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

Lecce (Robert of Biccari)

Lecce was King Tancred's own county before he took the crown in 1190: he had it through his mother Emma, of the old counts of Lecce, and founded the abbey of Saints Nicholas and Cataldus outside the town in 1180.

When Henry VI conquered the kingdom in 1194 he promised Lecce and the principality of Taranto to Tancred's son William III, then at Christmas 1194 accused the family of plotting and sent the boy, his mother Sibylla and his sisters to Germany. Henry gave the county to Robert of Biccari, a baron of the Capitanata. On 1 January 1200 Robert still holds it, and since September 1199 he has had the pope's promise of protection, which makes him a man of the regency rather than of Markward.

His title is now challenged: Tancred's widow and daughters reached France in 1199, and the eldest daughter, Albiria (Elvira), is marrying or has just married Count Walter of Brienne, who will claim Lecce and Taranto in her name.

Who he is

Name
Robert of Biccari (Roberto di Biccaro)
Title
Count of Lecce (comes Licii)
Since
Installed by Henry VI after he broke his promise to Tancred's family at Christmas 1194; the exact date is not pinned
Born
not pinned
Family
Named from Biccari, a castle in the Capitanata west of Lucera and Troia; his parents, wife and children are not pinned
Confidence
medium

The Enciclopedia Federiciana (article on Walter of Brienne) is the only source found: Robert was 'installed by Henry VI in the county of Lecce'; in September 1199 Innocent III assured him of papal protection; after Walter of Brienne's campaign of 1201 he probably submitted and kept the title of count and the fief of Ostuni. it.wikipedia's list of counts repeats this from the same article.

Overlord

The king of Sicily, the boy Frederick II, whose guardian and overlord is the pope; in practice the regency government.

What it holds

  • The town of Lecce, its castle and its market, with the count's courts and dues
  • The villages (casali) of the Lecce plain: Surbo, Trepuzzi, Squinzano, Novoli, Carmiano, Arnesano, Monteroni, Lequile, San Cesario, Cavallino, Lizzanello, Vernole, Melendugno (the county's later lists; their state in 1200 not pinned)
  • The landing place of San Cataldo on the Adriatic shore (Lecce's harbour)
  • Ostuni, which Robert still holds after 1201 (whether it belonged to the county in 1200 or was a separate fief is not pinned)
  • Probably his family's castle of Biccari in the Capitanata (not pinned)

How it was acquired

By grant of Henry VI after Christmas 1194, when the emperor broke the agreement of Caltabellotta that had promised Lecce and Taranto to William III and Sibylla (Federiciana).

Allies and rivals

Under papal protection since September 1199. Rivals: Tancred's heirs, Queen Sibylla and her daughters, now in France, and Walter of Brienne, Albiria's husband or betrothed. Neighbours: the crown's principality of Taranto to the west, the royal city of Brindisi to the north, the archbishop of Otranto to the south-east.

How things stand that morning

Robert holds the county for the king under the regency, protected by the pope since September 1199. No German captain holds ground in the Terra d'Otranto that winter, so far as the sources show. The claim of Tancred's heirs is real but not yet before the pope: it reaches the curia in the spring of 1200.

Wealth

Olive oil, wine and grain of the Salento plain; the count's tolls, market dues and court fines at Lecce; the small harbour of San Cataldo. No figures.

Military

The castle of Lecce and the knights' fees of the county; Robert's own men from the Capitanata. No numbers known.

Threats

  • Walter of Brienne's claim for Albiria, which the pope accepts in May 1200
  • Local loyalty to Tancred's memory in his old county
  • A change of side by the regency or the pope

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. Spring 1200Walter of Brienne comes to the curia with Albiria and Sibylla; Innocent III recognizes Albiria's claim to Lecce and Taranto, and in May 1200 Walter swears fealty to him in public consistory, promising to fight Markward and his supporters and to keep faith with Frederick.Depends on: Walter's journey to Rome and the pope's willingness to set aside his protection of Robert Stopped by: The pope refusing the claim, Walter staying in France or going east with the crusade, or a player buying Robert's loyalty

Later, on the likely course

  1. Summer 1201After his victory at Capua (10 June 1201) Walter enters Apulia in July; Lecce submits to him, Sibylla appears as holder of the county from the second half of 1201, and Robert probably submits, keeping his title and Ostuni.Depends on: Walter returning from France with an army in April 1201 and beating Diepold Stopped by: Walter's defeat or death, or the regency backing Robert by force

Places of note

  • Lecce, town and castle: Seat of the county
  • Biccari: Castle in the Capitanata that gives Robert his name
  • Ostuni: Fief Robert keeps after 1201

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: One good modern source (Federiciana) for Robert's grant and the papal protection of September 1199; nothing on his family or the county's officers that winter. The county's villages are taken from later lists.

On the map: The county's extent in 1200 is drawn from later lists of its villages; the parts at Ostuni and Biccari are probable, not proven.

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. Contea di Lecce (it.wikipedia)

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