Roger was the

Latin Archbishop of Patras The Latin Archbishopric of Patras is the see of Patras in the period in which its incumbents belonged to the Latin or Western Church. This period began in 1205 with the installation in the see of a Catholic archbishop following the Fourth Crusad ...

and ruler of the Barony of Patras in

Frankish Greece The ''Frankokratia'' ( el, Φραγκοκρατία, la, Francocratia, sometimes anglicized as Francocracy, "rule of the Franks"), also known as ''Latinokratia'' ( el, Λατινοκρατία, la, Latinocratia, "rule of the Latins") and ...

from 1337 until ca. 1347. Roger succeeded William Frangipani on the latter's death in 1337. William, an energetic and capable man, had made the See of Patras effectively independent from the

Principality of Achaea The Principality of Achaea () or Principality of Morea was one of the three vassal states of the Latin Empire, which replaced the Byzantine Empire after the capture of Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. It became a vassal of the Kingdo ...

. Upon his death, and until Roger's arrival from Italy, the ''

bailli A bailiff (french: bailli, ) was the king's administrative representative during the ''ancien régime'' in northern France, where the bailiff was responsible for the application of justice and control of the administration and local finances in h ...

'' of the Principality, Bertrand of Les Baux, laid siege to Patras hoping to reduce it to obedience. In the event,

Pope Benedict XII Pope Benedict XII ( la, Benedictus XII, french: Benoît XII; 1285 – 25 April 1342), born Jacques Fournier, was head of the Catholic Church from 30 December 1334 to his death in April 1342. He was the third Avignon pope. Benedict was a careful ...

reacted by declaring the city "land of the Holy Roman Church" and placed the Principality under the

interdict In Catholic canon law, an interdict () is an ecclesiastical censure, or ban that prohibits persons, certain active Church individuals or groups from participating in certain rites, or that the rites and services of the church are banished from ...

. The mother and regent of the Prince,

Catherine of Valois Catherine of Valois or Catherine of France (27 October 1401 – 3 January 1437) was Queen of England from 1420 until 1422. A daughter of Charles VI of France, she was married to Henry V of England and gave birth to his heir Henry VI of England ...

, arrived in the Principality herself and confirmed the independence of the Archbishop. This independence was utilized by Roger and his successors, who henceforth played a crucial role in the internal feuds and plots of the Principality. Thus, faced with the repeatedly manifest inability of the

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

-based Angevin Princes to defend the interests of Achaea, in 1341 Roger participated along with other Achaean magnates in a conspiracy to offer control of the principality to John Kantakouzenos, the

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 Constantin ...

regent; these plans were foiled, however, by the outbreak of the Byzantine civil war. A few years later, in October 1344, at the Council of Roviata Roger headed another group of powerful barons who requested from

James III of Majorca James III ( – ), known as James the Rash (or the Unfortunate), was King of Majorca from 1324 to 1344. He was the son of Ferdinand of Majorca and Isabella of Sabran. Life James was born in Catania, Sicily. Margaret of Villehardouin, Jam ...

, a descendant of the Villehardouin family that had founded the Principality of Achaea, to take over its governance. This appeal too came to nothing, as James was engaged in wars against the

Aragon Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to so ...

ese and was killed in 1349.Topping (175), p. 130

References

Sources

* * {{authority control 13th-century births 14th-century deaths Latin archbishops of Patras Barons of the Principality of Achaea Roman Catholic archbishops in the Duchy of Athens Medieval Achaea