ADELCHIS, Prince of Benevento. - He succeeded his brother Radelgais in 853, at a particularly turbulent moment. He was defeated several times by the Saracens who were then overrunning the whole of southern Italy and was forced to pay tribute and give hostages. He managed to retake the occupied territories during the campaign conducted against the Saracens by Louis II and brought to a glorious end in Feb. 871 with the capture of Bari. Afterwards, however, having realized the emperor's intention to take Benevento too under his direct dominion, with a bold insurrection he took Louis II prisoner and granted him his freedom only forty days later, on 17 Sept. 871, after making him swear not to take vengeance and never again to enter his principality with arms.
Once the emperor had definitively left southern Italy and war with the Saracens had flared up again, A. was defeated on the Ofanto and had to join the Arab-Campanian league, as many other Lombard princes and dukes had already done.
He fought again against the Byzantines, who had suddenly occupied Bari, and was killed by his own relatives in the spring of 878, while returning from the storming of a castle. To A. belongs the merit of having renewed the old Lombard legislation, adding to it certain capitularies for which he composed an introduction.
Bibliography5 worksReginone, Chronicon, in MGH, Script., I, Hannover 1826, pp. 583-85; Hincmar, Annalium Bertinianorum, ibid., pp. 492-493, 497; M. Schipa, Il
BIBL.: Reginone, Chronicon, in MGH, Script., I, Hannover 1826, pp. 583-85; Hincmar, Annalium Bertinianorum, ibid., pp. 492-493, 497; M. Schipa, Il mezzogiorno d'Italia anteriormente alla Monarchia. Ducato di Napoli e principato di Salerno, Bari 1923, pp. 75-77, 80; G. Pochettino, I Longobardi nell'Italia meridionale (379-1086), Caserta 1930, pp. 238-47; R. Cessi, Le vicende politiche dell'Italia meridionale, I: La crisi imperiale, Padova 1938, pp. 253-69.
Santovito, Emma. “Adelchi, principe di benevento.” In Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, coll. 297–298. Città del Vaticano: Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948. https://azioneromana.com/article/adelchi-principe-di-benevento.
MLA
Santovito, Emma. “Adelchi, principe di benevento.” Enciclopedia Cattolica, vol. I, Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico, 1948, coll. 297–298. Azione Romana, https://azioneromana.com/article/adelchi-principe-di-benevento.
BibTeX
@incollection{ec1_adelchi_principe_di_benevento,
author = {Santovito, Emma},
title = {Adelchi, principe di benevento},
booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica},
volume = {I},
pages = {297--298},
note = {Cited by column},
publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico},
address = {Città del Vaticano},
year = {1948},
url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/adelchi-principe-di-benevento}
}
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