Richard II of Capua

Medieval Italy had many different and complex forms of political structures. These structures could be attributed to its location and diversity, ethnic and religious. Notably, Southern Italy has been said by some historians that its location and involvement in politics reached so far that it could even been considered as part of the Mediterranean.^[1] Whilst, Southern Italy can be understood as a part of greater Medieval Europe, due to the scale of its involvement and influence, it is worth acknowledging it as a part of the Mediterranean.

Originally under Byzantine control, Italy was split into multiple areas, all with different forms of rule. Capua, along with others, found itself as a Lombard principality that was largely considered independent from larger rule. So as the Normans entered Italy historians note that they the Normans worked for Lombard rulers and Byzantine governors as mercenaries.^[1] The more time the Normans spent in Italy and the more their influence grew, they would create centres in Aversa and Melfi for Norman Warriors.^[1] The impact of the Normans has also been observed by historians that it would influence cultural traditions and forms of rule in Southern Italy.

The eldest son and successor of Jordan I of Capua and Gaitelgrima, daughter of Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno, he was named after his grandfather, Richard I of Capua. Capua, although in the 11th century was in the midst of Norman conquest, intermarriage was not uncommon. Richard's grandmother, Fressenda d'Hauteville, daughter of Tancred of Hauteville and Fressenda, was Norman. She, along with other Norman women in the late 11th century went to Italy to get married. Also in Richard's Lineage was that of his great-uncle Roger I and Norman wife Judith.^[2] While digressing on this impressive lineage, the chronicler William of Apulia in his The Deeds of Robert Guiscard says that he "though now only a young man, already shows courage worthy of an adult."

He succeeded to his father's dominions at a very young age and immediately he and his family were thrown out of their city by the capricious Capuans. The counts of Aquino rose in rebellion and attacked Soria, defended by Richard's uncle, Jonathan, Count of Carinola.

Richard was an exile for the next seven years (during which a Lombard named Lando IV reigned) until, upon reaching his majority, he requested the aid of his great-uncle, the count of Sicily, Roger I, and his first cousin once removed, the duke of Apulia, Roger Borsa. The two Rogers came, the former in exchange for the city of Naples and the latter for Richard's recognition of Apulian suzerainty, in May 1098 and besieged Capua for forty days.

It was an interesting siege, for Pope Urban II, embroiled in a controversy with Count Roger, came down to discuss the legatine power in Sicily with him and Anselm of Aosta, the archbishop of Canterbury in self-exile from King William II of England, came to meet the pope. With the aid of Sicilian Saracens, the city fell and the prince was reinstated, Apulian suzerainty acknowledged, and the pope and the count withdrew to Salerno.

The final eight years of his reign were uneventful and he left no heir and was succeeded by his younger brother Robert when he died (in 1105 or, more probably, 1106). Though he had accepted doing homage to the Hauteville duke of Apulia, his successors did not and Capua returned to de facto independence under them. Richard's confessor was Bishop Bernard of Carinola.

• William of Apulia, The Deeds of Robert Guiscard Books One Archived 2009-09-14 at the Wayback Machine (pdf)
• Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.