Talk:Gaitelgrima of Salerno

A confusion of Gaitelgrimas?

Much confusion is due to the profusion of Gaitelgrimas, Guaimars, and Purpuras (both Guaimars appear to have married 1st wives with this name) in this family.

There appear to have been at least two and probably three Gaitelgrimas who were daughters of Guaimar (III & IV). One Gaitelgrima (Gaitelgrima I) seems to have been daughter of Guaimar III, probably by his second wife Gaitelgrima of Benevento. Another (Gaitelgrima II, aka Adaltrude) was daughter of Guaimar IV and his first wife Purpura -- (Stasser, Thierry (2006). ""Où sont les femmes? Prosopographie des femmes des familles princières et ducales en Italie méridionale depuis la chute du royaume lombard (774) jusqu'à l'installation des Normands (env. 1100)"" (PDF). Prosopon: The Journal of Prosopography (in French). Linacre College, Oxford. pp. pp. 73-74. Retrieved 12-30 2007. {{cite web}}: |pages= has extra text (help); Check date values in: |accessdate= (help).

There may also have been a third Gaitelgrima (Gaitelgrima III) who was daughter of Guaimar IV and his second wife Gemma. This Gaitelgrima would have been a full sister of Gisulf II, and Gaitelgrima II (Adaltrude) would have been an older half-sister.

The Gaitelgrima who married Jordan must have been either Gaitelgrima I or Gaitelgrima III, as Gaitelgrima II (Adaltrude) refers in an act of January 1087 to her father Guaimar, mother Purpura, and husbands Drogo, Robert, and Affred.

She is unlikely to have been the Gaitelgrima who married Humphrey, brother of Drogo, who was probably Gaitelgrima I, who must have been born before 1028 (at the latest since Gaitelgrima of Benevento died in 1027, but she was probably born earlier, closer to 1010) and who would likely have been at least 30, a bit old to be the wife of Jordan in 1058. If she was a sister of Gisulf II, she cannot be Gaitelgrima I, and Gaitelgrima I would have been somewhat old to be considered a contemporary of Sichelgaita, Gisulf's sister, who was born circa 1040, as well as being a generation removed.

She cannot be the Gaitelgrima II (Adaltrude) who married Drogo, because her husbands are known and do not include Jordan.

Therefore, she is most likely to have been Gaitelgrima III. However, the Gaitelgrima who remarried Alfred of Sarno is apparently Gaitelgrima II (Adaltrude), who we know married an Affred as her third husband.

It is just possible that the widow of Humphrey (who died in 1057) may have been married off to Jordan in 1058, but she must then have been Gaitelgrima I, since Gaitelgrima III, born at the earliest in 1032 when Guaimar IV married Gemma, would be very young to be the mother of children born 1044-1045. And we know that Humphrey married the sister of the Duke of Sorrento, i.e., daughter of Guaimar III.

The likeliest distribution would seem to be:

Gaitelgrima I = Humphrey of Apulia

Gaitelgrima II (Adaltrude)= Drogo of Apulia, Robert of Lucera, Affred of Sarno

Gaitelgrima III = Jordan I of Capua

It would then be Gaitelgrima II (Adaltrude) who offered her (half-)brother shelter in Sarno.

Toddj (talk) 18:21, 30 December 2007 (UTC)