Richard, Count of Acerra

Richard of Acerra († 1196 in Capua ) was Count of Acerra.

Richard of Acerra was the son of Count Roger of Acerra and brother of the Sicilian Queen Sibyl. In 1190 he sent his brother, King Tancred of Lecce, in Apulia, there to fight the Staufer trailer Roger of Andria. After the retreat of Marshal Henry VI. , Henry Testa, he managed to capture Rogers. The following year he defended successfully Naples against the imperial troops. According to Peter of Eboli he took the imperial army commander Konrad von Lützelhardt Capua occupied by a betrayal. Peter tells an anecdote in which an imperial knight unsuccessful plunges from the walls of Capua, to kill Richard. In the following time only took King Tancred and then Count Richard of Calvi, the head of the troops.

The activities of Henry Richards during renewed push to Sicily in 1194 are unknown. However, Henry seems to have devoted more attention to taking his possessions. In 1196, the imperial commander Dietrich von Schweinspeunt him captured by treachery and delivered him to Henry VI. from. In Capua Richard was dragged by horses through the city and then hung upside down, so that he died. Henry's court jester is said to have driven during the execution jokes with Richard.