Roger I ( it, Ruggero I,
Arabic
Arabic (, ' ; , ' or ) is a Semitic languages, Semitic language spoken primarily across the Arab world.Semitic languages: an international handbook / edited by Stefan Weninger; in collaboration with Geoffrey Khan, Michael P. Streck, Janet C ...
: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār'';
Maltese: ''Ruġġieru'', – 22 June 1101), nicknamed Roger Bosso and The Great, was a
Norman
Norman or Normans may refer to:
Ethnic and cultural identity
* The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries
** People or things connected with the Norm ...
nobleman who became the first
Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101. He was a member of the
House of Hauteville
The Hauteville ( it, Altavilla) was a Normans, Norman family originally of Seigneur, seigneurial rank from the Cotentin. The Hautevilles rose to prominence through their part in the Norman conquest of southern Italy. By 1130, one of their members, ...
, and his descendants in the male line continued to rule Sicily down to 1194.
Roger was born in
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
, and came to southern Italy as a young man in 1057. He participated in several military expeditions against the
Emirate of Sicily beginning in 1061. He was invested with part of Sicily and the title of count by his brother,
Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...
,
Duke of Apulia
The County of Apulia and Calabria (), later the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria (), was a Norman state founded by William of Hauteville in 1042 in the territories of Gargano, Capitanata, Apulia, Vulture, and most of Campania. It became a duchy whe ...
, in 1071. By 1090, he had conquered the entire island. In 1091, he
conquered Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. The state he created was merged with the Duchy of Apulia in 1127 and became the
Kingdom of Sicily
The Kingdom of Sicily ( la, Regnum Siciliae; it, Regno di Sicilia; scn, Regnu di Sicilia) was a state that existed in the south of the Italian Peninsula and for a time the region of Ifriqiya from its founding by Roger II of Sicily in 1130 un ...
in 1130.
Conquest of Calabria and Sicily
Roger was the youngest son of
Tancred of Hauteville
Tancred of Hauteville (c. 980 – 1041) was an 11th-century Norman petty lord about whom little is known. He was a minor noble near Coutances in the Cotentin. Tancred is also known by the achievements of his twelve sons.
Various legends arose ...
by his second wife Fredisenda. Roger arrived in
Southern Italy
Southern Italy ( it, Sud Italia or ) also known as ''Meridione'' or ''Mezzogiorno'' (), is a macroregion of the Italian Republic consisting of its southern half.
The term ''Mezzogiorno'' today refers to regions that are associated with the peop ...
in the summer of 1057. The
Benedictine monk
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict ( la, Ordo Sancti Benedicti, abbreviated as OSB), are a Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), religious order of the Catholic Church following the Rule of Saint Benedic ...
,
Goffredo Malaterra
Gaufredo (or Geoffrey, or Goffredo) Malaterra ( la, Gaufridus Malaterra) was an eleventh-century Benedictine monk and historian, possibly of Norman origin. He travelled to the southern Italian peninsula, passing some time in Apulia before entering ...
, who compares
Robert Guiscard
Robert Guiscard (; Modern ; – 17 July 1085) was a Norman adventurer remembered for the conquest of southern Italy and Sicily. Robert was born into the Hauteville family in Normandy, went on to become count and then duke of Apulia and Calabri ...
and his brother Roger to "
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
and
Benjamin
Benjamin ( he, ''Bīnyāmīn''; "Son of (the) right") blue letter bible: https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/h3225/kjv/wlc/0-1/ H3225 - yāmîn - Strong's Hebrew Lexicon (kjv) was the last of the two sons of Jacob and Rachel (Jacob's thir ...
of old," said of Roger:
In 1057 he shared the conquest of nearly all of
Calabria
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 =
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographics1_title1 =
, demographics1_info1 =
, demographics1_title2 ...
excepting Reggio with his brother Robert. For a time Roger lived like a bandit in his castle of
Scalea Scalea ( Calabrian: , lit. "stair" or "ladder") is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy.
The town takes its name from its terraced layout on a hillside at the bottom of the Capo Scalea promonto ...
, near
Cosenza. In a treaty of 1062, the brothers divided the conquest so that each was to have half of every castle and town in Calabria. It was about this same time that Roger married
Judith d'Évreux
Judith d'Évreux ( † 1076) was a Norman noblewoman and Countess of Sicily.
Judith was the daughter of William d'Évreux and Hawise de Giroie, widow of Robert I de Grantmesnil.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Gesc ...
.
![Roger I de Sicilia en la batalla de Cerami, por Prosper Lafaye](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/Roger_I_de_Sicilia_en_la_batalla_de_Cerami%2C_por_Prosper_Lafaye.jpg)
Roger had first thought of conquering
Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
, population_blank1_title =
, population_blank1 =
, demographics_type1 = Ethnicity
, demographics1_footnotes =
, demographi ...
when he and his brother conquered Calabria. At the time, it was ruled by
Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s and the population were mostly
Byzantine Greek
Medieval Greek (also known as Middle Greek, Byzantine Greek, or Romaic) is the stage of the Greek language between the end of classical antiquity in the 5th–6th centuries and the end of the Middle Ages, conventionally dated to the Ottoman co ...
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
. The Arab princes had become all but independent of the sultan of
Tunis
''Tounsi'' french: Tunisois
, population_note =
, population_urban =
, population_metro = 2658816
, population_density_km2 =
, timezone1 = CET
, utc_offset1 ...
. In May 1061 the brothers crossed from
Reggio and captured
Messina
Messina (, also , ) is a harbour city and the capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of more than 219,000 inhabitants in ...
. In June 1063, Roger defeated a Muslim army at the
Battle of Cerami
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
and would strike another victory at the
Battle of Misilmeri
The Battle of Misilmeri was a battle fought in 1068 just outside Palermo during the Norman conquest of Sicily. The battle was fought between a raiding Norman force and a larger Muslim army consisting of both Kalbid Sicilians and Zirid Africans. ...
in 1068. After they took
Palermo
Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...
in January 1072, Robert Guiscard, as
suzerain
Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is calle ...
, invested Roger as Count of Sicily. Robert retained Palermo, half of Messina, and the north-east portion (the Val Demone). Not till 1085 was Roger able to undertake a systematic conquest.
In March 1086
Syracuse surrendered, and when in February 1091
Noto
Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and i ...
yielded, the conquest of Sicily was complete. Much of Robert's success had been due to Roger's support. After Robert died and Count Roger became the senior member of the family, he supported his nephew, Duke
Roger Borsa
Roger Borsa (1060/1061 – 22 February 1111) was the Norman Duke of Apulia and Calabria and effective ruler of southern Italy from 1085 until his death.
Life
Roger was the son of Robert Guiscard and Sikelgaita, a Lombard noblewoman. His ambiti ...
, against his other nephew, Prince
Bohemund of Taranto
Bohemond I of Antioch (5 or 7 March 1111), also known as Bohemond of Taranto, was the prince of Taranto from 1089 to 1111 and the prince of Antioch from 1098 to 1111. He was a leader of the First Crusade, leading a contingent of Normans on the qu ...
,
Lando IV of Capua Lando IV () was the Lombard prince of Capua from December 1091 until 19 June 1098, in opposition to Norman prince Richard II. Lando belonged to the family of the counts of Teano
Teano ( Teanese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Caser ...
, and other rebels. In return for his uncle's aid against Bohemund and the rebels, Duke Roger Borsa surrendered his share in the castles of Calabria to his Roger in 1085, and in 1091 his inheritance in Palermo, likewise.
Roger's rule in Sicily became more absolute than that of Robert Guiscard in Italy. In addition, due to immigration by Lombards and Normans,
Latin Christianity
, native_name_lang = la
, image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg
, imagewidth = 250px
, alt = Façade of the Archbasilica of St. John in Lateran
, caption = Archbasilica of Saint Joh ...
gradually replaced that of the Greek
Byzantine
The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinopl ...
tradition. At the
enfeoffment
In the Middle Ages, especially under the European feudal system, feoffment or enfeoffment was the deed by which a person was given land in exchange for a pledge of service. This mechanism was later used to avoid restrictions on the passage of ti ...
s of 1072 and 1092, no great undivided fiefs were created. The mixed Norman, French and Italian vassals all owed their benefices to the count. No feudal revolt of importance arose against Roger.
Conquest of Malta
In 1091 Roger, in order to avoid an attack from North Africa, set sail with a fleet to conquer
Malta
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
. His ship reached the island before the rest. On landing, the few defenders the Normans encountered retreated and the following day Roger marched to the capital
Mdina. Terms were discussed with the local ''
qadi
A qāḍī ( ar, قاضي, Qāḍī; otherwise transliterated as qazi, cadi, kadi, or kazi) is the magistrate or judge of a '' sharīʿa'' court, who also exercises extrajudicial functions such as mediation, guardianship over orphans and mino ...
''. It was agreed that the islands would become
tributaries
A tributary, or affluent, is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream or main stem (or parent) river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries and the main stem river drain the surrounding drainag ...
of the count himself and that the ''qadi'' should continue to administer the islands. With the treaty many Greek and other Christian prisoners were released, who chanted to Roger the ''
Kyrie eleison
Kyrie, a transliteration of Greek , vocative case of (''Kyrios''), is a common name of an important prayer of Christian liturgy, also called the Kyrie eleison ( ; ).
In the Bible
The prayer, "Kyrie, eleison," "Lord, have mercy" derives f ...
''. He left the islands with many who wished to join him and so many were on his ship that it nearly sank, according to Geoffrey Malaterra.
The invasion was romanticized in later centuries, and legends arose that the Count gave the Maltese their red and white flag by cutting a part of his banner.
Mass is said once a year in remembrance of the Count at the Cathedral of Mdina, as a recognition for the Count's role in liberating Maltese Christians from Muslim dominance and rule.
Rule of Sicily
![Calabria, trifollaro di ruggieri I d'altavilla, 1072-1101](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Calabria%2C_trifollaro_di_ruggieri_I_d%27altavilla%2C_1072-1101.JPG)
Politically supreme, the count also became master of the insular church. The Papacy, favouring a prince who had recovered Sicily from Greeks and Muslims, in 1098 granted Roger and his heirs the
Apostolic Legateship of the island. Roger created new Latin bishoprics at
Syracuse,
Girgenti and elsewhere, nominating the bishops personally, while he turned the archbishopric of Palermo into a
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
see. Of these bishops and other important clergy positions, a minority were French, and of those even fewer were Norman. Of the five new sees he founded, one bishop was Norman and three others were from other parts of France. He practiced general toleration towards Arabs and Greeks, even sponsoring the construction of over twelve Greek monasteries in the Val Demone region. In the cities, the Muslims, who had generally secured such rights in their terms of surrender, retained their mosques, their qadis, and freedom of trade; in the country, however, they became serfs. Roger drew the mass of his infantry from the Muslims;
Saint Anselm, visiting him at the
siege of Capua
The siege of Capua was a military operation involving the states of medieval southern Italy, beginning in May 1098 and lasting forty days. It was an interesting siege historically for the assemblage of great persons it saw and militarily for th ...
, 1098, found "the brown tents of the Arabs innumerable". Nevertheless, the Latin element began to prevail, as Lombards and other Italians flocked to the island in the wake of the conquest, and the conquest of Sicily proved decisive in the steady decline of Muslim power in the western Mediterranean from this time.
Death and succession
Roger I died on 22 of June 1101 in
Mileto and was buried at the Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Trinity. The abbey was destroyed in the earthquake of 1783. Its ruins are currently located in the Mileto Antica archaeological park.
Upon Roger's death, his son,
Simon of Hauteville {{Infobox royalty
, name = Simon of Sicily
, succession = Count of Sicily
, image =
, caption =
, alt =
, CoA =
, more = no
, reign = 1101 ...
, became the Count of Sicily, with his mother,
Adelaide del Vasto, acting as his regent. On 28 September 1105, at the age of 12, Simon died, and the title of count passed to his younger brother,
Roger II of Sicily, with Adelaide continuing on as regent, being the mother of Roger II as well.
Family
![Coat of Arms of Roger I of Sicily](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Coat_of_Arms_of_Roger_I_of_Sicily.svg)
Roger's eldest son,
Jordan
Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...
, predeceased him. Roger's second son,
Geoffrey, possibly illegitimate, was a
leper
Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the nerves, respiratory tract, skin, and eyes. This nerve damag ...
with no chance of inheriting.
Roger's first marriage took place in 1062, to
Judith d'Évreux
Judith d'Évreux ( † 1076) was a Norman noblewoman and Countess of Sicily.
Judith was the daughter of William d'Évreux and Hawise de Giroie, widow of Robert I de Grantmesnil.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Gesc ...
. She died in 1076, leaving daughters:
* A daughter, married Hugh of
Jarzé (died 1075/6), the first count of
Paternò
Paternò ( scn, Patennò) is a southern Italian town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily. With a population (2016) of 48,009, it is the third municipality of the province after Catania and Acireale.
Geography
Paternò ...
* Matilda (1062 – before 1094), wife of
Robert, Count of Eu
Robert, Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings (d. between 1089-1093), son of William I, Count of Eu, and his wife Lesceline. Count of Eu and Lord of Hastings.
Robert commanded 60 ships in the fleet supporting the landing of William I of England and ...
and
Raymond IV of Toulouse
Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse ( 1041 – 28 February 1105), sometimes called Raymond of Saint-Gilles or Raymond I of Tripoli, was a powerful noble in southern France and one of the leaders of the First Crusade (1096–1099). He was the Count o ...
* Adelisa (died 1096), married in 1083 to
Henry, Count of Monte Sant'Angelo Henry (died probably 21 December 1102A necrology of Montecassino dates his death to 21 December in an uncertain year. He is known to have been dead by August 1103.) was the Count of Monte Sant'Angelo, with his seat at Foggia, from November 1081.
...
* Emma (died 1120), briefly engaged to
Philip I of France
Philip I (23 May 1052 – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous, was King of the Franks from 1060 to 1108. His reign, like that of most of the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recovery from the low i ...
; married firstly
William VI of Auvergne
William VI of Auvergne (1096–1136) was a French count of the historically independent region of Auvergne, today in central France.
He was married to Emma, daughter of Roger I of Sicily
Roger I ( it, Ruggero I, Arabic: ''رُجار'', ''Rujār ...
and secondly
Rudolf of Montescaglioso.
In 1077, Roger married a second time, to
Eremburga of Mortain Eremburga of Mortain (Eremburge de Mortain) was the second wife of Count Roger I of Sicily and thus the second Sicilian countess. She is very obscure and details of her life are almost unknown to us today.
Her father was either William, Count of ...
, and their children were:
*
Mauger, Count of Troina
* Matilda, wife of
Ranulf II, Count of Alife
* Muriel (died 1119), married
Josbert de Lucy
* Constance
*
Felicia
The name Felicia derives from the Latin adjective '' felix'', meaning "happy, lucky", though in the neuter plural form ''felicia'' it literally means "happy things" and often occurred in the phrase ''tempora felicia'', "happy times". The sense o ...
, wife of
Coloman, King of Hungary
Coloman the Learned, also the Book-Lover or the Bookish ( hu, Könyves Kálmán; hr, Koloman; sk, Koloman Učený; 10703February 1116) was King of Hungary from 1095 and King of Croatia from 1097 until his death. Because Coloman and his younge ...
* Violante, married Robert, son of
Robert I of Burgundy
* Flandina, married
Henry del Vasto Henry del Vasto (Italia: ''Enrico del Vasto''), died before 1141 was a son of Manfred del Vasto, margrave of Western Liguria, and brother of Adelaide, countess of Sicily (1089–1117) and Jerusalem (1112–1117) and of Boniface, margrave of ...
* Judith (died 1136), married
Robert I of Bassunvilla
Roger's last wife was
Adelaide del Vasto, a sister of his son-in-law Henry del Vasto. They married in 1087. Roger and Adelaide's children were:
*
Simon of Sicily
*
Roger II of Sicily
* Maximilla (Matilda), wife of
Conrad II of Italy
Conrad II of Italy, also known as Conrad (III) (12 February 1074 – 27 July 1101), was the Duke of Lower Lorraine (1076–1087), King of Germany (1087–1098) and King of Italy (1093–1098). He was the second son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry&nb ...
Roger's other daughter called Matilda married
Guigues III, Count of Albon.
Ancestry
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
Aubé, Pierre. ''Roger II de Sicile. Un Normand en Méditerranée''. Payot, 2001.
* Alex Metcalfe
''The Muslims of Medieval Italy'' Edinburgh, 2009.
*
Norwich, John Julius. ''The Normans in the South 1016–1130''. London: Longmans, 1967.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roger 01 of Sicily
1030s births
1101 deaths
11th-century monarchs in Europe
Counts of Sicily
Italo-Normans
Norman warriors
Hauteville family
Norman conquest of southern Italy
Counts
Counts of Malta