Viceroy, Condottiere, Traitor: The Rise and Fall of Tommaso da San Severino
TOMMASO DA SAN SEVERINO Count of Tricarico, of Montescaglioso, of Marsico and of Ariano Irpino. Lord of Tursi and of Marsicovetere.
Death: 1406
| Year, Month | State, Comp. Ventura | Opponent | Command | Area of Activity | Actions Undertaken and Other Salient Facts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1375 | Naples | The Florentines ask Queen Joanna I of Naples (Giovanna d’Angiò) to be allowed to employ him in their service. | |||
| 1378 | |||||
| …………. | Church | Pope Urban VI appoints him rector of Campagna and Marittima in place of Onorato Gaetani. | |||
| May | He is contacted by the Perugians to act as peacemaker between the commune and the Papal State. | ||||
| July | Church | Antipope | Lazio | He holds the office of senator in Rome for the second semester. Cardinals hostile to the pope call upon the Company of Bretons for aid; the company advances with raids to the very gates of Rome. Tommaso da San Severino takes the field against the adversaries; he leaves the city at the head of 5,000 armed men and engages the enemy at Ponte Salario (500 dead among the Romans, including Lorenzo di Sanguigni). | |
| 1381 | |||||
| …………. | Naples | Durazzo | Campania | He sides with Queen Joanna I of Naples (Giovanna d’Angiò) against the claimant to the Kingdom of Naples, Charles of Durazzo (Carlo di Durazzo). | |
| Nov. | Campania | At the end of the conflict he attends the coronation of Charles of Durazzo in Naples. | |||
| 1382 | |||||
| May | Naples | In the pay of Charles of Durazzo. | |||
| Oct. | Anjou | Naples | Campania | He changes sides. He fights the Durazzeschi in favour of the new claimant to the Kingdom of Naples, Louis I of Anjou (Luigi I d’Angiò). At Maddaloni. | |
| 1384 | |||||
| Autumn | He is entrusted by Louis I of Anjou with command of the Italian militias. Upon the death of the latter at Bisceglie, he is named by the Duke of Anjou in his testamentary dispositions as a member of a regency council of 13 individuals, which also includes Rinaldo Orsini and Raimondo Orsini del Balzo. | ||||
| Dec. | Apulia | He is provided a safe-conduct by Charles of Durazzo. The following month he meets the king in Apulia. | |||
| 1385 | |||||
| Aug. | Church | Naples | Campania | Following the war that broke out between Charles of Durazzo and the pope, he places himself at the head of 3,000 horsemen; together with Raimondo Orsini del Balzo he frees Urban VI, who is under siege in Nocera. He defeats the abbot of Montecassino Pietro Tartaro and forces him to flee to Castellammare di Stabia. He brings the pope to safety at San Severino and Giffoni; he first hosts him at Campagna in the castle of Girone and then at Buccino in the fortress of the counts of Alemagna. The final stop is the mouth of the Sele, where Urban VI is able to embark on some Genoese galleys. San Severino continues instead with his men, mostly Bretons and Gascons, towards Basilicata. | |
| 1386 | |||||
| Aug. | Anjou, Antipope | Naples, Church | Campania and Apulia | At Giugliano in Campania with Ugo da San Severino, Bernabò da San Severino and Angelino d’Austria at the head of 4,600 horsemen and 700 foot soldiers; he plunders the territory for several days up to the gates of Naples. At the end of the month he breaks camp and moves to Apulia. | |
| 1387 | |||||
| …………. | Apulia | He appoints himself viceroy of Naples; he convenes a parliament at Ascoli Satriano attended by all the barons of the Angevin faction; together with Otto of Brunswick he is elected among the deputies of the Buono Stato del Regno. | |||
| June | Campania | He assembles at Montefusco 4,000 horsemen and 2,000 foot soldiers and attempts to seize Aversa. After the attempt fails, he moves on Villa. | |||
| July | Campania | He encamps at Dogliuolo (Poggioreale); together with Otto of Brunswick (Ottone di Brunswick) he urges the Eight Lords of the Buono Stato to surrender Naples to Louis of Anjou (Luigi d’Angiò). Raimondo Orsini del Balzo arrives to reinforce the adversaries. Tommaso da San Severino moves his camp to the Porta delle Corregge and enters Naples. The rival is defeated. | |||
| Aug. | Campania | Together with Otto of Brunswick he prevents three Durazzesque galleys from landing; at the head of his French, Breton, Gascon and German militias he occupies Giugliano in Campania: numerous livestock are seized and many houses set on fire. He puts the adversaries to flight. Queen Margaret (Margherita) and her son Ladislaus of Anjou (Ladislao d’Angiò) are forced to take refuge in Gaeta. Tommaso da San Severino has the act of homage sworn on behalf of the King of Provence Louis II of Anjou (Luigi II d’Angiò) in the church of Santa Chiara in Naples; he dispatches his own ambassadors to Avignon to both the same Anjou and the antipope Clement VII to request reinforcements. Raimondo Orsini del Balzo, for his part, cuts supply flows to the capital with a fierce blockade. For fear of uprisings, Tommaso da San Severino and Otto of Brunswick exile many nobles and imprison others. | |||
| Sept. | Campania | He is excommunicated at Lucca by Pope Urban VI. A crusade is preached against him. | |||
| Oct. | Campania | He obtains Castel Capuano for 13,000 ducats from the castellan Ugolino dalle Grotte, who undertakes to hand it over only upon receipt of the agreed sum. 30,000 ducats sent by the antipope arrive from Provence. To win the favour of Otto of Brunswick (Ottone di Brunswick), he pays his men first and hands him the baton of captain general. The Angevin fleet with Louis de Montjoie (Luigi di Montjoie) lands at Naples. | |||
| Nov. | Campania | He repeatedly clashes with Alberico da Barbiano near Aversa. He enters Torre del Greco and also takes possession of the castle in exchange for 4,000 florins for the pay of the armed men garrisoning it. They are embarked for Capri. He sacks the fortress and shortly forces Barbiano to abandon the territory. | |||
| Dec. | Campania | Together with Otto of Brunswick he obtains the surrender of the castles of Nocera and Castellammare di Stabia. He soon falls out with the newcomers from Provence; Louis de Montjoie is appointed viceroy in his place; Tommaso da San Severino, offended, withdraws to his lands. | |||
| 1388 | |||||
| Jan. | Calabria | ||||
| July | Campania | He returns to fight against the followers of Ladislaus of Anjou (Ladislao d’Angiò). He repels at Ponte Guizzardo an attack by Giacomo Stendardo and the Count of Alife with 500 horsemen. | |||
| 1390 | |||||
| Nov. | Campania | At the end of the conflict he goes to Naples to swear an oath of loyalty to Louis of Anjou (Luigi d’Angiò). | |||
| Dec. | He is appointed grand chamberlain of the Kingdom of Sicily. | ||||
| 1391 | |||||
| Jan. | Anjou | Naples | Campania | He reaches the island of Ischia with 5 galleys, one large ship, one galeot and many brigantines. | |
| Feb. | Campania | He besieges Castel Nuovo in Naples; he prevents the fortress from receiving relief by sea. | |||
| Feb. | Campania | At Naples. He besieges the adversaries in Castel Nuovo. He prevents the fortress from receiving relief by sea. | |||
| 1392 | |||||
| Apr. | Basilicata, Apulia and France | He is informed that the Durazzeschi, under the command of Cecco dal Borgo, Alberico da Barbiano and Otto of Brunswick (Ottone di Brunswick) — the latter having crossed to the opposing camp — have joined forces in Capitanata. He assembles 5,000 foot soldiers and 2,000 horsemen on the Bradano and, with a march of seventy miles covered in one day and one night, surprises the adversaries at dawn at Ascoli Satriano before they have time to arm themselves. Barbiano and Brunswick are captured. He goes on mission to Avignon. | |||
| May | Campania | In defence of Castellammare di Stabia. He captures Antonio da Sant’Angelo in an engagement. | |||
| Dec. | France and Campania | He returns to Campania from France. | |||
| 1394 | |||||
| Jan. | Campania | He enters Acerra by surprise; after a few days Paolello Scalula di Aversa takes up the defence of the castle. Tommaso da San Severino is forced to leave the city and returns to Naples via Mercato San Severino with his father Vincenzo, Duke of Venosa, and his brothers Bernabò and Ottaviano. | |||
| …………. | Grand Constable | Campania | He is in Naples with 2,400 horsemen and more than 4,000 foot soldiers. With the failure of peace negotiations between Louis II of Anjou (Luigi II d’Angiò) and King Ladislaus of Anjou (Ladislao d’Angiò), he attacks the enemy on the Campanian plain and ravages the territory fiercely. The adversaries catch his troops in disorder; only the intervention of the heavy cavalry prevents his defeat. | ||
| Autumn | Campania, Basilicata | He is besieged in Naples until late autumn; at the end of a truce, the French horsemen are distributed among Giugliano in Campania, Melito di Napoli and Caivano in order to impede sowing in the fields. Finally, due to lack of provisions for his troops, San Severino is forced to withdraw to his fiefdoms in Basilicata. | |||
| 1395 | |||||
| Spring | Anjou | Naples | Campania | He meets at Naples with Bernabò da San Severino, who has returned from Provence. He grasps the precariousness of the situation; he therefore draws Giacomo di Marzano, Duke of Sessa, away from his Durazzesque loyalty. On behalf of Louis of Anjou (Luigi d’Angiò), he arranges for Maria, daughter of Louis de Montjoie (Luigi di Montjoie), to be requested in marriage. | |
| 1398 | |||||
| …………. | Campania, Basilicata | He moves to the relief of Naples, besieged by the Durazzeschi; he persuades Louis of Anjou to seek the help of Raimondo Orsini del Balzo; he escorts the Provençal king via San Severino and Salerno as far as Melfi. | |||
| …………. | With the departure of the King of Provence from Italy, he draws closer to Ladislaus of Anjou (Ladislao d’Angiò): he sends his son to render him an act of homage and makes him a gift of 6 warhorses. | ||||
| 1400 | |||||
| Feb. | He obtains a pardon from the king. In exchange for the castellany and captaincy of Tursi in Basilicata, he is granted an annual income of 100 ounces in silver carlins. | ||||
| Spring | Campania | At Naples with Bernabò da San Severino. Together they decide to hand the city over to Ladislaus of Anjou. | |||
| July | Campania and Calabria | He takes leave of the court and withdraws to his fiefdoms in Calabria. | |||
| …………. | Apulia | Ladislaus of Anjou employs him as peacemaker in the conflict opposing Raimondo Orsini del Balzo and Bernabò da San Severino in the Taranto area. | |||
| 1403 | Naples | Empire | Bosnia and Croatia | He is sent to Bosnia to aid the barons rebelling against Sigismund of Hungary (Sigismondo d’Ungheria). He clashes with Filippo Scolari and is forced to withdraw to Zara. | |
| 1406 | He is imprisoned by Ladislaus of Anjou along with his son Venceslao (Count of Tricarico and Duke of Amalfi) and other relatives, including Count of Provence Ugo, Count of Mileto and Belcastro Luigi, Count of Terranova Arrigo, the son of the Count of Lauro Gaspare, and Ruggero da San Severino. San Severino is strangled in Castel Nuovo. The King of Naples denies burial to all; their corpses are thrown to the dogs behind the ruins of San Pietro Vecchio in the moat of the citadel of Castel Nuovo. |
Sources
-“Era il più valente huomo di tutto il reame di Puglia ed il più savio d’arme.” AMMIRATO
-“Ch’era superiore a tutti di esperienza e di riputazione.” DI COSTANZO
-Ruolo della casata San Severino nel regno di Napoli nel XIV secolo “la casata dei San Severino è una delle più illustri e antiche famiglie aristocratiche italiane ed una delle sette grandi casate del Regno di Napoli, con un ramo della famiglia che ottenne feudi a parrtire del XV secolo nella Val Padana. Nel complesso la famiglia arrivò a dominare su più di 300 feudi, 40 contee, 9 marchesati, 12 ducati e 10 princikpi, distribuiti soprattutto in Basilicata, Calabria, Campania e Puglia.” WIKIPEDIA Il ramo del Nord Italia è, a sua volta, titolare di feudi in Piemonte, Lombardia, Emilia, Veneto e Canton Ticino.
Featured image: wikimedia
