Duchy of Naples (Independent) (jan 1, 840 – jan 1, 1137)

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In 840, Duke Sergius I made the succession to the duchy hereditary, and thenceforth Naples was de facto independent. The city was at this time mainly a military center, with a respectable fleet but not a merchant city. Naples did not hesitate to ally itself with infidels. In 837 Naples asked for Saracen aid to repel a Lombard siege, and later a Muslim conquest of Naples led to a major sack of the city. Naples declined in importance in the 10th century until it was captured by traditional rival, Pandulf IV of Capua in 915.

In 1027 Duke Sergius IV donated the country Aversa to a band of mercenaries whose support he had needed in war against Capua, and this settlement caused the downfall of Naples and end of its independence. Sergius cemented his position with marital alliances with the Normans, but when those broke down, he was abandoned by his mercenaries. His son, John V, was forced to eventually do homage to Guaimir IV of Salerno. Having survived the fall of the Lombard principalities in the Norman invasion, it was ast of the independent southern Italian states the Normans would take, but Sergius VII of Naples was forced to surrender to Roger II of Sicily in 1137.

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