William of Capparone, to release the boy to the hands of Walter of Palearia, the chancellor and an ally of the Germans and the Genoese. Capparone, meanwhile, maintained himself in the royal palace until Dipold came to the island and dislodged him. By 1207, Walter, however, distrusted Dipold, who had recently travelled to Rome to be released from excommunication by Pope Innocent III. The chancellor captured him, but Dipold escaped and fled to Salerno, where he entered into open war with Walter and the chancellor's brother-in-law, Peter of Celano. He sorely defeated the men of Naples, allies of Palearia, in May. Downfall In exchange for his support, Emperor Otto IV raised Dipold to the title of magister capitaneus totius Apuliae et Terre Laboris and made him Duke of Spoleto between 6 or 10 February 1209. He was incapable, however, of maintaining his authority over his vast territory. In Pisa in November, it was probably he who convinced Otto to invade Sicily. Dipold fell out with Frederick and the Genoese. In 1218, Frederick sent James of Avellino to arrest him and he was carted back to Germany. According to Alberic of Trois-Fontaines, he was released in 1221 and joined the Teutonic Knights, living many more years. He did not return to Italy and never resurfaces in the chronicles, presumably dying soon after. Notes References Sources Pavan, Massimiliano (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: XL Di Fausto – Donadoni. Rome, 1991. Annales Casinenses. Translated by G. A. Loud. Norwich, John Julius. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: London, 1970. Matthew, Donald. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily. Cambridge University Press: 1992. Ryccardi di Sancto Germano Notarii Chronicon. trans. G. A. Loud. Riezler, R. Über die Herkunft Dipolds v. Acerra. FDG 16, 1876, 373–374. Keupp, Jan Ulrich. "Dienst und Verdienst". Die Ministerialen Friedrich Barbarossas und Heinrichs VI. Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 2002. |- Dukes of Spoleto Counts of Italy People of medieval Bavaria Teutonic Knights 12th-century births 1225 deaths Year of birth unknown