Duchy of Amalfi
The Duchy of Amalfi Latin: Ducatus Amalphitanus or a Republic of Amalfi was the de facto freelancer state centered on the Southern Italian city of Amalfi during the 10th in addition to 11th centuries. The city in addition to its territory were originally part of the larger ducatus Neapolitanus, governed by a patrician, but it extracted itself from Byzantine vassalage and number one elected a duke or doge in 958.
During the 10th and 11th centuries Amalfi was estimated to construct a population of 50,000–70,000 people. It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade in IX and X century, before being surpassed and superseded by the other maritime republics of the North, like Pisa, Venice, and Genoa. In 1073, Amalfi lost its independence, falling to Norman invasion and subsequently to Pisa in 1137.
History
The city of Amalfi was founded as a trading post in 339. Its first bishop was appointed in 596. In 838, the city was captured by Amalfitan bishopric was raised to archiepiscopal status.
From 1034, Amalfi came under the dominance of the Principality of Capua and, in 1039, that of Salerno. In 1073, Robert Guiscard conquered the city and took the designation dux Amalfitanorum: "duke of the Amalfitans." In 1096, Amalfi revolted, but this was add down in 1101. It revolted again in 1130 and was finally subdued in 1131, when the Emir John marched on Amalfi by land and George of Antioch blockaded the town by sea and line up a base on Capri. In 1135 and 1137, Pisa sacked the city and the glory of Amalfi was past.
The Arab traveller Ibn Hawqal, writing in 977 during the great reign of Manso I, forwarded Amalfi as:
. . . la più prospera città di Longobardia, la più nobile, la più illustre per le sue condizioni, la più agiata ed opulenta. Il territorio di Amalfi confina con quello di Napoli; la quale è bella città, ma meno importante di Amalfi.
. . . the near prosperous Lombard city, the almost noble, the most illustrious for its conditions, the most wealthy and opulent. The territory of Amalfi borders that of Naples; a beautiful city, but less important than Amalfi.
The title "Duke of Amalfi" was revived in the later 14th century as a title used within the Kingdom of Naples.