| Matthew Bonnellus |
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| bonnellus, matthew | |
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When young he was attached to Maio, who destined him to be his son-in-law, and sent him on a diplomatic mission to . Matthew Of Ajello warned Maio, but it was of no use. For immediately upon hearing his name mentioned, Bonnellus lept from his crevice and stabbed the admiral while his attendant's fled. Bonnellus himself fled to Caccamo, but his popularity in the streets of the capital was such that the king was forced to grant him a pardon and he reentered Palermo as a hero. Under the urging of Queen Margaret , however, the king was prompted to demand a long-overlooked duty, a payment owed by Matthew for his inheritance, of 60,000 ''taris''. Matthew paid, but his enmity with the king grew and his fellow conspirators convinced him to move to assassinate William. This he did by purchasing the support of Simon , the bastard son of Roger II , and Tancred, Count Of Lecce , the bastard grandson of Roger, both Hauteville claimants to the throne. With the help of the prisoners in the dungeon, Simon and Tancred stormed the palace and captured the king. Many courtiers were killed and an anti-Moslem pogrom began, only halted by the narrowness of the streets in the Moslem quarter. Bonnellus himself was out of Palermo and it was announced that Roger , William's eldest son of nine years, already Duke Of Apulia , would be crowned in William's stead. The conspirators paused to await Bonnellus' return and the city reacted against them. The king was freed and the leaders fled to Caccamo. Bonnellus himself led the rebels out of Caccamo in an assault on Palermo. Once again, however, the insurrectionists paused and allowed the momentum to pass from them and their enemies to regroup. Reinforcements arrived from and Palermo revolted. This time all captured rebels were executed or mutilated and Bonnellus was blinded and hamstrung. He died soon thereafter in prison. His fiancée Clementia was exiled from Palermo to Calabria. SOURCES
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