Ingelmarius

Ingelmarius was a Norman knight of humble origins who served Roger I, the count of Sicily. In reward for his good service to Roger, Ingelmarius was given the hand of the widow of Roger's nephew Serlo II of Hauteville, the lady Altruda of Boiano. In addition to giving Ingelmarius control of the vast conquests and rights of Altruda's first husband (including the city of Geraci), the marriage also raised Ingelmarius up socially into the nobility.

Unfortunately, Ingelmarius's loyalty to Roger slipped proportionally to his perceived increased standing. Shortly after the wedding, Ingelmarius begun to construct defenses in Geraci from which to resist Roger while simultaneously convincing the town's citizens to support him instead. Angered, Roger demanded that Ingelmarius immediately reduce his fortifications, an act which Ingelmarius refused.

In response, Roger immediately raised an army and marched to Geraci to invest it. Finally, in fear for his fate should he be captured, with the citizens of Geraci tiring of his politics, Ingelmarius fled Geraci leaving Altruda and Geraci to their fate. Roger immediately restored to Altruda all that had belonged to her before the marriage, and in peaceful agreement with the leaders of Geraci, the city was brought back into the fold of Roger's domains.

No more mention is made of Ingelmarius by Roger's contemporary biographer Geoffrey Malaterra.[1] Likely he left for foreign lands where he could have continued to serve as a mercenary or attached himself to another lord.

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References

  1. ↑ "Gregarius autem miles quidam, nomine Ingelmarus, comiti diu servierat: cui ipse comes, quamvis inferioris generis esset, propter militarem tamen strenuitatem, quam in eo videbat, volens servitium suum honeste, ut sibi semper mos fuit, remunerare, uxorem nepotis sui Serlonis - videlicet qui apud Siciliam a Saracenis interemptus fuerat - cum omni dote sibi competenti, ipsa multum renitente, in matrimonium sibi concessit, ut, praeclari generis mulierem - erat enim filia Rodulfi, Bojanensis comitis - militis generositas quodammodo inter consodales clarior fieret. Ille vero apud Giracium, cuius quadrans ex dote mulieris sibi competebat, nuptiis solemniter celebratis, non jam humilitatis honestatem servans, ad sui generis debilitatem mentem reducebat; sed uxoris generositatem in animo sibi vindicans, aequalem se in genere et dignitate illi, cuius antea uxor fuerat, jactans ultra debitum appetebat.

    Hic apud Giracium, ubi comes turrim firmaverat, demum defensabilem incipiens, paulatim provehendo et interdum dissimulando, fortissimam turrim fecit, Giracenses omnes suis adulationibus et favoribus sibi attrahens, et, sacramentis datis et acceptis, in amicitia confoederans.

    Quod cum comiti renunciatum fuisset, insolentiam eius animadvertens et in futurum timens, ne forte fiducia turris in aliquod deterius consilium reverteretur, turrim in modum domus habitabilis deponere humiliter jubet, increpans eum quod, se inconsulto, tale quid praesumpsisset. Ille vero cum Giracensibus consilium habens pravum, definito ipsis se auxilium laturos promittentibus, beneficii sibi collati, ut assolet inter degeneres, oblitus, contra comitem recalcitrare, potius quam oboedire, indecenter elegit. Quod cum comiti compertum fuisset, Giracensibus ut turrim destruant et Ingelmarum captioni suae reddant, imperat. Quibus - non tam fidelitate Ingelmari, sed quia omne genus nostrae gentis illis invisum erat, et magis discordias inter nostros, quam pacem, fieri expectabant - id agere recusantibus, comes, legalitatem suam servans, hactenus homini suo diffidentiam in posterum mandat, sicque, admoto exercitu, versus Giracium obsessum pergit.

    Ingelmarus vero, astu Giracensium animos demulcens, aliquanto tempore suae ineptiae complices detinuit. At, cum viderent se a comite exterius interiusque praegravari, coeperunt et ipsi a stulto proposito deficere et fatigari. Quod Ingelmarus advertens, territus ne     ab ipsis comiti traderetur et ipsi reconciliarentur, profugus evadens, discessit." (Gaufridus Malaterra)

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