Jordan I of Capua
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'''Jordan I''' ([[Italian language|Italian]]: ''Giordano'') (died [[1091]]), count of [[Aversa]] and [[prince of Capua]] from [[1078]] to his death, was the eldest son and successor of Prince [[Richard I of Capua]] and [[Fressenda]], a daughter of [[Tancred of Hauteville]] and his second wife, also named Fressenda, and the nephew of [[Robert Guiscard]], [[count of Apulia|duke of Apulia]], [[Calabria]], and [[Sicily]]. He, according to [[William of Apulia]], "equalled in his virtues both the duke and his father." [http://www.leeds.ac.uk/history/weblearning/MedievalHistoryTextCentre/william%20ap%202.doc]
In [[1078]], while his father was besieging [[Naples]] with Robert Guiscard, he and [[Robert I of Loritello|Robert]], count of [[Loritello]], were ravaging the [[Abruzzi]], then [[papal States|papal territory]]. He, his father, and the duke were all excommunicated, when, suddenly, his father fell ill, retired to Capua, reconciled with the church, and died. Jordan, fearing to rule under the ban of the church, called off the siege of Naples and went to [[Rome]] to reconcile himself to [[Pope Gregory VII]] and rectify his relations with the church, of which his father had been both servant and protector. It appears that he intended to take up the position of his father ''vis-a-vis'' the [[papacy]] and to return to unfriendly relations with the duke of Apulia, for Gregory visited Capua a mere three months after Richard's death and Jordan, probably with papal prodding, began fomenting revolt in the Guiscard's lands. The revolt, the widely supported and well-organised, was ineffectual in really curbing Robert's influence and power.
One of his chief advisor was the abbot of [[Montecassino]], [[Victor III|Desiderius of Benevento]], who mediated between the prince and the [[Emperor Henry IV]] on the latter's descent into Italy ([[1081]]). Jordan forsook his erstwhile papal ally in exchange for an imperial investiture. Though Robert Guiscard and his brother [[Roger I of Sicily|Roger]] marched against him, Roger was recalled to Sicily and the expedition fell apart.
In [[1085]], on Robert's death, Jordan supported [[Bohemond I of Antioch|Bohemond]], the elder son, over [[Roger Borsa]], the eldest by [[Sichelgaita]], who was his own sister-in-law, he having married [[Gaitelgrima, daughter of Guaimar IV|Gaitelgrima]], another daughter of Prince [[Guaimar IV of Salerno]]. For the next three years, Bohemond held Apulia with the assistance of well-trained Capuan armies. In that same year, the pope died and the [[antipope Clement III]] continued to claim the papacy. In hopes of curbing the influence of Clement and united his interests with those of the papacy once again, he pressured the [[College of Cardinals]] to elect Desiderius of Montecassino as successor Gregory. At the same time, Roger Borsa freed the captured imperial prefect of Rome in opposition to the pretensions of Jordan and the [[Papal Curia]], which had refused confirmation of Roger's archiepiscopal candidate for [[Salerno]]. The move backfired and Desiderius, under pressure from Jordan to accept, was elected pope as Victor III. With the aid of armies from Jordan and the Countess [[Matilda of Tuscany]], Victor took the [[Vatican Hill]] from Clement on [[1 July]] [[1086]]. The pope remained lukewarm to his new job until Jordan suggested that only through decisive action could the good fortune of his beloved abbey of Montecassino be sustained. This led to an important synod at [[Benevento]] ([[1087]]), where Clement was excommunicated, [[lay investiture]] outlawed, and war with the [[Saracen]]s of [[Africa]] declared.
The remainder of Jordan's career was not notable and he died in November [[1090]] or [[1091]] in Piperna (near [[Terracina]]) and was buried in the monastery he had long supported, [[Montecassino]], leaving a young son named [[Richard II of Capua|Richard]] who succeeded him. His other sons, [[Robert I of Capua|Robert]] and [[Jordan II of Capua|Jordan]], would also succeed to the Capuan throne some day, and he left one unnamed daughter.
==References==
*William of Apulia, ''The Deeds of Robert Guiscard'' [http://www.leeds.ac.uk/history/weblearning/MedievalHistoryTextCentre/william%20ap%201.doc Books One] and [http://www.leeds.ac.uk/history/weblearning/MedievalHistoryTextCentre/william%20ap%202.doc Book Two] (pdf)
*[[John Julius Norwich|Norwich, John Julius]]. ''The Normans in the South 1016-1130''. Longmans: [[London]], [[1967]].
*Caravale, Mario (ed). ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani''. [[Rome]], [[2003]].
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{{s-bef|rows=2|before=[[Richard I of Capua|Richard I]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Aversa|Count of Aversa]]|years=[[1078]]–[[1091]]}}
{{s-aft|rows=2|after=[[Richard II of Capua|Richard II]]}}
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{{s-ttl|title=[[Prince of Capua]]|years=[[1078]]–[[1091]]}}
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[[Category:1091 deaths]]
[[Category:Normans]]
[[Category:Princes of Capua|Jordan 1]]
[[category:Counts of Aversa|Jordan 1]]
[[fr:Jourdain Ier d'Aversa]]
[[sl:Jordan I. Kapuanski]]
[[uk:Йордан I (князь Капуанський)]]