View source for Siege of Salerno (871–872)

{{Short description|Aghlabid campaign in Sicily}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict    = Siege of Salerno
| image       = Tancredi Scarpelli - Landemaro during the siege of Salerno.jpg
| caption     = Landemarius destroying the siege machine, from a 20th-century illustrated history of Italy. The machine depicted, however, is not a traction trebuchet.
| partof      = the [[history of Islam in southern Italy]]
| date        = 871/2–872/3
| place       = [[Salerno]]
| result      = Franco-Lombard victory
| territory   =
| combatant2  = [[Francia|Frankish Empire]]<br/>[[Principality of Salerno]]<br/>[[Principality of Benevento]]<br/>[[Principality of Capua|County of Capua]]<br/>[[Duchy of Naples]]
| combatant1  = [[Aghlabids|Aghlabid Emirate]]
| commander2  = Prince [[Guaifer of Salerno]]<br/>Emperor [[Louis II of Italy|Louis II]]<br/>Count Cuntart †
| commander1  = ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yaʿqūb †<br/>ʿAbd al-Malik
| strength1   =
| strength2   =
| casualties1 =
| casualties2 =
| notes       =
| campaignbox =
}}
The '''siege of Salerno''' was one of the campaigns of the [[Aghlabids]] in southern Italy during their [[Muslim conquest of Sicily|conquest of Sicily]]. The [[Lombards|Lombard]] city of [[Salerno]] had strong defences and, despite the use of [[Siege engines|stone-throwing artillery]], the siege lasted a little over a year from its beginning in late 871 or early 872. Prince [[Guaifer of Salerno]] led the defence, but the siege was only lifted by the arrival of an army of Lombards and [[Franks]] under the Emperor [[Louis II of Italy|Louis II]].
==Background==
Louis II, [[King of the Lombards]] and [[Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor of the Romans]], fought [[Louis II's campaign against Bari (866–871)|a five-year campaign]] against the [[Emirate of Bari]], which fell in February 871. In August, Louis was betrayed and imprisoned by Prince [[Adelchis of Benevento]]. He was freed a month later on the condition that he not return.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=40–47}} He was in northern Italy when the Aghlabid army invaded southern Italy a few months later.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}} On 17 May 872, in Rome, he obtained from Pope [[Pope Adrian II|Adrian II]] the nullification of his oath to Adelchis. He then placed the prince under the [[ban of the Empire]].{{sfn|Gay|1904|pp=103–104}}
The conquest of [[Calabria]] and assault on Salerno, the most important city in [[Campania]], was the Aghlabid response to the fall of Bari. The Aghlabid emir [[Muhammad II of Ifriqiya|Muḥammad II]] appointed one ʿAbd Allāh as ''[[wālī]]'' (governor) of ''al-Arḍ al-Kabīra'' (the Big Land, i.e., the [[Italian peninsula]]). At the same time, ʿAbd Allāh's brother Ribbāh was appointed ''wālī'' of Sicily, since the previous ''wālī'', Muḥammad ibn Khafāja, had died early in 871.{{sfn|Musca|1964|pp=128–129}}{{sfn|Metcalfe|2009|p=21}} Abd Allāh and Ribbāh were the sons of Yaʿqūb ibn [[Banu Fazara|Fazāra]] and relatives of al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Faḍl,<ref>{{harvnb|Amari|1854|pp=353 and 385}}, citing [[al-Nuwayrī]] and Ibn ʿIdhārī.</ref> who was the governor of Sicily from 851 to 861, known for encouraging settlement in Calabria and [[Apulia]].{{sfn|Bondioli|2018|p=484}}
==Sources==
The main [[Latin]] sources are the contemporary historians [[Erchempert]]{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|p=176 nn1–6}} and [[Andreas of Bergamo]]{{sfn|Amari|1854|p=385}} and the ''[[Chronicon Salernitanum]]'',{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|p=176 nn1–6}} written about 980.{{sfn|Chevedden|1998|p=195}} The ''Vita et translatio sancti Athanasii neapolitani episcopi'', a biography of the bishop of Naples, is a source for the embassy that preceded the attack.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|p=176 n2}}
Among [[Arabic]] accounts, the ''Bayān'' of [[Ibn ʿIdhārī]] writes suggestively of ʿAbd Allāh's victories, but does not describe the end of the campaign. The ''[[Tarʾīkh Jazīrat Ṣiqilliya]]'', on the other hand, describes the Arabs' defeat, putting it in the [[Anno Mundi|Byzantine year]] 6380, corresponding to 871–872.{{sfn|Amari1854||p=388}}
The Greek ''[[De administrando imperio]]'' gives a wholly "mythical" and "apocryphal" account of the siege of Salerno.<ref name=Dvornik/>
==Advanced warning and preparations==
The Salernitans had advanced knowledge of the attack, which allowed them to make preparations and gather allies. According to the account in the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'', forewarning of the attack came from an [[Amalfi]]tan merchant, who had been entrusted with the message while staying [[Ifrīqiya]] by an [[Arab]] who had been the recipient of Prince Guaifer's generosity. On a previous visit to Salerno, this Arab had complimented the prince on his cap while the latter was passing through the forum on his way to the palace from the public baths, whereupon the prince gave the Arab his cap. If any credence can be given to this story, Guaifer's exchange with the Arab must have taken place in the spring of 871, shortly after fall of Bari.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}}
In preparation for the siege, the city's defences were strengthened and the garrison reinforced. Troops came from the Lombard principalities of [[Principality of Benevento|Benevento]] and [[Principality of Capua|Capua]]. Guaifer dispatched an embassy to northern Italy to ask the Emperor Louis II for aid. The importance attached to this embassy can be gauged from the prestige of the envoys: Guaifer's son and heir, the future Prince [[Guaimar I of Salerno|Guaimar I]]; Bishop [[Landulf II of Capua]]; Bishop [[Athanasius II of Naples]]; and representatives from Pope [[Pope Adrian II|Adrian II]]. This embassy took place between September and November 871. Louis initially rejected its entreaties and even imprisoned Guaimar for a time.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}} Even Adelchis may have sought help from Louis—if the theory linking the composition of the poem ''[[Rythmus de captivitate Ludovici imperatoris|De captivitate Ludovici imperatoris]]'' with the siege of Salerno is correct.{{sfn|Granier|2007}}
==Campaign==
The Aghlabid force under ʿAbd Allāh crossed from Ifrīqiya, landed in Calabria and marched overland to Salerno, according to the ''Chronicon Salernitanum''.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}}<ref name=Dvornik>Dvornik, p. 102, in {{harvnb|Dvornik|Jenkins|Lewis|Moravscik|Obolensky|Runciman|2012}}.</ref> Andreas of Bergamo, on the other hand, has them landing at Taranto.{{sfn|Amari|1854|p=385}} The ''Chronicon Salernitanum'' pegs the force at 72,000. Erchempert puts it at 30,000. Both numbers are exaggerations, but they do indicate that the Aghlabid army was considered very large. During its march north, it captured "many towns", in the words of Erchempert.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}} It forced the Frankish army that was besieging [[Taranto]], where the last remnants of the emirate of Bari were holding out, to abandon the siege.{{sfn|Musca|1964|pp=128–129}}
In late fall or early winter, possibly as late as early 872,<ref>{{harvnb|Kreutz|1996|p=176 n4}}; Dvornik, p. 102, in {{harvnb|Dvornik|Jenkins|Lewis|Moravscik|Obolensky|Runciman|2012}}, puts the start of the siege in September 871 and its end in the summer of 872. {{harvnb|Granier|2007}} adopts the same timeline, arguing that Adelchis may have agreed to Louis's release by the arrival of the Aghlabid army. He puts the relief of the siege in August 872. {{harvnb|Metcalfe|2009|p=21}}, calls it "a twelve-month siege [that] began late in the same year [871]".</ref> it laid siege to Salerno, which was too well defended to be taken by force. The countryside was ravaged to prevent food supplies from reaching the capital; its inhabitants either captured or slaughtered.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}} The countryside of Benevento and Capua, defended by Adelchis, was not spared.{{sfn|Musca|1964|pp=128–129}}
Deploying [[siege engines]], the Aghlabids maintained a tight investment. In one of the earliest appearances of the word, the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'' calls these engines ''[[petraria]]''. They were probably the [[traction trebuchet]]s with which both sides would have been familiar. One particularly large one was used to slowly reduce a tower along the wall.{{sfn|Chevedden|1998|p=195}}{{sfn|Purton|2009|p=100}} According to the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'', a certain Landemarius went over the walls and single-handedly destroyed it with an axe, killing many enemies in the process.<ref>{{harvnb|Amari|1854|p=386}}; {{harvnb|Berto|2014|pp=19–20}}, however, distinguishes Landemarius, who helped defeat the son of a Saracen named Elim, from the Salernitan who destroyed the siege engine.</ref> In January 872, ʿAbd Allāh died and was replaced as commander by ʿAbd al-Malik.<ref>{{harvnb|Musca|1964|pp=128–129}}; per {{harvnb|Amari|1854|p=353}}, his death occurred between 17 December 871 and 15 January 872. His brother Ribbāh had already died between 17 November and 16 December.</ref>
On several occasions, the starving Salernitans considered surrendering.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}} They were eventually reduced to eating cats and mice.{{sfn|Berto|2014|pp=19–20}} After several months, Amalfi smuggled supplies to the defenders. According to the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'', this move was much debated in Amalfi, because "from the first it had made peace with the [[Hagarenes]]".{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}} After over a year of pleas and entreaties, Louis II, then at Rome, sent a [[Franks|Frankish]] army reinforced by Lombard contingents to relieve the siege.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}}{{sfn|Gay|1904|pp=105–106}} The Frankish force defeated an Aghlabid force near [[Capua]] on the banks of the [[Volturno]], while a Lombard force defeated a separate detachment at [[Suessula]].{{sfn|Gay|1904|pp=105–106}} According to Andreas of Bergamo, there were 20,000 [[Saracens]] at Capua.{{sfn|Amari|1854|p=385}} The Frankish commander, Louis's nephew Cuntart, was killed in action.{{sfn|Amari1854||p=387}} Following this, Louis II himself came south.{{sfn|Gay|1904|pp=105–106}} At his approach, the Aghlabids abandoned the siege. According to the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'', in the final week of the siege the Frankish army had marched using branches as camouflage and the besiegers had exclaimed "it is like a mountain comes against us".{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}}
==Legacy==
Following their defeat, the main part of the Aghlabid army sailed directly to Sicily before returning to Ifrīqiya. Some bands, however, retreated to Calabria and others remained behind in Campania.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|pp=55–56}}{{sfn|Gay|1904|pp=105–106}} The siege of Salerno "represented the high point of Aghlabid involvement on the mainland".{{sfn|Bondioli|2018|p=488}} Following his victory, Louis II remained at Capua for a year trying to restore his authority in the south of Italy.{{sfn|Gay|1904|pp=105–106}}
Unlike the campaign against Bari, the defence of Salerno saw no [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] involvement.<ref name=Dvornik/> Shortly after the lifting of the siege, a Byzantine fleet captured [[Otranto]] from the Arabs of the former emirate of Bari.{{sfn|Kreutz|1996|p=57}} Still at odds with Louis, Adelchis took the opportunity to put himself under Byzantine protection in exchange for the payment of tribute.{{sfn|Gay|1904|pp=105–106}}
In the view of the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'', the Aghlabids were God's avenging agents, sent to punish the Lombards for their betrayal of Louis II. Only after the Lombards had proved themselves faithful Christians and paid the penance of a siege, did God spare them. The chronicler compares the Salernitans to the [[ancient Israel]]ites.{{sfn|Berto|2014|pp=19–20}}
There are coins minted at Salerno with the month dates <small>MENSE OCTUBR</small> and <small>MENSE AUGUSTU</small> that were once associated with the siege of 871–872. Month dates are common on [[obsidional coin]]s, but the style of the coins better fits the 11th century. They probably belong to the [[Siege of Salerno (1076)|siege of 1076]].{{sfn|Grierson|1956|p=54}}
The account of the siege of Salerno in the ''Chronicon Salernitanum'' may be the historical source for an episode in ''[[Li coronemenz Looïs]]'', a 12th-century [[Old French]] ''[[chanson de geste]]''. In the ''chanson'', [[Guillaume d'Orange]] saves Rome from a Saracen siege by defeating a Saracen in single combat. The ''Chronicon Salernitanum'' reports two incidents of single combat during the siege.{{sfn|Jeanroy|1896|pp=358–359}}
==References==
{{reflist|20em}}
==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book |first=Michele |last=Amari |author-link=Michele Amari |title=Storia dei Musulmani di Sicilia |volume=1 |publisher=Felice Le Monnier |url=https://archive.org/details/storiadeimusulm01amargoog/mode/2up |year=1854}}
*{{cite journal |last=Berto |first=Luigi Andrea |title=The Muslims as Others in the Chronicles of Early Medieval Southern Lombardy |journal=Viator |volume=45 |issue=3 |year=2014 |pages=1–24 |doi=10.1484/J.VIATOR.5.102918}}
*{{cite book |first=Lorenzo M. |last=Bondioli |chapter=Islamic Bari between the Aghlabids and the Two Empires|pages=470–490 |title=The Aghlabids and Their Neighbors: Art and Material Culture in Ninth-Century North Africa |editor1=Glaire D. Anderson |editor2=Corisande Fenwick |editor3=Mariam Rosser-Owen |publisher=Brill |year=2018}}
*{{cite book |first=Paul |last=Chevedden |chapter=The Hybrid Trebuchet: The Halfway Step to the Counterweight Trebuchet |title=On the Social Origins of Medieval Institutions: Essays in Honor of Joseph O'Callaghan |editor1=Donald J. Kagay |editor2=Theresa M. Vann |publisher=Brill |year=1998 |pages=179–222}}
*{{cite book |first1=F. |last1=Dvornik |author-link1=Francis Dvornik |first3=B. |last3=Lewis |author-link3=Bernard Lewis |first5=D. |last5=Obolensky |author-link5=Dimitri Obolensky |first6=S. |last6=Runciman |author-link6=Steven Runciman |last4=Moravscik |first4=G. |author-link4=Gyula Moravcsik |author-link2=Romilly Jenkins |last2= Jenkins |first2=R. J. H. |title=Constantine Porphyrogenitus, De Administrando Imperio: A Commentary |publisher=Dumbarton Oaks |year=2012 |orig-year=1967}}
*{{cite book |first=Jules |last=Gay |title=L'Italie méridionale et l'empire byzantin depuis l'avènement de Basile I<sup>er</sup> jusqu'à la prise de Bari par les Normands (867–1071) |publisher=Albert Fontemoing |year=1904 |url=https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k859914z/f11.item.texteImage}}
*{{cite book |first=Thomas |last=Granier |chapter=La captivité de l'empereur Louis II à Bénévent (13 août–17 septembre 871) dans les sources des IX<sup>e</sup>–X<sup>e</sup> siècles: l'écriture de l'histoire, de la fausse nouvelle au récit exemplaire |title=Faire l'événement au Moyen Âge |publisher=Presses universitaires de Provence |year=2007 |pages=13–39 |chapter-url=http://books.openedition.org/pup/5703 |doi=10.4000/books.pup.5703|isbn=9782853996723 }}
*{{cite journal |last=Grierson |first=Philip |authorlink=Philip Grierson |title=The Salernitan Coinage of Gisulf II (1052-77) and Robert Guiscard (1077–85) |journal=Papers of the British School at Rome |volume=24 |year=1956 |pages=37–59 |doi=10.1017/S0068246200006784|s2cid=163044784 }}
*{{cite journal |authorlink=Alfred Jeanroy |first=Alfred |last=Jeanroy |title=Études sur le cycle de Guillaume au court nez: Le couronnement de Louis |journal=Romania  |year=1896 |issue=99 |volume=25 |pages=353–380 |doi=10.3406/roma.1896.5456 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/roma_0035-8029_1896_num_25_99_5456}}
*{{cite book |first=Barbara |last=Kreutz |title=Before the Normans: Southern Italy in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=1996}}
*{{cite book |last=Metcalfe |first=Alex |title=The Muslims of Medieval Italy |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |year=2009}}
*{{cite book |first=Giosuè |last=Musca |title=L'emirato di Bari, 847–871 |publisher=Edizioni Dedalo |year=1964}}
*{{cite book |first=Peter Fraser |last=Purton |title=A History of the Early Medieval Siege, c. 450–1220 |publisher=Boydell Press |year=2009}}
{{refend}}
{{coord missing|Italy}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Siege of Salerno (871-872)}}
[[Category:Military history of Salerno]]
[[Category:Sieges involving the Carolingian Empire]]
[[Category:870s conflicts]]
[[Category:9th century in Italy]]
[[Category:Islam in Italy]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Aghlabids|Salerno]]
[[Category:Military history of Campania]]