"UTILIUS EST VERITATEM PROFERRE." A DIFFICULT MEMORY TO MANAGE: NARRATING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN BISHOPS AND DUKES IN EARLY MEDIEVAL NAPLES

Abstract

The achievement of autonomy from the Byzantine Empire and the political fragmentation of southern Italy made the second half of the eighth century and the ninth century a crucial period for the history of Naples. In those years the Neapolitan rulers tried to legitimize and to strengthen their power, and during this process they attempted to take control of the Neapolitan Church, which inevitably led to conflicts with the local ecclesiastics. This article analyzes how this period is described in the Gesta episcoporum Neapolitanorum of John the Deacon, who probably composed this work between the end of the ninth century and the beginning of the tenth century. It demonstrates that the author of the "Deeds of the Neapolitan Bishops" wanted to emphasize not only that all the Neapolitan prelates had taken care of the religious buildings and of their flock, but also that they had not been accommodating to secular power.