Simon of Chieti

Simon (Italian: Simone da Chieti ; † 1243 ) was a count of Chieti and a follower of the emperor and king of Sicily, Friedrich II. Von Hohenstaufen .

It is possible that Simon was a son of Count Roger von Chieti, who moved with King Friedrich over the Alps to Germany in 1212 . In 1219 he himself moved to Germany with Archbishop Berardus of Messina, where he joined the king's court in Haguenau in September of that year . In the following year he took part in Frederick's coronation as emperor in Rome and then returned with him to his southern Italian homeland.

During the struggle against the Lombard League , Simon was elected Podestà of Padua in 1237 and appointed by the Emperor as governor of the Verona march alongside Ezzelino da Romano . In July 1239 he was appointed Imperial Vicar General of the region east of Pavia and in September of the same year Simon was able to lead the troops of Modena and Parma to a victory over the Bolognese army .

In January 1240, Emperor Friedrich II, meanwhile also at war against the Pope, was able to move into Viterbo , which belonged to the Patrimony of Petri , without a fight . When the emperor moved on to Apulia in March of this year , Simon was left behind in Viterbo as its governor of the conquered papal territories. In 1243, however, Cardinal Raniero Capocci managed to mobilize Viterbo's anti-imperial party, which enabled him to move into the city on September 9th. Simon and his troops had to retreat to the city fort and persevere. In October the emperor personally led a relief army against the city, but Capocci successfully defended it. After the Viterbesen failed to destroy the imperial camp and the siege machines on November 10th, the emperor had to give up the city. In a written contract, the imperial castle garrison was guaranteed free withdrawal from the city, but Simon and his men still had to fight their way out of the city with heavy losses. Because of this breach of word, the emperor complained, albeit unsuccessfully, to the pope.

Simon died that same year, perhaps from a wound sustained in Viterbo.

literature

• Wolfgang Stürmer: Friedrich II. (Primusverlag, Darmstadt, special edition 2009)