Barletta is a growing port town between Trani and the mouth of the Ofanto, walled and given a castle by the Normans, and one of the main crusading ports of the Adriatic.
The military orders cluster here: the Hospitallers moved their Apulian priory to Barletta after Bari's ruin in 1156, and the canons of the Holy Sepulchre serve a church built in the late twelfth century. On 1 January 1200 it is a royal town under the regency; in 1201 it will be one of the places that submit to Walter of Brienne.
Who holds it
- Name
- The crown, through its officers; officers in January 1200 not pinned
- Title
- Royal town
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
The king (the regency government). Barletta has no bishop of its own (it lies in the diocese of Trani); the exiled archbishops of Nazareth settle here only much later.
How things stand that morning
Royal town under the regency; no record of fighting that winter.
Charter
No charter of liberties pinned before Frederick II.
Council
Royal officers (bailiff, judges); no commune.
Communities
The Hospitallers' priory of Barletta; the canons (and confraternity knights) of the Holy Sepulchre at their church; Templars (their house here is attested later, date not pinned); merchants from Amalfi, Ravello and Venice (not pinned for 1200).
Fairs and markets
Port markets; fairs not pinned.
Militia
Citizens' levy; no figures.
Walls and castle
Norman walls; the Norman castle whose great tower survives inside Frederick II's later castle (works from 1224).
Trade and crafts
Grain and oil exports; a staging port for pilgrims and crusaders to the Holy Land; the salt of the nearby lagoon of Salpi.
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.
- July 1201Barletta submits to Walter of Brienne.Depends on: Brienne's victory at Capua (10 June 1201) Stopped by: Brienne's defeat
Places of note
- Church of the Holy Sepulchre: Served by the canons of the Holy Sepulchre
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: it.wikipedia for walls, castle, Hospitallers and Holy Sepulchre; the 1201 submission from the Federiciana.
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.
- 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
- Annals of Genoa, by Caffaro and his continuators, with Ogerio Pane for 1197 to 1219, Ogerio Pane and the other official annalists of Genoa (year by year under the commune's authority; the 1197 to 1219 section by Ogerio Pane). The official record of the commune. 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 Otto of St Blasien, Otto of St Blasien (about 1209 to 1210). A Swabian continuation of Otto of Freising written from the Staufen side. 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
- The Deeds of Innocent III, Anonymous (a curial official, perhaps Peter of Benevento) (about 1208 to 1209). The curia's own account of the pontificate's first decade, with letters copied in. Read online
7 more in the sources library for Southern Italy and the Islands.
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.