Duchy of Naples

The Duchy of Naples (Latin: Ducatus Neapolitanus, Neapolitan: Ducato di Napule) began as a Byzantine province in Southern Europe that was constituted in the seventh century, in the lands roughly corresponding to the current province of Naples that the Lombards had not conquered during their invasion of Italy in the sixth century. It was one of the tyrrhenian duchies along with the duchy of Gaeta, Amalfi and Sorrento which took their independence from Naples in the early 9th century.

It was governed by a military commander (dux), and rapidly became a de facto independent state, lasting more than five centuries during the Early and High Middle Ages. Naples remains a significant metropolitan city in present-day Italy.