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

Catanzaro

The county of Catanzaro holds the Ionian end of the isthmus of Catanzaro, the narrow waist of Calabria between the gulf of Squillace and the gulf of Sant'Eufemia, with the hill town of Catanzaro and the castle of Taverna on the edge of the Sila.

Its Lupin counts were Tancred's men and were broken by Henry VI in 1197, when Count Hugh's twin brother Jordan led the Sicilian revolt and was put to death; Hugh vanished from the record, and the county passed, at a date not pinned, to Richard of Fallucca, of the local Norman house named from Rocca Falluca. On 1 January 1200 the county lies in the regency's Calabria, but who actually holds it that morning, the crown or Richard, is not pinned.

Who he is

Name
Not pinned. Hugh Lupin the Younger (Hugh II) lost the county after the revolt of 1197; it later went to Richard of Fallucca (Riccardo di Fallucca), at a date not pinned
Title
Count of Catanzaro
Since
Not pinned (forfeiture of 1197; Richard's grant undated)
Born
Not pinned
Family
Lupin, counts by marriage from about 1167 until 1197; Fallucca (Faloch), a Norman family of the lower Corace valley named from the castle of Rocca Falluca
Confidence
low

Count Raymond's daughter Clementia was countess by early 1158, held the castle of Taverna against William I in 1161-62 and married Hugh Lupin the Elder about 1167. Hugh the Elder was alive in 1190 and had been succeeded by his son Hugh the Younger by 1195; Hugh the Younger also held Conversano by Tancred's grant and was captain and master justiciar of Apulia and the Terra di Lavoro by November 1190 (en.wikipedia: Clementia of Catanzaro; Hugh Lupin the Younger). In May 1197 Hugh's twin Jordan Lupin, count of Bovino, led the Sicilian revolt against Henry VI, held out in Castrogiovanni and was executed in June 1197; Hugh was implicated and is never heard of again; Conversano went to Berardo Gentile and Catanzaro to Richard of Fallucca (en.wikipedia: Jordan Lupin).

No source checked dates Richard's grant or shows who held the county on 1 January 1200.

Overlord

The king, the boy Frederick, under the pope's wardship and the regency council at Palermo

What it holds

  • Catanzaro, its castle and walls, seat of a bishop of the province of Reggio
  • The castle of Taverna on the Sila edge (held by Countess Clementia against William I in 1161-62)
  • Villages between the Sila and the gulf of Squillace (extent in 1200 not pinned)
  • The road across the isthmus between the Ionian and Tyrrhenian seas

How it was acquired

Count Raymond's line held it by 1145; it passed to the Lupins by Clementia's marriage about 1167; it was forfeited after the revolt of 1197 and later granted to Richard of Fallucca (date not pinned).

Allies and rivals

The Lupins were Tancred's party: Hugh held Conversano by his grant and Jordan defended Messina for him in 1190. Neighbours: the bishop of Catanzaro; Squillace to the south; the archbishop of Santa Severina and the lords of Crotone and Policastro to the east; Joachim's abbey of Fiore in the Sila; the Nicastro and Tiriolo country to the west.

How things stand that morning

Ground of the regency (realm sicily). No German captain and no fighting is recorded at Catanzaro in the winter of 1199-1200. Whether the forfeited county is still in the crown's hands or already Richard of Fallucca's is not pinned.

Wealth

The road between the two seas across the isthmus; grain, oil and wine of the slopes; timber, pasture and pitch of the Sila.

Military

The hill town's walls and castle, the castle of Taverna and the castles of the Corace valley; the count owes knight service to the crown. No figures.

Threats

  • The crown's distrust of a county forfeited for rebellion
  • Any surviving Lupin claim: Hugh's son Henry was count of Conversano in January 1197; his fate is unknown

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 for this lordship was found for 1200.Depends on: Nothing in play. Stopped by: Nothing in play.

Places of note

  • Catanzaro: County seat and bishop's city
  • Taverna: Castle held by Countess Clementia against William I, 1161-62
  • Rocca Falluca: Castle ruin in the lower Corace valley (approximate position) that gave the Fallucca family its name; given to the bishop of Squillace in 1096 and counted in the diocese of Catanzaro from 1128 (it.wikipedia)

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: The Lupin line to 1197 is fair (Wikipedia articles resting on Jamison and the charters); the holder in the winter of 1199-1200 is not pinned, and the county's bounds in 1200 are not documented in the sources checked.

On the map: The county's extent in 1200 is not documented in the sources checked; the block covers Catanzaro, Taverna and the villages between them, the core of the Norman county.

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. Clementia of Catanzaro (en.wikipedia)
  2. Hugh Lupin the Younger (en.wikipedia)
  3. Jordan Lupin (en.wikipedia)
  4. Rocca Falluca (it.wikipedia)
  5. Calabria, Enciclopedia Federiciana (treccani.it)

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