Amicus of Giovinazzo, also Amicus II (fl. 1063–1090), was a Norman nobleman and military leader during the Norman conquest of southern Italy. He was the count of Molfetta from 1068 until his death and of Giovinazzo from 1068 until 1073. He came from a prominent family often opposed to the rule of the Hautevilles. In 1067–68, 1072–73 and 1079–80 he took part in rebellions against the Hauteville Duke of Apulia. In 1067 and 1079 he received aid from Byzantium against the duke.
In 1074–75, Amicus invaded Croatia, more specifically Dalmatia (theme), in support of the Byzantines in a dispute with the Croatian king. He captured the king, Petar Krešimir IV and probably intended to carve out for himself a principality there, but he was defeated by the Republic of Venice and returned to Italy.
In 1081–82, Amicus participated in the invasion of Byzantium. He led the right wing at the Battle of Dyrrhachium. His bungled attack almost cost the Normans the victory, and he endeavoured to redeem himself by charging the emperor, which was nearly successful.
By 1093 he had been succeeded by his son Godfrey.
Descent
Amicus II belonged to a family known to modern scholars as the "sons of Amicus". His grandfather and namesake, Amicus I, lived in Normandy before 1030. Two of the latter's sons, Walter and Peter I, arrived in Italy before 1038. Walter was the father of Amicus II and Peter of Lesina. Amicus was thus the first cousin of Peter I's sons, Geoffrey of Taranto and Peter II of Trani. The family was related—how is not known—to the Hauteville family.
Lands Amicus acquired lands in several places across southern Italy, as well as the lordships of Giovinazzo, Molfetta, Spinazzola and Terlizzi.
On 26 June 1066 in Molfetta, Amicus and his father-in-law made a donation to the Abbey of the Santissima Trinità in Venosa. He also possessed lands in Campomarino that he gave to the Abbey of Santa Maria a Mare in the Tremiti Islands.
Amicus' family was active in the conquest of Apulia. His cousin, Peter II, took Trani in 1054, and his cousin, Geoffrey, took Taranto in 1063 and Otranto in 1064. These conquests were made on their own initiative and the cities were held by them by right of conquest. According to the Anonymous Chronicle of Bari, Amicus entered the small coastal town of Giovinazzo in 1068, a euphemistic way of saying he conquered it from the Byzantines. Amicus may have been given Giovinazzo (or its tribute) as early as 1058. That he did not, however, possess it at the start of the rebellion of 1067 is suggested by the fact that the Norman chronicler Amatus of Montecassino does not refer to him by any territory, but simply as Ami de Galtier, that is, Amicus son of Walter.
Likewise in 1068, with the rebellion crushed, Amicus' father-in-law fled to Greece and Amicus took over the port city of Molfetta. Amicus' was pardoned after his failed rebellion and forfeited only some minor properties. By October 1069 he had acquired the lordship of Spinazzola, probably by ducal grant. He is called Amico de Spiencello in a charter issued by the duke's chancery. At some point in the next decade, Amicus built a wall around Spinazzola, as the chronicle William of Apulia notes when recording the duke's capture of the town in 1080. Amicus of else his son Godfrey was responsible for the Norman-era fortification of Terlizzi, of which only the square tower still stands.
Following the second failed rebellion in 1073, however, Robert Guiscard confiscated Giovinazzo (which had gone over to his allegiance during the revolt). Amicus did retain Spinazzola, Terlizzi (acquired sometime earlier) and Molfetta after 1073. On 5 September 1073, Amicus founded and made a donation to the church of Saint Michael the Archangel in Terlizzi, which later became the cathedral. The witnesses present were his vassals Bernard Lautard and Azo, the notary Melo and the former Byzantine tourmarches Pantaleon. The donation made no mention of Duke Robert.
Following the third and final rebellion in 1078, Amicus was deprived of Spinazzola as well as his land on Mount Serico (today Castello di Monteserico, part of Genzano di Lucania).
Early rebellions Robert had to deal with four rebellions: in 1067–68, 1072–73, 1079–80 and 1082–83. Only in the last of these did Amicus not join the rebels.
1067–68 There is disagreement among scholars concerning the dating of the first revolt. The Anonymous Chronicle of Bari has it beginning, under the leadership of Amicus' father-in-law Joscelin of Molfetta, in 1064, but there is little indication of military activity between that year and 1067. It is possible there were three separate but related revolts in 1064 (led by Joscelin), 1066 (Abelard) and 1067–68 (Amicus).
The revolt led by Amicus began between September and November 1067 while Guiscard was in Calabria. Among the other rebels were Joscelin, as well as Roger Toutebove and Guiscard's own disaffected nephews, Count Geoffrey of Conversano and the dispossessed Abelard. The rebellion received Byzantine financing. According to Amatus of Montecassino, Amicus himself was "lent … 100 hundredweight of gold" to spread the revolt, in exchange for which he sent a son as a hostage to Leo Perenos, the Byzantine duke of Dyrrhachium who was organizing the revolt.
Amatus stresses that Guiscard moved quickly to suppress the first challenge to his rule, campaigning in the autumn of 1067 and into 1068. The beginning of the Siege of Bari in August 1068 suggests that the revolt had collapsed early that year, to allow enough time for Guiscard to prepare a major military operation against the last Byzantine stronghold in Italy. Following their defeat, Joscelin and Roger Toutebove fled to Constantinople, while Amicus and Guiscard's nephews were pardoned, losing only a few lands. Amicus and Abelard were present with the ducal entourage soon after. As an incentive to obedience, they were offered the opportunity to recover the lands they had lost or else receive new lands. By October 1069 Amicus had acquired the new lordship of Spinazzola.
1072–73 The cause of the second revolt was Guiscard's order to Peter II to hand over Taranto, which he was governing on behalf of his young nephew, Richard, son of Geoffrey. Peter refused to comply and the pardoned rebels of 1067, Amicus and Abelard, supported him. The rebellion was also joined by Abelard's half-brother Herman, the Calabrian baron Robert Areng and Count Richard of Monte Sant'Angelo. Through the latter's contact, the rebels gained the support of the Prince Richard I of Capua, the main rival of the Hautevilles in Italy.
The second revolt went badly. Guiscard captured Trani on 2 February 1073 and shortly afterwards Duke Guy of Sorrento captured Peter in a skirmish outside Andria. This time Amicus was deprived of Giovinazzo, although he held onto Molfetta and was allowed to keep Spinazzola and Terlizzi. Herman was captured during the revolt, but Abelard remained defiant in Calabria and did not make peace with the duke until early 1078. Amicus never recovered Giovinazzo. After Guiscard's death (1085), it was granted to his son Bohemond as part of the succession settlement in 1086.
Invasion of Croatia
Amicus activity in Croatia at the coastal part of the region Dalmatia, during the period from the fall of Petar Krešimir IV (d. 1074) to the coronation of Demetrius Zvonimir (1075), in the scholarship was initially explained as an involvement on the behalf of the Holy See against Petar Krešimir IV due to supposed antagonism among the local clergy towards church reforms. It has been argued that the Croatian king whom Amicus captured was not Petar Krešimir, but rather a certain Slavac, a champion of the Old Church Slavonic liturgy, who had succeeded the childless Krešimir upon the latter's death in late 1073 or early 1074, when his nephew Stephen was judged unfit and forced to enter a monastery. Pope Gregory VII allegedly encouraged the expedition of Amicus to remove Slavac and restore the Latin rite. The reign of Slavac is known only from a Renaissance source, Johannes Lucius, in fact, there was no 11th-century king of that name, but rather a 12th-century nobleman who was mistaken for a king by later generations. At the time, the papal legate to Croatia was Gerard, who, as the archbishop of Siponto, was almost a neighbour of Amicus in southern Italy. It was probably his idea to use Amicus to help place Zvonimir, considered an ally of Rome, on the throne. Having been recently deprived of his lordship of Giovinazzo, Amicus was probably easily persuaded to make his fortune in Dalmatia, promised with a land or a principality of his own as a reward. Modern historigraphy rejects such older theorizations, because Petar Krešimir IV was loyal to the Holy See and church reforms.
Guiscard, on the other hand, had been excommunicated in 1074 and Amicus would not have felt any need to seek his permission. However, Amicus lost many lands to Guiscard, to get new ones, and possibly found a new Norman-style principality, Amicus was persuaded by the Byzantine emperor Michael VII Doukas to attack Petar Krešimir IV because the Croatian king abandoned emperor's sovereignty and took in control Dalmatian cities from the Byzantines, and aided the Uprising of Georgi Voyteh against Byzantines. Formally, Amicus was invited to Dalmatia by the communes of Split, Trogir, Zadar and Biograd.
He embarked in the spring of 1074, probably from Molfetta, which was in his control, or possibly from Ancona further up the coast. By 19 March, the Normans occupied several coastal Dalmatian city-states, including Split, Trogir, Zadar and Biograd. As the next target, according to a late source, Amicus attacked the coast of the Gulf of Quarnero. Between 14 April and 9 May (Translation of Saint Nicholas), he besieged the town of Rab on the island of the same name. The Miracula Sancti Christophori of Bishop Juraj Koštica, written towards 1308, reports that "a large group of Varangians" assaulted Rab. He provides dates, but no year, although from context it appears it can refer only to the expedition of Amicus who, as a Norman, could be described as a "Varangian" (Viking).
In November 1074, Gerard held another synod at Split to reaffirm the decisions of 1060. According to a synodal document, it took place "at the time when duke Amicus took the Croatian king prisoner." Although it does not name the king, Petar Krešimir must be meant. A letter of Pope Gregory VII to Stephen II, bishop of Zadar, dated to November 1074, also mentions the capture of Petar Krešimir by Amicus. This is the last mention of Krešimir in any source. According to one source, it was while capturing the stronghold of Novalja on the island of Pag that Amicus captured the king.