d modern era
Sorrento became an archbishopric around 420 AD. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, it was ruled by the Ostrogoths and then returned to the Eastern Empire. The Lombards, who conquered much of southern Italy in second half of the 6th century, sieged it in vain.
In the following centuries the authority of the far Byzantium empire faded, Sorrento became an autonomous duchy. It fought against the neighbour/rival Amalfi and the Saracens, and in 1133 it was conquered by the Norman Roger II of Hauteville, and thenceforth Sorrento's history followed that of the newly created Kingdom of Naples (known to contemporaries as Kingdom of Sicily; it is dubbed Kingdom of Naples to distinguish it from the island-based polity).
On June 13, 1558 it was sacked by elements of the Ottoman navy under the command of Dragut and his lieutenant Piali, as part of the struggle between the Turks and Spain, which controlled the southern half of Italy at that time. 2,000 captives were reportedly taken away. This struggle was waged throughout the Mediterranean and lasted many decades. The attackers were not "pirates" as often characterized, though some may have been mercenaries from North Africa. The campaigns were conducted on direct orders of Sultan Suleiman. The attack led to the construction of a new line of walls. The most striking event of the following century was the revolt against the Spanish domination of 1648, led by Giovanni Grillo. In 1656 a plague struck the city. However, Sorrento remained one of the most important centres of the southern Campania.
Sorrento entered into the Neapolitan Republic of 1799, but in vain. In the 19th century the economy of the city improved markedly, favoured by the development of agriculture, tourism and trade. A route connecting Sorrento to Castellammare di Stabia was opened under the reign of Ferdinand II (1830–1859).
In 1861 Sorrento was officially annexed to the new Kingdom of Italy. In the
