capocci

Who he is

Name

Giovanni Capocci (Iohannes Capocius), former senator

Title

Roman magnate; popular leader of the communal party

Since

Senator in the 1190s

Born

Not pinned

Family

The Capocci of the Monti district (the Esquiline and the Suburra)

Confidence

medium

Gregorovius: Giovanni Capocci, a popular leader based in the Suburra, was senator after Carushomo with Giovanni Pierleone; Luchaire: both lead the party of municipal independence. The Capocci towers by S. Martino ai Monti on the Esquiline are their later landmark; the family's castles in 1200 are not pinned.

Overlord

The commune, and through it the pope.

What it holds

• Towers and houses in the Monti district (Esquiline and Suburra)
• Castles outside Rome: not pinned

Allies and rivals

Allies: the Pierleoni and the communal party. Rivals: the pope's senators and the Conti.

How things stand that morning

Out of power; no open action recorded that winter.

Wealth

Roman property.

Military

Towers and followers; no numbers.

Threats

• The pope's grip on the senate

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. 1203-1204 (beyond 1200)Leads the revolt for an elected senate.Depends on: Roman anger at the pope's kin. Stopped by: Papal concessions.

Places of note

• Capocci towers: Family towers on the Esquiline by S. Martino ai Monti

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Named in Gregorovius and Luchaire as a former senator and party leader.

On the map: An urban family: shown as a point in Rome.

Primary sources for Rome

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
• 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
• The Book of Census of the Roman Church, Cencius Camerarius (Cencio Savelli, later Pope Honorius III) (1192, with later additions). The papal rent roll: every church, monastery, town and kingdom that owed a census to Rome in 1192, diocese by diocese, with the sums, followed by lists of papal lands and castles, the ceremonial Ordo and copies of charters. Read online
• The Registers of Pope Innocent III for 1199 to 1201, Innocent III and the papal chancery (22 February 1199 to 21 February 1201). The pope's outgoing letters for the year, in his chancery's own copy, touching nearly every realm in the atlas. Read online