Andrew of Cicala
A loyal servant of the crown, whose counsel in military matters was sought after, he seems to have experienced a crisis of confidence in Frederick II following the latter's deposition by the Council of Lyon in 1245.
He is recorded for the first time in June 1216 in Palermo, when he and his brothers Simon and Matthew witnessed their father's donation of the Sicilian castle of Roccella to the Campanian monastery of Montevergine.
Andrew married Margaret, a sister of Arduin, count of Ischia Maggiore, which brought him connections at the royal court.
In February 1231, he persuaded Bishop Arduin of Cefalù to cede the diocese's rights in the church of Saint Philip in Golisano to the monastery of Montevergine.
[2][3] In early October 1239, Frederick appointed Andrew captain[b] of the entire kingdom north of Calabria, from Porta Roseti to the mouth of the Tronto.
This was a new office with administrative and military functions, designed to put all the resources of the mainland under a single command for the war against the Papacy.
Without instructions, he sent a force of knights, archers and Saracens of Lucera to assist Frederick's son, King Enzo of Sardinia, in northern Italy.
Andrew ordered the arrest of all citizens of Terni living within the kingdom to put pressure on the comune to submit to Frederick, who had invaded the Papal State.
Later that year, he enforced the ban on the export of horses, replaced William of Spinosa as castellan of Rocca Ianula with John of Trentenaria and assembled an army of knights at San Germano.
In April, he attended the imperial diet at Foggia, where he discussed with Frederick the rebellion in Rocca Alberici and two unresolved lawsuits concerning the cathedral of Aversa and two Abruzzese noblewomen.
On 3 May, Frederick appointed him master justiciar of the same territory over which he was captain, effectively giving him complete viceregal authority from Porta Roseti to the Tronto.
To collect the church's treasures, he dispatched as emissaries Peter of Melfi to Basilicata, Martin of Airola to Montevergine, John Capuanus of Naples to Molise[c] and Thomas Castulus to the diocese of Valva.
[2][3] In July 1241, Andrew took charge of the high-profile prisoners, including Cardinals Otto of Tonengo and James of Pecorara, who had fallen into Frederick's hands at the naval battle of Giglio in May.
[2][3] In 1242–1243, the captain of Sicily and Calabria, Roger de Amicis, was sent on a diplomatic mission to Abbasids in Baghdad and the Ayyubids in Cairo.
In September, he was in Salerno, where he decided a lawsuit brought by the monastery of Santa Maria Mater Domini against the crown in favour of the former.
It is corroborated by royal records showing that the fief of Casalrotto, which Andrew had acquired from the monastery of La Cava in return for an annual payment, had escheated to the crown by 21 May 1246.
