Editing Benevento (section)

==History==
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*[[File:Samnite_soldiers_from_a_tomb_frieze_in_Nola_4th_century_BCE.jpg|15px]] [[Samnium]] until 314 BC
*[[File:Consul et lictores.png|15px]] [[Roman Republic]] 314–27 BC
*[[File:Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg|15px]] [[Roman Empire]] 27&nbsp;BC – 285&nbsp;AD
*[[File:Vexilloid of the Roman Empire.svg|15px]] [[Western Roman Empire]] 285–476
*{{flagicon image|Odovacar Ravenna 477.jpg}} [[Odoacer|Kingdom of Odoacer]] 476–490
*{{flagicon image|Teodorico re dei Goti (493-526).png}} [[Ostrogothic Kingdom]] 490–536
*[[File:Simple Labarum.svg|12px]] [[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]] 536–537
*[[File:Lombard Calvary cross potent (transparent).png|12px]] [[Duchy of Benevento]] 571–1077
*[[File:Flag of the Papal States (pre 1808).svg|15px|border]] [[Papal States]] 1077–1799
*[[File:Flag of the Repubblica Romana (1798).svg|15px|border]] [[Roman Republic (1798-1799)]] 1798–1799
*[[File:Flag of the Papal States (pre 1808).svg|15px|border]] [[Papal States]] 1799–1806
*[[File:Flag of France.svg|15px|border]] [[Principality of Benevento]] 1806–1815
*[[File:Flag of the Papal States (1808-1870).svg|15px|border]] [[Papal States]] 1815–1860
*[[File:Flag of the Kingdom of Sardinia.svg|15px|border]] [[Kingdom of Sardinia]] 1860–1861
*[[File:Flag of Italy (1861-1946).svg|15px|border]] [[Kingdom of Italy]] 1861–1946
*[[File:Flag of Italy.svg|15px|border]] [[Italian Republic]] 1946–present
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===Ancient era===
Benevento, as ''Maleventum'', was one of the chief cities of [[Samnium]], situated on the [[Appian Way]] at a distance of {{convert|51|km}} east of [[Capua]] on the banks of the river Calor (now Calore). There is some discrepancy as to the tribe to which it belonged at contact: [[Pliny the Elder]] expressly assigns it to the [[Hirpini]], while [[Livy]]'s wording is somewhat obscure and [[Ptolemy]] considers the town as belonging to the [[Samnites]] proper, as distinguished from the Hirpini.<ref>Pliny iii. 11. s. 16; Livy xxii. 13; Ptolemy iii. 1. § 67.</ref> All ancient writers concur in representing it as a very ancient city, with [[Gaius Julius Solinus]] and [[Stephanus of Byzantium]] ascribing its foundation to {{nowrap|[[Diomedes]]{{hsp}}{{mdash}}}}{{hsp}}this legend appears to have been adopted by the city's inhabitants, who in the time of [[Procopius]] pretended to exhibit the tusks of the [[Calydonian Boar]] as proof of their descent.<ref>[[Gaius Julius Solinus]] 2. § 10; Steph. B. ''s. v.''; Procop. ''B. G.'' i. 15.</ref> [[Sextus Pompeius Festus]], on the contrary (''s. v.'' Ausoniam), related that the city was founded by Auson, a son of [[Odysseus|Ulysses]] and [[Circe]], a tradition which indicates that it was an ancient [[Ausoni]]an city prior to its conquest by the Samnites. It first appears in history as a Samnite city,<ref>Livy ix. 27.</ref> and must have already been a place of strength as the [[ancient Rome|Romans]] did not venture to attack it during their first two wars with the Samnites; it appears, however, to have fallen into their hands during the [[Third Samnite War]], though the exact occasion is unknown.

Benevento was certainly in the power of the Romans in 274 BC, when [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]] was defeated in a [[Battle of Beneventum (275 BC)|great battle]], fought in its immediate neighborhood, by the consul [[Manius Curius Dentatus]].<ref>[[Plutarch]] ''Pyrrh.'' 25; [[Frontinus]] ''Strategemata'' iv. 1. § 14.</ref> Six years later (268 BC) they further sought to secure its possession by establishing there a [[Colonia (Roman)|Roman colony]] with Latin rights.<ref>Livy ''Epit.'' xv.; [[Velleius Paterculus]] i. 14.</ref> It was at this time that it first assumed the name of Beneventum, having previously been called Maleventum, a name which the Romans regarded as of evil augury, and changed into one of a more fortunate signification.<ref>Pliny iii. 11. s. 16; Liv. ix. 27; Fest. ''s. v.'' Beneventum, p. 34; Steph. B. ''s. v.''; Procop. ''B. G.'' i. 15.</ref> It is probable that the [[Oscan]] or Samnite name was '''Maloeis''', or '''Malieis''' (Μαλιείς in [[Ancient Greek]]), whence the form Maleventum would derive, like Agrigentum from Acragas (now [[Agrigento]]), Selinuntium from Selinus (the ruins of which are at now [[Selinunte]]), etc.<ref>[[James Millingen]], ''Numnismatique de l'Italie'', p. 223.</ref>
[[File:Roman Theater terraces and stage.jpg|thumb|left|View of the Roman Theatre of Benevento.]]
[[File:Benevento (Panoramic from Taburno).jpg|thumb|left|Panoramic view of Benevento from the mount Pentime, part of the [[Taburno Camposauro]]]]
As a Roman colony Beneventum seems to have quickly become a flourishing place; and in the [[Second Punic War]] was repeatedly occupied by Roman generals as a post of importance, on account of its proximity to [[Campania]], and its strength as a fortress. In its immediate neighborhood were fought two of the most decisive actions of the war: the [[Battle of Beneventum (214 BC)|Battle of Beneventum]] (214 BC), in which the [[Carthage|Carthaginian]] general [[Hanno, son of Bomilcar|Hanno]] was defeated by [[Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus (consul 215 BC)|Tiberius Gracchus]]; the other in 212 BC, when the camp of Hanno, in which he had accumulated a vast quantity of corn and other stores, was stormed and taken by the Roman consul [[Quintus Fulvius Flaccus (consul 237 BC)|Quintus Fulvius Flaccus]].<ref>Liv. xxii. 13, xxiv. 14, 16, xxv. 13, 14, 15, 17; [[Appian]], ''Annib.'' 36, 37.</ref> And though its territory was more than once laid waste by the Carthaginians, it was still one of the eighteen Latin colonies which in 209 BCE were at once able and willing to furnish the required quota of men and money for continuing the war.<ref>Livy xxvii. 10.</ref> No mention of it occurs during the [[Social War (91–88 BC)|Social War]], although it seems to have escaped from the calamities which at that time befell so many cities of Samnium; towards the close of the [[Roman Republic]] Benevento is described as one of the most opulent and flourishing cities of Italy.<ref>Appian, ''B.C.'' iv. 3; Strabo v. p. 250; [[Cicero]] ''[[In Verrem]]'' i. 1. 5.</ref>

Under the [[Second Triumvirate]] its territory was portioned out by the Triumvirs to their veterans, and subsequently a fresh colony was established there by [[Augustus]], who greatly enlarged its domain by the addition of the territory of [[Caudium]] (now [[Montesarchio]]). A third colony was settled there by [[Nero]], at which time it assumed the title of ''Concordia''; hence we find it bearing, in inscriptions of the reign of [[Septimius Severus]], the titles '''Colonia Julia Augusta Concordia Felix Beneventum'''.<ref>Appian. ''l. c.''; Lib. Colon. pp. 231, 232; Inscr. ap. Romanelli, vol. ii. pp. 382, 384; Orell. ''Inscr.'' 128, 590.</ref> Its importance and flourishing condition under the [[Roman Empire]] is sufficiently attested by existing remains and inscriptions; it was at that period unquestionably the chief city of the Hirpini, and probably, next to Capua, the most populous and considerable city of southern Italy. For this prosperity it was doubtless indebted in part to its position on the Via Appia, just at the junction of the two principal arms or branches of that great road, the one called afterwards the [[Via Traiana]], leading thence by [[Aequum Tuticum]] (now [[Ariano Irpino]]) into [[Apulia]]; the other by [[Aeclanum]] to Venusia (now [[Venosa]]) and Tarentum (now [[Taranto]]).<ref>Strabo vi. p. 283.</ref>  Its wealth is also evidenced by the quantity of coins minted by Beneventum.  [[Horace]] famously notes Beneventum on his journey from [[Rome]] to Brundusium (now [[Brindisi]]).<ref>''Sat.'' i. 5, 71.</ref> It was indebted to the same circumstance for the honor of repeated visits from the emperors of Rome, among which those of Nero, [[Trajan]], and Septimus Severus, are particularly recorded.<ref>[[Tacitus]] ''Ann.'' xv. 34.</ref>
[[File:PiranesiArchTrajanBenevento.jpg|thumb|right|250px|The Arch of Trajan, provided with a [[portcullis]], as it appeared in the 18th century, etching by [[Giovanni Battista Piranesi]]. Some of the [[bas-relief]]s are now in the [[British Museum]].]] 
It was probably for the same reason that the [[triumphal arch]], the [[Arch of Trajan (Benevento)|Arch of Trajan]], was erected there by the senate and people of Rome and constructed by the architect [[Apollodorus of Damascus]] in 114. The Arch of Trajan is one of the best-preserved Roman structures in the Campania. It repeats the formula of the [[Arch of Titus]] in the [[Roman Forum]], with reliefs of [[Trajan]]'s life and exploits of his reign. Some of the sculptures are in the [[British Museum]]. Successive emperors seem to have bestowed on the city accessions of territory, and erected, or at least given name to, various public buildings. For administrative purposes it was first included, together with the rest of the Hirpini, in the second region of Augustus, but was afterwards annexed to Campania and placed under the control of the consular of that province. Its inhabitants were included in the Stellatine tribe.<ref>Pliny iii. 11. s. 16; Mommsen, ''Topogr. degli Irpini'', p. 167, in ''Bull. dell'Inst. Arch.'' 1847.</ref> Beneventum retained its importance down to the close of the Empire, and though during the Gothic wars it was taken by [[Totila]], and its walls razed to the ground, they were restored, as well as its public buildings, shortly after; and P. Diaconus speaks of it as a very wealthy city, and the capital of all the surrounding provinces.<ref>Procop. ''B. G.'' iii. 6; P. Diac. ii. 20; De Vita, ''Antiq. Benev.'' pp. 271, 286.</ref>

Beneventum indeed seems to have been a place of much literary cultivation; it was the birthplace of [[Lucius Orbilius Pupillus]], who long continued to teach in his native city before he removed to Rome, and was honored with a statue by his fellow-townsmen; while existing inscriptions record similar honors paid to another grammarian, [[Rutilius Aelianus]], as well as to orators and poets, apparently only of local celebrity.<ref>Suet. ''Gram.'' 9; Orell. ''Inscr.'' 1178, 1185.</ref>

The territory of Beneventum under the Roman Empire was of very considerable extent. Towards the west it included that of ''Caudium'', with the exception of the town itself; to the north it extended as far as the river Tamarus (now [[Tammaro]]), including the village of [[Pago Veiano]], which, as we learn from an inscription, was anciently called ''Pagus Veianus''; on the northeast it comprised the town of [[Aequum Tuticum]] (now ''Saint Eleutherio hamlet'', between [[Ariano Irpino]] and [[Castelfranco in Miscano]]), and on the east and south bordered on the territories of [[Aeclanum]] (now [[Mirabella Eclano]]) and Abellinum (now [[Avellino]]). An inscription has preserved to us the names of several of the pagi or villages dependent upon Beneventum, but their sites cannot be identified.<ref>Henzen, ''Tab. Aliment. Baebian'', pp. 93–108; Mommsen, ''Topogr. degli Irpini'', pp. 168–171.</ref>

The city's most ancient coins bear the legend "Malies" or "Maliesa", which have been supposed to belong to the Samnite, or pre-Samnite, Maleventum.  Coins with the legend "BENVENTOD" (an old [[Latin]] – or Samnite – form for Beneventor-um), must have been struck after it became a Latin colony.<ref>Millingen, ''Numismatique de l'Anc. Italie'', p. 223; Friedländer, ''Osk. Münz.'' p. 67; McClure, British Place-Names etc., p. 33.</ref>

===Duchy of Benevento===
{{main|Duchy of Benevento}}
Not long after it had been sacked by [[Totila]] and its walls razed (545), Benevento became the seat of a powerful [[Lombards|Lombard]] [[duchy]].<ref name="EB1911"/> The circumstances of the creation of [[duchy of Benevento]] are disputed. Lombards were present in southern Italy well before the complete conquest of the [[Po Valley]]: the duchy would have been founded in 576 by some soldiers led by [[Zotto]], autonomously from the Lombard king.
[[File:Italy 1000 AD.svg|left|180px|thumb|The Principality of Benevento as it appeared in 1000 AD.]]
Zotto's successor was [[Arechis I of Benevento|Arechis I]] (died in 640), from the [[Duchy of Friuli]], who captured [[Capua]] and [[Crotone]], sacked the Byzantine [[Amalfi]] but was unable to capture [[Naples]]. After his reign the [[Eastern Roman Empire]] had only Naples, Amalfi, Gaeta, Sorrento, the tip of Calabria and the maritime cities of [[Apulia]] left in southern Italy.

In the following decades, Benevento added some territories to the Roman-Byzantine duchy by conquest, but the main enemy was now the northern Lombard Kingdom itself. [[King Liutprand]] intervened several times, imposing a candidate of his own to the realm's succession; his successor [[Ratchis]] declared the duchies of Spoleto and Benevento to be foreign countries where it was forbidden to travel without royal permission.

With the collapse of the Lombard Kingdom in 773, [[Arechis II of Benevento|Duke Arechis II]] was elevated to Prince under the new [[Frankish Empire]], in compensation for having some of his territory transferred back to the [[Papal States]].

In November 774, the Duke of Benevento [[Arechis II of Benevento|Duke Arechis II]], immediately after being crowned prince, decided to send members of the Benevento Cortisani and [[Baccari]] families to occupy the central area of the [[Biferno]] river in the neighboring region of [[Molise]], seeking to expand their political dominance.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bozza|first=Francesco|url=http://web-serv.provincia.campobasso.it/biblioteca/link/Antistoria.pdf|title=L'antistoria nell'area del medio biferno: Ricostruzioni di cornici per le inquadrature di storia molisana|publisher=History Books|year=2014|location=Italia|pages=121|access-date=2021-07-27|archive-date=2021-07-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210726190220/http://web-serv.provincia.campobasso.it/biblioteca/link/Antistoria.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=2jwOAQAAIAAJ&pg=GBS.PA288&hl=en|title=Historiae urbium et Regionum Italiae rariores|date=1763|publisher=A. Forni|language=it}}</ref>
[[File:Church tower of Santa Sofia, Benevento 04.jpg|thumb|Map of Duchy of Benevento on the church tower of Santa Sofia.]]
Benevento was acclaimed by a chronicler as a "second Pavia"—{{lang|la|Ticinum geminum}}—after the Lombard capital was lost. This principality was short-lived: in 851, [[Salerno]] broke off under [[Siconulf]] and, by the end of that century, [[Capua]] was independent as well. Benevento was ruled again by the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]]s between 891 and 895.

The so-called ''[[Langobardia minor]]'' was unified for the last time by Duke [[Pandolfo Testa di Ferro]], who expanded his extensive control in the [[Mezzogiorno]] from his base in Benevento and [[Capua]]. Before his death (March 981), he had also gained the title of Duke of Spoleto from Emperor [[Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor|Otto I]]. However, both Benevento and Salerno rebelled to his son and heir, [[Pandulf II of Salerno|Pandulf II]].

The first decades of the 11th century saw two more German-descended rulers in southern Italy: [[Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry II]], conquered in 1022 both Capua and Benevento, but returned after the failed siege of [[Troia (FG)|Troia]]. [[Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor|Conrad II]] obtained similar results in 1038. In these years the three states (Benevento, Capua, and Salerno) were often engaged in local wars and disputes that favoured the rise of the [[Normans]] from mercenaries to ruler of the whole of Southern Italy. The greatest of them was [[Robert Guiscard]], who captured Benevento in 1053 after the [[Emperor Henry III]] had first authorised its conquest in 1047 when [[Pandulf III of Benevento|Pandulf III]] and [[Landulf VI of Benevento|Landulf VI]] shut the gates to him. These princes were later expelled from the city and then recalled after the pope failed to defend it from Guiscard. The city fell to Normans in 1077. It was a papal city until after 1081.

===Papal rule===
[[File:Benevento 1742.JPG|thumb|Papal Benevento on an 18th-century map]]
Benevento passed to the papacy peacefully when the emperor [[Henry III, Holy Roman Emperor|Henry III]] ceded it to [[Leo IX]], in exchange for the pope's consent to the establishment of the [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bamberg|Diocese of Bamberg]] (1053). [[Landulf II, Archbishop of Benevento]], promoted reform, but also allied with the Normans. He was deposed for two years. Benevento was the cornerstone of the papacy's temporal powers in southern Italy. The papacy ruled it by appointed rectors, seated in a palace, and the principality continued to be a papal possession until 1806, when [[Napoleon]] granted it to his minister [[Charles Maurice de Talleyrand|Talleyrand]] with the title of sovereign prince. Talleyrand was never to settle down and actually rule his new [[Principality of Benevento|principality]]; in 1815 Benevento was returned to the [[papacy]]. It was [[Unification of Italy|united with Italy]] in 1860.<ref name="EB1911"/>

Several popes personally visited Benevento. In 1128 [[Honorius II]] tried inviting [[Roger II of Sicily]] into the city in order to discuss peace terms, however, Roger refused to enter the city, for he felt unsafe within the city. Thus the two instead met on a bridge near Benevento. Only a year later, the city revolted against the Papal rule and Honorius had to beg Roger for assistance.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Matthew |first1=Donald |title=The Norman Kingdom of Sicily |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521269117 |page=32 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQfub3l_ejkC |language=en}}</ref>

In 1130, [[Antipope Anacletus II|Anacletus II]] fled from Rome to the safety of Benevento after hearing that his rival, [[Innocent II]] was gaining recognition in the north.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Matthew |first1=Donald |title=The Norman Kingdom of Sicily |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521269117 |pages=34–35 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQfub3l_ejkC |language=en}}</ref> When Anacletus created Roger the [[Kingdom of Sicily|king of Sicily]], he granted Roger the right to conscript the citizens of the city into military service, despite city itself remaining under Papal rule.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Matthew |first1=Donald |title=The Norman Kingdom of Sicily |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521269117 |pages=36–37 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQfub3l_ejkC |language=en}}</ref> The declaration was not well received, as the citizens became afraid that the city was about to be annexed into the newly found kingdom. Therefore, when Roger made his move against [[Robert II of Capua|Robert of Capua]] and began the civil war, Benevento sided with Robert and ousted Anacletus's supporters from the city.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Matthew |first1=Donald |title=The Norman Kingdom of Sicily |date=1992 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9780521269117 |pages=42–43 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CQfub3l_ejkC |language=en}}</ref>

[[Manfred of Sicily]] lost his life in 1266 in battle with [[Charles of Anjou]] not far from the town, in the course of the [[Battle of Benevento]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

===After the Italian unification===

After the [[unification of Italy]], Benevento was made provincial capital of the new [[Province of Benevento]], comprising territories formerly belonging to the dissolved [[Kingdom of the Two Sicilies]] ({{ill|Principato Ultra|it}}, [[Molise]], [[Terra di Lavoro]], [[Capitanata]]). In the following decades, the town saw considerable expansion and modernization; the local economy became increasingly diversified, with the traditional [[agriculture|agricultural]] sector (especially the [[cultivation of tobacco]] and [[cereals]]) being joined by growing [[confectionery]], mechanical, [[liquor]], [[lumber]] and brickmaking industries.

{{anchor|Allied air attacks}} During [[World War II]], Benevento's key position in the railway communications between [[Rome]] and [[Apulia]] resulted in the town being heavily bombed by the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] air forces in the summer of 1943. These raids caused 2,000 deaths and left 18,000 homeless out of a population of 40,000, and resulted in the destruction of half of the town.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337474421|title=Il Sannio sotto le bombe. Le incursioni aeree sulla provincia di Benevento durante la Seconda guerra mondiale|access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref><ref>[https://www.ilquaderno.it/-quot;1943-quot;-una-mostra-sui-bombardamenti-che-colpirono-benevento-123345.html "Benevento 1943", una mostra sui bombardamenti che colpirono Benevento]</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ricerca.repubblica.it/repubblica/archivio/repubblica/2009/09/13/benevento-43.html|title=Benevento' 43 |website=Archivio – la Repubblica.it|access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ntr24.tv/2015/08/21/a-benevento-unarea-intitolata-alle-2mila-vittime-dei-bombardamenti-americani-del-43/|title=A Benevento un'area intitolata alle 2mila vittime dei bombardamenti americani del '43 &#124; NTR24.TV – News su cronaca, politica, economia, sport, cultura nel Sannio|access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref> The railway and industrial districts were hit the hardest, but the old city centre also suffered heavily; the [[Benevento Cathedral|Cathedral]] was almost completely destroyed, and its reconstruction was only completed in the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.gazzettabenevento.it/Sito2009/dettagliocomunicato.php?Id=61337|title=Gazzetta di Benevento|website=www.gazzettabenevento.it|access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.canale58.com/articolo/sannio/12/bombe-su-benevento-gli-orrori-del-settembre-1943/31293|title=Bombe su Benevento, gli orrori del settembre 1943|website=Canale58|access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|url=https://www.academia.edu/2283538|title=I bombardamenti su Benevento nel 1943 in cinque fotografie aeree dei &quot;National Archives&quot; di Washington in: Samnium LXXIX (2006), S. 229–243.|first=Albador Daniel|last=Siegmund|access-date=17 December 2020|via=www.academia.edu}}</ref> After being briefly occupied by the Germans in the wake of the [[Armistice of Cassibile]], Benevento was liberated by the Allies on 2 October 1943.

Four years after the war, on 2 October 1949, Benevento was hit hard by a flood of the [[Calore Irpino]].

During the 1950s Benevento was mainly ruled by [[Partito Nazionale Monarchico|Monarchist]] or [[Movimento Sociale Italiano|MSI]] mayors, and then for three decades (until the 1990s) by the [[Christian Democracy]]. [[Public sector]] grew considerably during this period, becoming a prime source of employment for many inhabitants of the province; the town also saw increasing demographic expansion, resulting in a somewhat incontrolled [[building boom]]. In recent years, several [[urban renewal]] projects have been carried out in the old city centre, and Benevento has become the seat of the [[University of Sannio]] and several [[research institutes]].

===Jewish history===
{{see also|History of the Jews in Southern Central Italy}}
Epigraphical evidence show that a [[Jewish]] community had existed in Benevento since at least the fifth century.<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary.org">{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/benevento|title=Benevento|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.byzantinejewry.net/applications/mjcb/show_evidence_details.php?evidence_id=287|title=Details of evidence of Jewish community in the Byzantine Empire|website=www.byzantinejewry.net|access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref> In the 10th century, Jewish traveller [[Ahimaaz ben Paltiel]] described the Jewish community of Benevento, among other southern Italy towns.<ref>[[Ahimaaz ben Paltiel]]</ref> One of Paltiel's relatives established a [[Yeshiva]] in town, and a large part of his family resided in Benevento.<ref>{{cite book |authorlink=Robert Bonfil|last=Bonfil |first=Robert |title=History and Folklore in a Medieval Jewish Chronicle |url=https://archive.org/details/historyfolklorem00bonf |url-access=limited |location=Leiden |publisher=Brill |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-04-17385-9 |page=[https://archive.org/details/historyfolklorem00bonf/page/n92 74] }}</ref> In 1065, prince [[Landulf IV of Benevento]] forced a number of [[Jews]] to convert to [[Christianity]], which was censured by [[Pope Alexander II]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bnmal.it/sito/2013/06/ebrei-a-benevento-dal-ix-al-xvi-secolo/|title=BNMAL » Ebrei a Benevento dal IX al XVI secolo|access-date=2014-06-04|archive-date=2014-06-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140606214321/http://bnmal.it/sito/2013/06/ebrei-a-benevento-dal-ix-al-xvi-secolo/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Jewish traveller [[Benjamin of Tudela]], who visited Benevento in 1159 or 1165, described 200 Jewish families living in the city.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/2939-benevento|title=Benevento  |website=jewishencyclopedia.com|access-date=17 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Patai |first=Jennifer |title=The Myth of the Jewish Race |location=Detroit |publisher=Wayne State University Press |year=1989 |page=44 |isbn=0-8143-1948-3 }}</ref> Being under Papal rule (unlike the rest of southern Italy), the [[Jewish]] community of Benevento was not expelled, as most other southern Italy [[Jewish]] communities in 1541.<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary.org"/> Nevertheless, they were expelled from town later in 1569 under [[Pope Paul IV]].<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary.org"/> In 1617 the [[Jewish]] community was given permission to resettle, though were expelled again 13 years later after being accused of [[well poisoning]].<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary.org"/> There has been no organized Jewish community in Benevento since the expellation.<ref>{{Google books |id=jblYAwAAQBAJ |page=341 |title=Encyclopaedia Judaica: Ba-Blo }}</ref> However, an unorganized Jewish community has persisted. In recent years, a few Israeli Jews have faced occasional anti-semitic incidents.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://antisemitism.org.il/article/83571/swastikas-were-painted-store-ancient-city-benevento |title=CFCA – Swastikas were painted on a store in the ancient city of Benevento |access-date=2014-06-04 |archive-date=2014-10-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141028200312/http://antisemitism.org.il/article/83571/swastikas-were-painted-store-ancient-city-benevento |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ntr24.tv/it/news/cronaca/benevento-via-iii-settembre-svastiche-su-un-negozio-del-centro-storico.html |title=Benevento, via III settembre: Svastiche su un negozio del centro storico &#124; cronaca &#124; news &#124; NTR24 – l'informazione sul web |access-date=2013-12-05 |archive-date=2013-12-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131212031330/http://www.ntr24.tv/it/news/cronaca/benevento-via-iii-settembre-svastiche-su-un-negozio-del-centro-storico.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>