Formation In 839, the prince of Benevento,
Sicard, died. Immediately, his chief army officer,
Radelchis, seized power in Benevento and imprisoned Sicard's heir and brother,
Siconulf, in
Taranto.
Amalfitan merchants rescued Siconulf from prison, and he was proclaimed prince in Salerno. A civil war erupted in the Italian
Mezzogiorno. In 847, Emperor
Lothair I had
Guy I of Spoleto and
Sergius I of Naples mediate a division of the great Lombard principality. In 851,
Louis,
King of Italy, divided the principality into two sections: one with its capital at Salerno and another with the original Benevento. Salerno consisted of
Taranto,
Cassano,
Cosenza,
Paestum,
Conza,
Potenza,
Sarno, Cimitile (
Nola),
Capua,
Teano, and
Sora. It was a maritime power with numerous seaports, including Salerno itself, and controlled mostly the western half of the old duchy. Guaimar II raised Salerno to greatness. He was a more religious prince than his father, who had been pious by the standards of the time. He introduced the
Cluniac reforms to Salerno. He was also more inclined to war with the Muslims and took part in the famous
Battle of the Garigliano in 915. In this he was the ally of the Byzantines, as he was throughout his reign, with the exception of a brief period in the 920s. He increased his prestige and influence through marriage alliances with the Beneventans and Capuans, and even entered into successful schemes against the Byzantine
Campania, where he gained much ground. Guaimar further worked to stabilise his dynasty by altering the pattern of succession. He appointed his son
Gisulf I as co-prince in 943, and Gisulf succeeded in 946. The succession was not uncontested from without. The allied forces of
John III of Naples and
Landulf II of Benevento invaded, but an alliance with the
Amalfitans saved Gisulf's reign. Gisulf like his father remained with the Greeks, even warring with the pope. He concluded a treaty with the latter and came to the defence of
Pandulf Ironhead, the prince of Benevento and Capua. Though his neighbours constantly seemed to be opposing him, the Ironhead reinstalled him after an insurrection of 974, which had been supported by his brother and the neighbouring Greek cities. Gisulf did not have any children at his death, and Salerno passed into the wider realm of the Ironhead, who bestowed it on his son
Pandulf II.
Zenith and decline John established his own dynasty, which was to usher in Salerno's final period of greatness as an independent Lombard entity. He tried to increase control of the church in his region, but failed. He followed the principle of co-regency of sons, to stabilise the succession. His son,
Guaimar III, had to deal with Saracen attacks, but was aided by the
Norman mercenaries he had helped to recruit to the south. He moved away from Byzantium throughout his reign and supported the Lombard rebels of
Melus of Bari. He also supported his neighbour,
Pandulf IV of Capua, despite the latter's unpopularity. Under Guaimar III, the
Schola Medica Salernitana first began to flourish, and he was capable of striking
Opulenta Salernitanum on his coins as a sign of the trading wealth of his city.
Guaimar IV brought Salerno to its greatest heights, but it did not survive him. He, too, used the Normans for mutual gain. He can be considered chiefly responsible for the rise of the
Hautevilles in the Mezzogiorno. He opposed Pandulf of Capua, unlike his father, and he united his principality with that one for the first time since Pandulf Ironhead. In 1052, Guaimar was assassinated, and his son and successor,
Gisulf II, showed none of his political acumen. With Gisulf's defeat, Salerno ceased to be the capital of a large principality, and its once vast domain was completely merged into the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria, the peninsular possession of the Hauteville family. Salerno did continue as the most important city of southern Italy until the end of Hauteville rule in 1194, before being punished for its former rebellion against the
Hohenstaufen dynasty in 1191, during which its populace handed over the entrusted
Empress Constance to
Tancred, King of Sicily, leading to her effective captivity until May 1192. As a consequence, Emperor Henry VI destroyed Salerno and, since then, the city never recovered its former importance, being overtaken in southern mainland Italy by Naples. The
Schola Medica Salernitana of
Guaimar III survived until
Napoleonic times, and it is considered the world's first university of
medicine. == Aftermath ==