Duchy of Gaeta Ducatus Caietae (Latin) | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 839–1140 | |||||||||
.svg) Flag
.svg) Coat of arms
| |||||||||
.svg) The states present in Campania around the year 1000. In red, the Duchy of Gaeta | |||||||||
| Capital | Gaeta | ||||||||
| Common languages | Medieval Latin | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Government | Oligarchy | ||||||||
| Duke | |||||||||
• 839–866 | Constantine of Gaeta (first) | ||||||||
• 1121–1140 | Richard III of Gaeta (last) | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Established | 839 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1140 | ||||||||
| Currency | Follaro gaetano | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | Italy | ||||||||
The Duchy of Gaeta (Latin: Ducatus Caietae) was an early medieval state centered on the coastal South Italian city of Gaeta. It began in the early ninth century as the local community began to grow autonomous as Byzantine power lagged in the Mediterranean and the peninsula due to Lombard and Saracen incursions.
The primary source for the history of Gaeta during its ducal period is the Codex Caietanus, a collection of charters preserving Gaetan history better and in greater detail than that of its neighbouring coastal states: Naples, Amalfi, and Sorrento. In 778, it was the headquarters from which the patrician of Sicily directed the campaign against the Saracen invaders of Campania.