The rector is the pope's governor of his home province: he sits at Ferentino, commands the papal castles and the knights the barons and towns owe, hears appeals, collects the pope's rents and keeps the frontier on the Liri.
The first rector of the pontificate was the pope's cousin, the marshal Giacomo (1198); from 1199 it is Landone di Montelongo, the pope's brother-in-law. Rule by kin is the point: the province is the pope's family country, and its barons (the Ceccano, the Colonna, the Frangipani) and communes (Anagni, Ferentino, Alatri, Veroli, Velletri, Terracina, Sezze) are kept in line by men the pope trusts.
Who he is
- Name
- Landone di Montelongo, the pope's brother-in-law [in office on 1 January 1200 not pinned]
- Title
- Rector of the Campagna and Marittima (rector Campaniae et Maritimae)
- Since
- 1199 (succeeding the marshal Giacomo, rector in 1198)
- Born
- Not pinned
- Family
- Brother-in-law (cognato) of Innocent III (it.wikipedia)
- Confidence
- medium
it.wikipedia (Campagna e Marittima): in 1198 Giacomo Conti, the pope's kinsman and marshal of the papal armies, began the series of rectors; 'the following year he was replaced by Landone di Montelongo', the pope's brother-in-law. Innocent set up a military and administrative base at Ferentino on the old county of the Campagna. No source checked names the rector for 1200 or 1201.
Overlord
The pope.
What it holds
- The rector's seat and garrison at Ferentino
- The papal fortress of Lariano on the Alban hills (where the Viterbese prisoners are held in 1200)
- The papal castle of Fumone above the Sacco valley [thin for 1200]
- Command of the frontier at Ceprano and the Liri crossing
- The pope's rights of justice, service and rents in the province
How it was acquired
Papal appointment, 1199.
Allies and rivals
The barons and communes of the province owe him obedience; the German captains across the Liri (Conrad of Marlenheim at Sora) are the enemy.
How things stand that morning
The province is held for the pope; no raid across the Liri is recorded that winter. In 1198-1199 Campanian knights served at Montecassino against Markward; in 1199 three cardinals negotiated with Markward at Veroli, inside the province, and received his renunciation of the regency (FIU). Across the frontier Conrad of Marlenheim holds Sora, Diepold's men hold Rocca d'Arce and the lower Liri castles, and the count of Fondi acts with Diepold (cam's records).
Wealth
The pope's rents and dues in the province.
Military
Papal garrisons and the service of the Campanian barons and towns; no numbers.
Threats
- German raids from Sora and the Terra di Lavoro
- Baronial feuds
- Communes resisting papal justice
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.
- 1200 or 1201Count Giovanni da Ceccano swears fealty for Ceccano.Depends on: Papal pressure. Stopped by: A Ceccano rising.
Places of note
- Ferentino: Rector's seat
- Fumone: Papal hill fortress
- Lariano: Papal fortress where the Viterbese prisoners are held
- Ceprano: Frontier town at the Liri crossing
Where the sources disagree
- The Church map record (Campagna) gives the same two rectors; whether Landone is still in office on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.
Evidence: The rector list rests on it.wikipedia; the 1200 holder is inferred.
On the map: Only the pope's own fortresses are drawn as the office's ground; the province as a whole is in the papal realm record.
Primary sources for Papal State
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
- Chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (about 1227 to 1241, at the Cistercian abbey of Trois-Fontaines in Champagne). The widest net of any Latin chronicle for 1200, compiled from dozens of sources, many now lost. Read online
- Chronicle of Andres, William of Andres (about 1220 to 1234). The chronicle and cartulary of a small abbey between Guines and Ardres, near the border of Flanders and Boulogne. Read online
- Chronicle of Burchard of Ursberg, Burchard of Ursberg (about 1229 to 1230, reworked by Conrad of Lichtenau). Written a generation later by a fierce partisan of the Staufen and a critic of Innocent III. Read online
- Chronicle of Robert of Auxerre, Robert of Auxerre (Robert of Saint-Marien) (about 1190 to 1211; continued at Saint-Marien to 1227). A universal chronicle whose last twenty years are contemporary and well informed from Burgundy and the Auxerrois. Read online
- Chronicle of Roger of Howden, Roger of Howden (about 1192 to 1201). The fullest single narrative for the year. Read online
- Chronicle of Sicard, bishop of Cremona, Sicard of Cremona (about 1210 to 1213). A universal chronicle whose last part is a well-placed eyewitness account by a Lombard bishop who served emperors and popes. Read online
12 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.
Sources and studies
- Campagna e Marittima (it.wikipedia)
- A. Luchaire, Innocent III: Rome et l'Italie (PDF)
- The Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church (FIU), cardinals created in the 1190s
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.