Robert of Alife

Robert (died 1116) was a south Italian nobleman who ruled the counties of Airola, Alife, Caiazzo, Sant'Agata and Telese from 1088 until his death. He was the regent of Capua in 1090–93, and was effectively independent of any lord after 1105. He was a major patron of churches and abbeys, and also commissioned several books.

Born in southern Italy, Robert belonged to the second generation of the Italo-Norman nobility. He belonged to a cadet branch of the Drengot family; the senior line had ruled the Principality of Capua since 1058. Robert's father, Rainulf I, received several counties in the north of the principality from his cousin, Prince Jordan I, in 1078. These counties had been confiscated from their Lombard rulers following a major revolt against Norman rule in 1063–65. In a charter of 4 July 1066, Jordan I and his father, Richard I, refer to the "treason of the counts of Caiazzo" to justify the redistribution of confiscated lands. The last Lombard count known by name was Peter, and either he or his son lost the county in 1065 or early 1066. Robert succeeded to all his father's counties after Rainulf's death in 1088. In his own documents, Robert did not list all the counties he held, preferring an open-ended style: "Robert, count of Alife, Caiazzo, Sant'Agata and many others".

Robert's wife was Gaitelgrima. They had two sons—Rainulf II and Richard—and a daughter, named Gaitelgrima after her mother. The daughter married Duke William II of Apulia in 1114. She bore him no children, and was still living when William died in 1127. Robert had an illegitimate son named Bansolino and probably at least one other son named Alexander. He was succeeded on his death by his son Rainulf.

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