Brindisi, at the end of the Via Appia, is the kingdom's great harbour for the crossing to Greece and the Holy Land and the port where crusading fleets gather; Innocent III looks to it as the assembly point for his crusade.
Henry VI set up one of the kingdom's mints here. Tancred's son Roger III married the Byzantine princess Irene Angelina in its cathedral in August 1192 (he died on 24 December 1193), and the great admiral Margarito, a son of the city, had his house above the port until Henry VI blinded and imprisoned him in 1194 (he was dead by about 1197). On 1 January 1200 it is a royal city under the regency; in 1201 it submits to Walter of Brienne.
Who holds it
- Name
- The crown, through its castellan and officers; officers in January 1200 not pinned; Archbishop Gerard (Gerardo) of Brindisi and Oria, in office from before 18 October 1196 to after 1212
- Title
- Royal city
- Confidence
- medium
Lord in 1200
The king (the regency government): the royal castle (castrum vetus) and the mint are the crown's. Archbishop Gerard holds the cathedral (it.wikipedia cronotassi; a Church map matter).
How things stand that morning
Royal port under the regency; no record of fighting that winter.
Charter
No charter of liberties pinned before Frederick II.
Council
Royal officers (castellan, bailiff, judges, masters of the mint); no commune.
Communities
A Greek community with its own church and archpriest (attested early in the Swabian period); a small Jewish community of dyers (Benjamin of Tudela, about 1165: about 10 Jews); the canons of the Holy Sepulchre, present since 1128; Templars, first documented only in 1244 but probably present earlier; Genoese and Venetian merchants.
Fairs and markets
Port markets; the spring arrival of Genoese and Venetian merchant convoys is described in a later letter of Frederick II.
Militia
Citizens' levy and ships; no figures.
Walls and castle
The Norman old castle (castrum vetus), which William I called his own house; the Swabian castle and the enlarged walls are later (from 1227).
Trade and crafts
The crossing to Durazzo and the Levant; pilgrims and crusaders; dyeing; the royal mint (since Henry VI).
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 1201Brindisi submits to Walter of Brienne.Depends on: Brienne's victory at Capua (10 June 1201) Stopped by: Brienne's defeat
Places of note
- Castrum vetus (Norman castle): Royal castle
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: Federiciana (Brindisi, Puglia) for the mint, castle, communities and orders; the 1192 wedding from it.wikipedia (Ruggero III); Margarito from general histories (date of his death not pinned).
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
- Brindisi, Enciclopedia Federiciana (treccani.it)
- Puglia, Enciclopedia Federiciana (treccani.it)
- Gualtiero di Brienne, Enciclopedia Federiciana (treccani.it)
- Benjamin of Tudela, Itinerary (about 1165), trans. M. N. Adler (1907); figures cited from that translation, not re-checked in this run
- Ruggero III di Sicilia (it.wikipedia)
- Arcidiocesi di Brindisi-Ostuni, cronotassi (it.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.