Christodulus (died 1131) (, ''Christodoulos'', meaning "Slave of Christ;"

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

: ''Abdul Rahman al-Nasrani'', meaning "Slave of the All Merciful, the Nazarene"), probably either a

Greek Orthodox Greek Orthodox Church (, , ) is a term that can refer to any one of three classes of Christian Churches, each associated in some way with Greek Christianity, Levantine Arabic-speaking Christians or more broadly the rite used in the Eastern Rom ...

(the name was a common Greek Orthodox name) or a

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convert, was the first

emir Emir (; ' (), also Romanization of Arabic, transliterated as amir, is a word of Arabic language, Arabic origin that can refer to a male monarch, aristocratic, aristocrat, holder of high-ranking military or political office, or other person po ...

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , 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 province. The ...

(later '' ammiratus ammiratorum'') under the Normans. His rise occurred after the death of Count Simon of Sicily in 1105 and he held the position of emir by 1107, during the

regency In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

of Adelaide del Vasto for her son, King Roger II of Sicily. Originally, his position was considered that of a successor to the old Muslim governors of Palermo, but the importance of Palermo as the capital of the county and permanent seat of the Norman court, one of the largest cities in Europe and a major trading port, made his position of national significance. He was put in charge of the building of a

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and he received the titles of '' protonobilissimus'' and '' protonotary'' and was the president of the council of state. As such, he holds the first place in the development of the role of an admiral. In 1123, Christodulus led a naval expedition against the

Mahdia Mahdia ( ') is a Tunisian coastal city with 76,513 inhabitants, south of Monastir, Tunisia, Monastir and southeast of Sousse. Mahdia is a provincial centre north of Sfax. It is important for the associated fish-processing industry, as well as w ...

, but it failed miserably. He had appointed as his second-in-command George of Antioch, who was also a Greek, and the latter's brilliance in defeat began to overshadow the old emir. Christodulus was never out of favour, but his influence declined considerably after that and he was out of power by 1127, when he last appears beside George and King Roger at

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, and he probably died around that time as well. He was succeeded by his second-in-command George of Antioch.

Sources

* Norwich, John Julius. ''The Normans in the South 1016–1130''. Longmans: London, 1967. *Houben, Hubert (translated by Graham A. Loud and Diane Milburn). ''Roger II of Sicily: Ruler between East and West''. Cambridge University Press, 2002. *Cohn, W. ''Geschichte der Normannische Sizilische Flotte'', Breslau 1910, pp. 65–68. {{Authority control 11th-century births 12th-century deaths Medieval admirals Military history of the Kingdom of Sicily