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

Lesina (Gentile)

Lesina is a small walled town and bishopric on the lagoon at the northern foot of the Gargano, with rich eel fisheries.

Tancred made it a county for Berard Gentile in 1190, as a reward for helping him to the throne; Berard, though he had been Tancred's captain in Apulia, went over to Henry VI and died about 1196. On 1 January 1200 the county is held by his sons Matthew and Thomas together. Matthew will become the great lord of the Capitanata after 1203, adding Civitate, Fiorentino and Petra di Montecorvino and governing the province as captain and master justiciar from about 1205; in 1200 that is still to come, and the brothers' side in the regency war is not pinned.

Who he is

Name
Matthew (Matteo) Gentile and his brother Thomas (Tommaso), jointly
Title
Counts of Lesina (comites Alesine)
Since
Before 1200, on the death of their father Berard about 1196
Born
Matthew about the 1170s
Family
Gentile, an Abruzzese noble family. Father: Berard 'Gentilis', constable of the royal household troops under William II, then Tancred's captain and master justiciar of Apulia and the Terra di Lavoro, rewarded with Lesina for his part in Tancred's election (1190), died about 1196. Brothers: Thomas (dead by December 1203) and Richard. Matthew's wife Adelasia; no children.
Confidence
high

DBI (Gentile, Matteo): Matthew and Thomas inherited Lesina before 1200; Thomas died by December 1203; Matthew later added the county of Civitate and held Fiorentino and Petra di Montecorvino and fiefs near Nardò and Oria. Federiciana (Puglia): Berard Gentilis of Lesina and Hugh Lupin of Conversano were Tancred's captains and master justiciars but sided with Henry VI.

Overlord

The king under the regency.

What it holds

  • The town and castle of Lesina and the lagoon with its fisheries
  • The county's villages on the plain south of the lagoon (extent not pinned)
  • Perhaps already fiefs in the Terra d'Otranto near Nardò and Oria (attested for Matthew later; date not pinned)

How it was acquired

Granted by Tancred to Berard Gentile in 1190; inherited by his sons before 1200 (DBI).

Allies and rivals

Neighbours: the Honour of Monte Sant'Angelo to the east, the county of Civitate to the west (granted twice over in the autumn of 1199, by the pope to Roger of Chieti and by the Palermo council to Peter of Celano), the abbey of Terra Maggiore's San Severo to the south. Their followers later hold Dragonara and Montecorvino.

How things stand that morning

Held by the two brothers; no record of them in the war that winter.

Wealth

The lagoon fisheries (eels), salt, grain and pasture of the northern Tavoliere. No figures.

Military

The castle of Lesina; the counts' knights. In 1220 Matthew sends eight ships to Damietta (DBI), showing a later small fleet.

Threats

  • The rival claimants to Civitate on their western border
  • The regency war spreading into the Capitanata

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. 1200-1203Matthew gains the county of Civitate (disputed between Roger of Chieti and Peter of Celano) and styles himself count of Lesina and Civitate; Thomas dies by December 1203.Depends on: The dispute over Civitate going his way Stopped by: Peter of Celano or Roger of Chieti winning Civitate

Places of note

  • Lesina: Town, castle and bishopric on the lagoon

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: A full DBI biography; the county's extent and the brothers' side in 1200 are not pinned.

On the map: Only the lagoon town and its shore are drawn.

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. Gentile, Matteo, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (treccani.it)
  2. Puglia, Enciclopedia Federiciana (treccani.it)

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