Roger, count of
Andria
Andria (; Barese: ) is a city and ''comune'' in Apulia ( southern Italy). It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind Bari, Taranto, and Fogg ...
and
Great Chamberlain
Holders of the office of Lord Chamberlain of Scotland are known from about 1124.
It was ranked by King Malcolm as the third great Officer of State, called ''Camerarius Domini Regis'', and had a salary of £200 per annum allotted to him. He ancien ...
of Sicily, was a claimant for the
Sicilian throne after the death of
William II in 1189. He is claimed by some to have been a great-grandson of
Drogo of Hauteville
Drogo of Hauteville (''c''. 1010 – 10 August 1051) was the second Count of Apulia and Calabria (1046–51) in southern Italy. Initially he was only the leader of those Normans in the service of Prince Guaimar IV of Salerno, but after 1047 he was ...
, but this cannot be proven.
Roger, along with
Romuald Guarna, Archbishop of Salerno, was sent by William in 1177 to attend discussions in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
following the
Emperor
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on ...
's
defeat at Legnano—a victory in which Roger had participated—in the previous year. Together, the Sicilian envoys assented to the
Treaty of Venice
The Treaty or Peace of Venice, 1177, was a peace treaty between the papacy and its allies, the north Italian city-states of the Lombard League, and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily also took part in negotiations and ...
.
Roger initially resisted the claims of
Tancred of Lecce
Tancred ( it, Tancredi; 113820 February 1194) was King of Sicily from 1189 to 1194. He was born in Lecce an illegitimate son of Roger III, Duke of Apulia (the eldest son of King Roger II) by his mistress Emma, a daughter of Achard II, Count of ...
in favour of those of
Constance
Constance may refer to:
Places
*Konstanz, Germany, sometimes written as Constance in English
*Constance Bay, Ottawa, Canada
* Constance, Kentucky
* Constance, Minnesota
* Constance (Portugal)
* Mount Constance, Washington State
People
* Consta ...
, daughter of
Roger II
Roger II ( it, Ruggero II; 22 December 1095 – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa, son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in ...
, and wife of
Henry VI, son of Barbarossa, though he was a candidate himself. He had most of the barons of the peninsula on side, but Tancred's chancellor,
Matthew of Ajello Matthew of Ajello ( it, Matteo d'Aiello) was a high-ranking member of the Norman court of the Kingdom of Sicily in the 12th century. His brother John was a bishop.
Career
He first appears as the notary of the Admiral Maio of Bari who drew up th ...
, was spreading sordid tales of his private life and the count's support eroded fast. Roger joined with Count Richard of Carinola and
Henry Testa
Henry of Kalden (german: Heinrich von Kalden; – after 1214) was a '' ministerialis'' in the service of the German kings Henry VI, Philip, Otto IV, and Frederick II.
Life
Henry probably was a son of the Franconian noble Henry III ''Testa'' o ...
, the
marshal
Marshal is a term used in several official titles in various branches of society. As marshals became trusted members of the courts of Medieval Europe, the title grew in reputation. During the last few centuries, it has been used for elevated o ...
of Henry VI, and invaded
Apulia
it, Pugliese
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. They captured
Corneto
Tarquinia (), formerly Corneto, is an old city in the province of Viterbo, Lazio, Central Italy, known chiefly for its ancient Etruscan tombs in the widespread necropoleis, or cemeteries, for which it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage statu ...
, but at the siege of
Ariano,
Richard, Count of Acerra
Richard, count of Acerra (died 30 November 1196) was an Italo-Norman nobleman, grandson of Robert of Medania, a Frenchman of Anjou. Brother of Sibylla, queen of Tancred of Sicily, Richard was the chief peninsular supporter of his brother-in-law du ...
, tricked the count of Andria and captured him (1190). He executed him soon after.
Sources
''Annales Casinenses''.Translated by G. A. Loud.
*
Norwich, John Julius. ''The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194''. Longman:
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, 1970.
Italo-Normans
Norman warriors
1190 deaths
Counts of Andria
Year of birth unknown