Grimoald, Prince of Bari

Grimoald Alferanites was the prince of Bari from 1121 to 1132.

After a civil war broke out in Bari, Risone, the archbishop of the city, was murdered (1117) and the

Pope Callistus II intervened to procure the release of Princess Constance in 1120, who recognised her captor in his later titles. During this conflict, Grimoald was elected ruler in 1121, in opposition to William II, Duke of Apulia, the proper legal suzerain of Bari. He first used the title dominus or dominator, as in barensium dominator in October 1121. In June 1123, a Byzantine

-inspired blue diploma with gold script calls him Grimoaldus Alferanites gratia Dei et beati Nikolai barensis princeps.

In May 1122, he entered into an alliance with the Republic of Venice. In October 1127, he was drawn to the side of Roger II of Sicily in his claim to the Apulian succession. However, in 1129, Grimoald and several other notable barons in Apulia flew into revolt after the papal approval of Roger's title by Pope Honorius II. With a fleet of sixty ships, George of Antioch blockaded the Bariot harbour and besieged Grimoald for months from Spring to August, when the prince finally gave in. Nevertheless, Grimoald was granted a full pardon from Roger and confirmed in his own chosen princely title. When, the next year (1130), Roger sought the royal title, receiving an honour higher than that of prince (as the rulers of Capua and Bari held) was one of his many motives.

Joined with

Crusade. Grimoald was replaced by Roger's own son, Tancred

.

According to

Giovanni di Matera from prison and then demanded that the holy man give an account of his theology to prove its orthodoxy was Grimoald. He was known to have tight control over his own churches and was a great patron of the Church of Saint Nicholas

which housed the relics of Saint Nicholas, whom he championed as a Bariot patron saint, as seen in his official title.

Preceded by none	Prince of Bari 1121–1132	Succeeded by Tancred

Sources

Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longman: London, 1967.
Norwich, John Julius. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: London, 1970.
Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Rome, 2003.