Battle of Garigliano

Battle of Garigliano
Battle of Garigliano (915)]
Date June 915 Location near the Garigliano River, Italy Result Christian victory
Belligerents
Christian League Papal States (Rome/Latium and Tuscany) Byzantine Empire Principalities of Capua and Benevento Principality of Salerno Duchy of Gaeta Duchy of Spoleto Duchy of Naples	Saracens
Commanders and leaders
Alberic I of Spoleto Nicholas Picingli Pope John X	Unknown
Strength
Large	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

Christian League

The Battle of Garigliano was fought in 915 between Christian forces and the Saracens. Pope John X personally led the Christian forces into battle. The aim was to destroy the Arab fortress on the Garigliano river, which had threatened central Italy and the outskirts of Rome for nearly 30 years.

After a series of ravaging attacks against the main sites of the Lazio in the second half of the 9th century, the Saracens established a colony next to the ancient city of Minturnae, near the Garigliano River. Here they even formed alliances with the nearby Christian princes (notably the hypati of Gaeta), taking advantage of the division between them.

John X, however, managed to reunite these princes in an alliance, in order to oust the Saracens from their dangerous strongpoint. The Christian armies united the pope with several South Italian princes of Lombard or Greek extraction, including Guaimar II of Salerno, John I of Gaeta and his son Docibilis, Gregory IV of Naples and his son John, and Landulf I of Benevento and Capua. The King of Italy, Berengar I, sent a support force from Spoleto and the Marche, led by Alberic I, duke of Spoleto and Camerino. The Byzantine Empire participated by sending a strong contingent from Calabria and Apulia under the strategos of Bari, Nicholas Picingli. John X himself led the milities from the Lazio, Tuscany, and Rome.

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