Duchy of Amalfi

Duchy of Amalfi
958–1137
Italy, and the Duchy of Amalfi (a small state in bright yellow), at the close of the tenth century.
Italy, and the Duchy of Amalfi (a small state in bright yellow), at the close of the tenth century.
StatusIndependent state
CapitalAmalfi
Common languagesLatin, Greek, and Neapolitan
Religion
Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Eastern Orthodox Church
GovernmentElective duchy
Duke 
• 957–958
Mastalus II (first)
• 1096–c.1100
Marinus Sebastus (last)
Historical eraMiddle Ages
• Duke elected
958
• Sacked by Pisa
1137
Population
• 1131
70,000
CurrencySolidus
Tarì
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Duchy of Naples
Kingdom of Sicily
Today part ofItaly

The Duchy of Amalfi (Latin: Ducatus Amalphitanus) or the Republic of Amalfi was a de facto independent state centered on the Southern Italian city of Amalfi during the 10th and 11th centuries. The city and its territory were originally part of the larger ducatus Neapolitanus, governed by a patrician, but it extracted itself from Byzantine vassalage and first elected a duke (or doge) in 958.

During the 10th and 11th centuries Amalfi was estimated to have a population of 50,000–70,000 people.[1] It rose to become an economic powerhouse, a commercial center whose merchants dominated Mediterranean and Italian trade in the ninth and tenth centuries, before being surpassed and superseded by the other maritime republics of the North and the Centre: Pisa, Venice, Genoa, Ancona and Gaeta. In 1073, Amalfi lost its independence, falling to Norman invasion and subsequently to Pisa in 1137.

  1. ^ Aczel, Amir D. (2001). The riddle of the compass : the invention that changed the world (1st ed.). New York: Harcourt. ISBN 0151005060. OCLC 45102891.

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