Docibilis II of Gaeta
Docibilis II (
hypatus John I
, who made him co-ruler in 906 or thereabouts.
Docibilis took part in the
hypatus. This was meant to signify a new status or rank, though the Byzantine Empire, to which he was always legally a vassal, always recognised him merely as archon (ἄρχων). His father died in 933 or 934, and he subsequently became sole ruler. At that juncture, he began asserting his independence from the Byzantines. He abandoned the imperial dating by which charters were dated by the year of the emperor's reign and allied with Theobald I of Spoleto
against the Greeks.
Likewise, his wife Orania took the title of duchess, ducissa, alongside hypatissa, and he associated his son,
Marinus, with the title of dux, effectively splitting the duchy of Gaeta in two parts. His other son Leo received the Church of San Erasmo at Formia
from John II and Docibilis left many daughters besides Maria: Anna, Gemma, Drosu, and Megalu.
He died after 954 and before 957. In his last will (954) his palace in Gaeta, now in ruins, was described as having "rooms, corridors, baths, aviaries, kitchens and courtyards down to the sea."
Sources
- Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani XL Di Fausto – Donadoni. Rome, 1991.
