Matera is the walled rock of the Civita above the ravine of the Gravina, with the cave dwellings and the many rock churches of the Sassi below it, painted in the Byzantine manner by Greek and Latin monks.
It was a Norman county from the 1040s, but its holder in 1200 is not pinned. In 1200 it is not yet a bishop's see: it lies in the archdiocese of Acerenza, and only in 1203 will Innocent III raise Matera's church to a cathedral joined equally with Acerenza. The town looks across the Bradano toward Gravina, Altamura and Taranto (apu), where Walter of Brienne will come in 1201 to claim Tancred's daughter's inheritance.
Who holds it
- Name
- Not pinned (count of Matera in Norman times; in 1200 most likely the crown)
- Title
- Lord of the town
- Since
- Not pinned
- Confidence
- low
it.wikipedia (Storia di Matera): Norman count in 1043, the Civita walls, the rock churches of the Gravina; it.wikipedia (Arcidiocesi di Acerenza): Innocent III's bull of 1203 raising Matera to a cathedral joined with Acerenza. The lord in 1200 is not pinned.
Lord in 1200
Not pinned (count of Matera in Norman times; in 1200 most likely the crown)
Overlord
The king, the boy Frederick, under the pope's wardship and the regency council at Palermo
How things stand that morning
Regency ground (realm sicily): no German captain, siege or raid is recorded here in the winter of 1199-1200 in the sources checked.
Wealth
Grain, wool and the Bradano pastures.
Military
No figures.
Threats
- Walter of Brienne's claim to Taranto across the Bradano (1201)
Charter
No town charter is known; the town lives by the king's law and the customs confirmed by the Norman kings.
Council
No commune: the king's or lord's officers (bailiff, judges) govern with the leading men; no council is recorded for 1200.
Communities
Latin townsmen; Benedictine and Greek monks in the rock churches; a Jewish community not pinned for 1200.
Militia
Townsmen owe guard and service to the lord and the crown; no figures.
Walls and castle
The Civita is walled on one side and guarded by the Gravina ravine on the other; the cathedral on the Civita is thirteenth-century work, not yet built.
Trade and crafts
Grain and pasture of the Bradano plain; sheep and wool; cave workshops and cisterns.
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.
- 1203 (not 1200)Innocent III raises Matera's church to a cathedral joined equally with Acerenza.Depends on: The pope's will and the see of Acerenza filled. Stopped by: Acerenza's resistance.
Places of note
- Matera: Town
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The Norman county and the 1203 union are fair; the lord in 1200 is not pinned.
On the map: Near land only.
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.