In the eleventh century, San Severo was the route of the Via Sacra Langobardorum and a primitive church arose dedicated to Saint Severino, from which continued an influx of pilgrims to Monte Sant'Angelo and movement of people and goods. The town was therefore called Castellum Sancti Severini ("Fortified Town of San Severo"). The conurbation developed rapidly due to its favorable position for trade, and soon took on considerable importance; it became the seat of Venetian, Florentine, Saracens and Jewish merchants. Subject to the abbots of the Benedictine monastery of San Pietro di Torremaggiore (in 1116 the abbot gave the famous Adenulfo Libertatis Charta), in 1230, the city rebelled against Frederick II of Hohenstaufen who ceded it to the Knights Templar. Medieval After the suppression of the Templars, by 1312, the city was refortified with a wall, and ceded to Robert d'Anjou and his wife Sancha. In 1317, Sancha sold it to Count Peter Pippin, Lord of Vico. The resistance of the citizens denied him the possession of his acquisition, and resistance only stopped when they gained some degree of independence under the royal authority of Naples. San Severo was then declared a royal city in perpetuity. It became the capital of Giustizierato (province) of Capitanata, whose jurisdiction also included Molise. The city was the seat of provincial officials and the court of the Royal Audience. After Queen Joan I of Naples stayed there, many Neapolitan monarchs followed in her presence, including Alfonso I of Aragon and Ferdinand I of Naples. In the fifteenth century, the city also minted its own coins. From Renaissance to Principality In 1521, Charles V sold the city to the Duke of Termoli, Ferdinand of Capua, but Mayor Tiberio Solis was able to redeem it by paying 42,000 ducats to the Emperor by collecting contributions from private citizens. The king then granted the city of San Severo the perpetual right to self-government. According to tradition, in January 1536, Charles V also ennobled twenty-four local families, establishing the town's oligarchic regime. San Severo became the most populous city in Capitanata in the 16th century. The rich commerce, cultural vitality and self-government made it one of the major centers of the south, due to the presence of a large Venetian warehouse. Directly connected to the Fortore river was an important link between the Venetians and the Kingdom of Naples. Leandro Alberti (1550) writes of San Severo "this castle