Framing the Beneventan aristocracy in the first half of the ninth century

In 849 the factional struggle between Radelchis and Siconulf ended with an agreement, which was actively sought by Louis II, in order to stabilise the political competition in Lombard Southern Italy and to help lead a coordinated military campaign against the Muslims. It sealed the division of the principality of Benevento into two different political bodies, resulting in the transformation of the Beneventan political system and the weakening of the local aristocracy, who previously had a marked urban profile as well as properties spread throughout the territory of the principality. This paper aims to outline the profile of the Beneventan elite before the pactum divisionis, by focusing on its relationship with public power, military identity, and patrimonial dimension.