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Birth:          ABT  800 
Death:           864 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergius_I_of_Naples
Sergius I (died 864) was the first duke of Naples of his dynasty, often dubbed the 
"Sergi," which ruled over Naples for almost three centuries from his accession in 840 
until the death of his namesake Sergius VII in 1137.

Sergius was originally the dux of Cumae, a Neapolitan dependency. In 840, with the 
Franks trying to take the city, the people elected Sergius as duke (or magister militum) 
of Naples. This was a move towards complete independence from the Byzantine 
Empire, which was incapable of defending the Ducatus Neapolitanus from the 
Lombards. Sergius continued the beneficial alliance the Neapolitans had made with 
the Saracens of Palermo earlier. He aided them in taking Bari from the Byzantines in 
841 and Messina in 842. By turning away from the Byzantines and towards the papacy 
and the Franks, he opened the way for the expulsion of the Moslems from the 
Campania.

The Saracens soon became too dangerous to keep as friends and Naples was forced 
to ally with Amalfi, Gaeta, and Sorrento, its practically independent underlings, and 
make war on the Moslems. The Christians forced them out of Ponza and defended 
Rome in 846, though the Vatican was sacked. In 849, Sergius led his fleet alongside 
that of Gaeta and the Vatican in the successful Battle of Ostia.

Sergius allied himself, furthermore, with the Emperors Lothair I and Louis II. In 847, 
Sergius was charged, along with Guy I of Spoleto, with establishing peace between 
the Lombard princes Siconulf of Salerno and Radelchis I of Benevento. In 850, 
Sergius attempted (successfully) to make the duchy hereditary when he appointed his 
eldest son, Gregory, as co-duke. He began to mint his own coins with his own effigy 
on them.

In 859, Sergius made war with Capua. He married his daughter to Landulf, gastald of 
Suessola, son of Lando I of Capua. With the gastald, he sent his sons Gregory and 
Caesar to sack New Capua. They failed. Sergius' other sons, Athanasius and Stephen, 
also played an important role in Neapolitan politics. The former became bishop of 
Naples, an imperial familiaris, and a papal legate and intimate of the Roman curia. 
Stephen held the bishopric of Sorrento. Before dying, Sergius bade Gregory to follow 
the counsel of his brother the bishop. Gregory did succeed on Sergius' death and the 
hereditary, independent dukedom was born.

Parents
____ Marinus (Marino) (ABT  775 - )
____ Eupraxia (Euprassia) (ABT  775 - )

Siblings
____ Sergius (Sergio) I (ABT  800 -  864)

Marriage To ____ Drusa (ABT  800 - )
    m.  

Notes


Children by ____ Drusa ABT  800 - 
____ Gregory III (ABT  830 - Mar  870)

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