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

Palear (Manoppello)

The Palear brothers are the chancellor's family: Walter of Palear governs the kingdom from Palermo for the boy king, and his brother Gentile is count of Manoppello, the county astride the lower Pescara valley under the Maiella, where the family is building the Cistercian abbey of Santa Maria d'Arabona (between 1197 and 1208, it.wikipedia).

From their first seat at Pagliara under the Gran Sasso they hold the Valle Siciliana in the Teramo country, and the older title of counts of Collepietro on the south side of the mountain. Before Markward took Palermo in late 1201 the chancellor had put Gentile in charge of the city and the custody of the king; Gentile then handed both to Markward, and Innocent III accused the chancellor of having been bought. When Gentile's charge began, and so whether on 1 January 1200 he is at Palermo with his brother or at home in the Abruzzi, is not pinned.

Who he is

Name
Gentile of Palear (Gentile di Palearia, di Pagliara)
Title
Count of Manoppello (comes Manuppelli); the family also holds Pagliara and the Valle Siciliana under the Gran Sasso and its older seat of Collepietro
Since
Not pinned: the Palear family held Manoppello by the late twelfth century (it.wikipedia, Manoppello; Kamp). Gentile is named count of Manoppello in the sources for 1200-1201.
Born
not pinned
Family
The Palear (Palearia, Pagliara) family, earlier styled counts of Collepietro (it.wikipedia, Valle Siciliana). Brothers: Walter of Palear, bishop of Troia and chancellor of the kingdom, the leading man of the regency council at Palermo; and Manerio. Their sister is the wife of Peter of Celano, so Rainaldo of Celano, elected archbishop of Capua, is their nephew.
Confidence
medium

Kamp (DBI, Pietro di Celano) for the brothers and the marriage; it.wikipedia (Gualtiero di Pagliara, Manoppello, Valle Siciliana) for Gentile's custody of Palermo and the king and for the family's lands; the date at which Gentile went to Sicily is not pinned.

Overlord

The crown of Sicily, governed by Gentile's own brother the chancellor.

What it holds

  • The county of Manoppello: Manoppello and its castles on the lower Pescara and the slopes of the Maiella (Serramonacesca, Lettomanoppello, Turrivalignani; the list for 1200 is not pinned)
  • Pagliara and the Valle Siciliana under the Gran Sasso (Isola, Castelli, Tossicia, Fano Adriano, Pietracamela)
  • Collepietro, the family's older seat above the Tirino valley
  • The patronage of the new Cistercian house of Santa Maria d'Arabona

How it was acquired

Manoppello came to the family after the Norman counts (Hugh Mamouzet and his line); Pagliara and the Valle Siciliana are their own lands in the Teramo country (it.wikipedia). Dates not pinned.

Allies and rivals

Allies: the chancellor Walter, their brother; Peter of Celano, their brother-in-law. Rivals: Markward and the German party; the abbey of San Clemente a Casauria, an old victim of the counts of Manoppello, across the river; Innocent III, who distrusts the chancellor.

How things stand that morning

A pillar of the regency: the family's head governs the kingdom. The county itself is quiet; no fighting is recorded in the Pescara valley that winter.

Wealth

The Pescara valley road from the Adriatic to Popoli and Sulmona, mills and pasture under the Maiella, the transhumance roads, and above all the chancellor's patronage in the royal administration.

Military

Castles of Manoppello and Pagliara; vassal knights not counted in any source checked.

Threats

  • The chancellor's fall if the pope or Markward prevails at Palermo
  • Markward's return to the mainland

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. Not pinned (by 1201)Gentile holds Palermo and the custody of the boy king for his brother the chancellor, if he does not already.Depends on: The chancellor keeping his grip on the council at Palermo Stopped by: A papal legate taking the king into his own keeping, or Markward taking Palermo first
  2. Late 1201 (after this year)Gentile surrenders Palermo and the king to Markward; Innocent III accuses the chancellor of collusion.Depends on: Markward's success in Sicily after his defeat near Monreale in July 1200 Stopped by: A papal army holding Palermo

Places of note

  • Manoppello: Seat of the county on the lower Pescara
  • Santa Maria d'Arabona: Cistercian abbey being built by the Palear family (1197-1208)
  • Isola del Gran Sasso (Pagliara): The family's home valley under the Gran Sasso

Where the sources disagree

  • en.wikipedia (Walter of Palearia) dates Gentile's surrender of Palermo to Markward to 1198; it.wikipedia and the Federiciana's account of Markward put Markward's seizure of Palermo and the king in late 1201. 1201 is followed.

Evidence: The family and its offices are well attested; the date of Gentile's countship, the county's castles in 1200 and his whereabouts that winter are not pinned.

On the map: Three family blocks drawn from later feudal units; boundaries are approximate.

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. N. Kamp, 'Celano, Pietro di', Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani 23 (1979), treccani.it
  2. Gualtiero di Pagliara (it.wikipedia)
  3. Manoppello (it.wikipedia)
  4. Valle Siciliana (it.wikipedia)

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