Salerno, the old capital of the Lombard princes and of Robert Guiscard, the city of the medical school and the cathedral of St Matthew, paid dearly for its loyalty to Tancred.
In 1191 its Tancredine party seized Empress Constance and sent her to Sicily as a prisoner; in August 1194 Henry VI stormed it, razed its walls and gave it to Diepold. Since then it has been Diepold's chief city on the coast. On 1 January 1200 the city favours him and his men hold its castle, while its archbishop's family are the Staufen's oldest enemies.
Who holds it
- Name
- Diepold, count of Acerra; Archbishop Nicola d'Aiello
- Title
- City under Diepold since 1194; archbishopric
- Since
- Diepold since 24 August 1194; Nicola archbishop since 1181-1182
- Confidence
- medium
Federiciana on Salerno; Richard of San Germano; DBI on Diepold; it.wikipedia on Nicola d'Aiello.
Lord in 1200
Diepold. Henry VI stormed and sacked Salerno on 17 August 1194, razed its walls, exiled survivors and confiscated their goods, and on 24 August left the city under Diepold (Federiciana). In the autumn of 1199 the city was 'favouring Diepold' when Markward sailed from it for Sicily (Richard of San Germano); Diepold's men hold its castle (see Salerno castle). The archbishop, Nicola d'Aiello, son of Tancred's chancellor Matthew, was arrested at Palermo four days after Henry VI's coronation (25 December 1194) and taken to Germany, where he stayed several years despite Innocent III's pleas; the campaign notes say he has since been freed. Whether he is in Salerno that winter is not pinned.
Overlord
By right the king; in fact Diepold.
Allies and rivals
Diepold's party. Rivals: the archbishop's family; the abbey of Cava up the valley; the regency.
How things stand that morning
Held for Diepold; the city favours him.
Wealth
The port, the market, the school; the estates of the plain.
Military
The castle and Diepold's garrison; the walls are still broken from 1194.
Threats
- A papal or regency army by sea or by the Cava pass
- the city's anti-German party
Charter
The princely city's old customs; no new privilege is recorded after the sack of 1194.
Council
Not pinned; the city's nobles (the families whose hostages Henry VI took in 1191) and its judges.
Communities
A Jewish community (Benjamin of Tudela, about 1165); Amalfitan merchants.
Militia
The citizens; the townsmen who stormed the Terracena castle in 1191.
Walls and castle
Walls razed by Henry VI in 1194 and being rebuilt: the south-eastern circuit was moved east, and the new Porta Nuova is first recorded in 1202 (Federiciana). The hill castle above the city is held by Diepold's men; the Terracena palace-castle stands in the town.
Trade and crafts
The port and the coast trade; the medical school (Schola Medica Salernitana), famous across Europe; the plain of the Picentini.
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.
- 1204 (not 1200)Walter of Brienne besieges Diepold in Salerno; Diepold gives up the city and keeps the castle; he retakes and punishes the city in 1205 (Federiciana).Depends on: Walter's war. Stopped by: A settlement.
Places of note
- Castle of Salerno: Hill castle held by Diepold's men [coordinates approximate]
Where the sources disagree
- The Federiciana's entry on Salerno, as read, says Markward sacked Salerno in 1199; Richard of San Germano says only that Markward went to Salerno, which favoured Diepold, and sailed from there for Sicily. The account here follows Richard.
Evidence: The 1194 grant and the 1199 stance are documented; the city's government in 1200 is not.
On the map: The city and its near land; Cava (the abbey's valley) and the Sanseverino's Rota valley are left out.
Primary sources for Diepold's Germans
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 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
- Book in honour of the Emperor, or On Sicilian affairs, Peter of Eboli (1195 to 1197). An illustrated verse account of Henry VI's conquest of Sicily, preserved in a single manuscript made at the imperial court. Read online
Sources and studies
- Salerno (Treccani, Enciclopedia Federiciana)
- Richard of San Germano, Chronicle, trans. G.A. Loud (University of Leeds, PDF; covers to 1199)
- Dipoldo di Schweinspeunt (Treccani, Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani)
- Nicola d'Aiello (it.wikipedia)
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.