To administer his domain he hired many Greeks and Arabs, who were trained in long-established traditions of centralized government. Little is known of his childhood. who married Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor (1165 C.E. It was most likely worn as a symbol of the Norman's victory and new dynasty in Sicily. He then returned to Palermo, which he seldom left again. There, in June 1137, Lothair besieged and took Bari. The navy, by contrast, was predominantly Greek; its chief, known by the Arabic title “emir of emirs”—from which the word admiral derives—served also as head of the government, ranking second after the king himself. Roger's son, Sir Ralph King, distinguished himself at the battle of Agincourt in 1415. Gold Tari (1.20 gm. Roger II, King of Sicily (1130 AD) When you go to the Church of the Matorana in Palermo, you can’t help noticing this rather unusual mosaic of Christ crowning Roger II King of Sicily. Stitches and Techniques. King … He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in 1127, then King of Sicily in 1130 and King of Africa in 1148. Item Information. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, later became Duke of Apulia and Calabria (1127), then King … Cross potent dividing legend Spahrn° 6 [32] The king welcomed the learned and practised toleration towards the several creeds, races and languages of his realm. The two lions, separated by a central palm tree, are each attacking a camel. Details about 1130 Norman Roger II, King of Sicily, History, Micronesia 2000 MNH Millennium . through 1198 C.E.) www.metmuseum.org. By 999, Norman adventurers had arrived in southern Italy. In 1147, George set sail from Otranto with seventy galleys to attack Corfu. An illegitimate son of Duke Roger of Apulia and grandson of Roger II, king of Sicily, Tancred joined an insurrection in 1155 against his uncle William I of Sicily and was imprisoned for five years. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. He returned to check on his sons' progress in 1140 and then went to Ariano, a town central to the peninsular possessions (and a centre of rebellion under his predecessors). through 1250 C.E. Roger's first marriage was in 1117 to Elvira, a daughter of King Alfonso VI of Castile. The Kufic text around the bottom border of the mantle inform us that the mantle was made in the Palermo work shops of the Norman King, Roger II of Sicily between 1133-1134. In September 1129 Roger was generally recognized as duke of Apulia by Sergius VII of Naples, Robert of Capua, and the rest. Abulafia, "Norman Kingdom", 35, quoting Ibn al-Athīr. The excellentissimus princeps Jaquintus, who had led the rebellion of the city, was hanged, along with many of his followers, but the city avoided being sacked. Roger remained in Sicily, leaving its mainland garrisons helpless under the chancellor Robert of Selby, while even the Byzantine emperor John II Comnenus sent subsidies to Lothair. Roger II (22 December 1095[1] – 26 February 1154) was King of Sicily and Africa,[2] son of Roger I of Sicily and successor to his brother Simon. Released, he p [4] By 1016, they were involved in the complex local politics where Lombards were fighting against the Byzantine Empire. His son, by contrast, was a man of the Mediterranean. This Sir Ralph had a son, John King, whose son, Sir Thomas King, married Johanna Beauchamp, daughter of the Earl of Warwick. pada tahun 1091. King Roger II is known as an intellectual king who financed the translation of Arabic and … 47. [18] The pearls are from the Arabian Gulf, with thousands outlining each section of the embroidery. An ambitious new ruler who lacked the distinguished lineage so prized by the nobility, and a leader of an extraordinarily diverse population on the fringes of Europe, he occupied a unique space in the continent's charged political landscape. Roger II was the father of Constance of Sicily (1154 C.E. He began his rule as Count of Sicily in 1105, became Duke of Apulia and Calabria in 1127, then King of Sicily in 1130 and King of Africa in 1148. Coronation mantle of King Roger II of Sicily, gold embroidery and pearls on a red silk ground, 1133; in the Hofburg, Vienna. It is a luxury object made from red silk imported from the Byzantine Empire, its outer panels are embellished with gold embroidery, pearls, enamel and jewels. It capped Ranulf's meteoric career: twice victor over Roger. Roger II, (born December 22, 1095—died February 26, 1154, Palermo [Sicily]), grand count of Sicily (1105–30) and king of the Norman kingdom of Sicily (1130–54). Roger seems to have felt the slight, and this might explain his later reluctance to go crusading. Despite his repeatedly expressed wish to rest in Cefalù, the king was buried in the cathedral at Palermo, having created, in a Europe rent by schism and exhausted by the Crusades, not just a kingdom but a political and religious climate in which all races, creeds, and cultures were equally encouraged and equally favoured. He succeeded his elder brother Simon on September 28, 1105, at the age of nine. [1] In 1117, his mother, who had married Baldwin I of Jerusalem, returned to Sicily, since the Patriarch of Jerusalem had declared the marriage invalid. Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. When she died, rumors flew that Roger had died as well, as his grief had made him a recluse. Roger himself never went on an expedition against Byzantium, instead handing command to the skillful George. Two qualities, however, he had inherited from his Norman forebears: his energy and his ambition. There are also calls to the cosmos and constellations from the star shapes on the lion's heads. The Mantle of Roger II, the Norman king of Sicily (r. 1130-1154), is made of red silk and is embroidered with gold and silk thread as well as with applied semi-precious and glass jewels. Wikipedia: The church is renowned for its spectacular interior, which is dominated by a series of 12th century mosaics executed by Byzantine craftsmen. While there, centralising his kingdom, Roger declared a new standard coinage, named after the duchy of Apulia: the ducat. As mercenaries they fought the enemies of the Italian city-states sometimes fighting for the Byzantines and sometimes against them, but in the following century they gradually became the rulers of the major polities south of Rome. [12] The baronial resistance, backed by Naples, Bari, Salerno, and other cities whose aim was civic freedom, gave way. Born 22 December 1095, young Roger was educated by erudite Greek and Arab tutors, with the occasional Italian or Anglo-Norman visitor, and at court Italian … [17][16] The lining panels are separated into five sections made from three separate silks, each was woven with gold. Deprived of paternal influence from the age of five, Roger was brought up in a cosmopolitan, multilingual world of Greek and Muslim tutors and secretaries and soon revealed an exotic strain in his nature. Roger was the son of Count Roger I of Sicily and his third wife, Adelaide of Savona. Simon died four years later in 1105, at the age of 12. Though the island that Roger I and his brother Robert Guiscard had conquered was populated predominantly by Arabs—with a strong admixture of Greeks—Roger I had always remained essentially a Norman knight. After having been welcomed by the Salernitans, he recovered ground in Campania, sacking Pozzuoli, Alife, Capua, and Avellino. The latter was obvious enough in his complexion and in the darkness of his eyes and hair, but his contemporaries soon learned to their cost that he was a ruler for whom diplomacy, however tortuous, was a more natural weapon than the sword, and gold, however corrupting, a more effective currency than blood. Do not translate text that appears unreliable or low-quality. In 1136, the long-awaited imperial army, led by Lothair and the duke of Bavaria, Henry the Proud, descended the peninsula to support the three rebels. While his sons overcame pockets of resistance on the mainland, on 5 November 1139 Roger returned to Palermo to plan a great act of legislation: the Assizes of Ariano, an attempt to establish his dominions in southern Italy as a coherent state. Ranulf demanded the restitution of both wife and countship. [28], Sicily's geographic situation at the centre of Mediterranean made it a brilliant location for trade with Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. What’s so unusual about it is that it is Christ doing the crowning and not a Pope, as was the custom in … It is an example of heraldry, specifically with lions being symbolic of a powerful, male ruler. At Palermo, he gathered round him distinguished men of various races, such as the famous Arab geographer Muhammad al-Idrisi[31] and the Byzantine Greek historian Nilus Doxopatrius. Mainly thanks to him, a series of conquests were made on the African coast (1146–1153). [21] It is one of the only surviving mementos of Fatimid style royal garb, preserved in its entirety.[22]. It was around this time that Manuel and King Conrad III struck an agreement, planning a joint invasion that would ultimately lead to the partition of Roger's kingdom. This scene evokes a feeling of domination through its display of primal violence. Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, series of conquests were made on the African coast, "Sicily and the Staging of Multiculturalism", "Textile Connections? Roger II, Sicily’s greatest king, died 860 years ago on February 26. In 1130, the Duchy of Amalfi revolted and in 1131, Roger sent John of Palermo across the Strait of Messina to join up with a royal troop from Apulia and Calabria and march on Amalfi by land while George of Antioch blockaded the town by sea and set up a base on Capri. Leaving a garrison of 1,000 men, George sailed on to the Peloponnesus. A powerful fleet was built up under several admirals, or "emirs", of whom the greatest was George, formerly in the service of the Muslim prince of Mahdia. Text of Cod. Roger supported Antipope Anacletus II against Innocent II. This page was last edited on 16 February 2021, at 08:23. Adrian Fletcher’s Paradoxplace – Palermo and the First Normans – Photos, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Roger_II_of_Sicily&oldid=1007065195, Articles lacking in-text citations from December 2012, Articles needing additional references from September 2020, All articles needing additional references, Biography articles needing translation from Russian Wikipedia, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers, Wikipedia articles with PLWABN identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers, Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers, Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers, Wikipedia articles with multiple identifiers, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Constance married the future emperor Henry VI, bringing Sicily under the control of the Hohenstaufens. "Quantara- Mantle of Roger II of Sicily" www.qantara-med.org. In spring 1138, the royal army invaded the Principality of Capua, with the precise intent of avoiding a pitched battle and of dispersing Ranulf's army with a series of marches through difficult terrain. Roger made Sicily the leading maritime power in the Mediterranean. Roger I ruled the County of Sicily at the time of the birth of his youngest son, Roger, at Mileto, Calabria, in 1095. By 1122 all Calabria was his, and in 1127, when Duke William of Apulia died without issue, Roger laid claim to the duchy as his rightful heir. This policy even showed itself in his church buildings. These counts at least nominally owed allegiance to one of these three Norman rulers, but such allegiance was usually weak and often ignored. Condition:- … His mother was assisted by such notables as Christodulus, the Greek emir of Palermo. This collection of laws is the earlier of two related texts purporting to contain the legislation of King Roger (1130-54), the founder of the Kingdom of Sicily. [19] The enameled surfaces are also attributed to the Byzantine Empire, as they had many craftsmen specializing in this type of work. Be on the lookout for your Britannica newsletter to get trusted stories delivered right to your inbox. Raja Norman seperti King Roger 1, King Roger II, King Frederick II dan Charles I menyokong kuat perkembangan pengaruh kebudayaan dan keilmuan Islam. Bernard of Clairvaux, Innocent's champion, organized a coalition against Anacletus and his "half-heathen king." Roger, freed from the utmost danger, immediately disembarked in Calabria, at Tropea, with 400 knights and other troops, probably mostly Muslims. The royal army, split into several forces, easily conquered Aversa and even Alife, the base of the natural rebel leader, Ranulf. 1140s) translated from Latin by G. A. [30], Roger had now become one of the greatest kings in Europe. By July 1134, Roger's troops had forced Ranulf, Sergius, and the other ringleaders to submit. In 1109, Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos, bestowed upon him the title of protonobilissimos, in recognition of his knowledge of the Byzantine court. He entrusted finance to his Arab subjects, who also supplied him with the spearhead of his army. On June 5, however, Roger disembarked in Salerno, much to the surprise of all the mainland provinces. Updates? Simultaneously, Roger annexed Ranulf's brother's County of Avellino. The Laws of King Roger II (ca. Pearls were a common decoration on pan-Mediterranean textiles, however pearls were also used and admired on clothing by the Byzantine Empire. But they were no match for Roger’s particular technique of armed diplomacy, and in 1128 Pope Honorius II invested Roger as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily. Adelaide continued as regent to her younger son Roger, who was just nine years old.[7]. Aaron Fitz Roger, II Birth: circa 1260 Rome, Italy Death: 1270 (10) London, Middlesex, England Immediate Family: Son of Aaron Fitz Rogers, I and Mrs. Serlo Tancreed Husband of Wife of Aaron Fitz Roger Father of Aaron Fitz Roger, III Added by: Dean Tanner, Sr. on May 11, 2007 Managed by: Jon Brees Thogmartin FTDNA Mcclendon and 18 others He was joined by Louis VI of France, Henry I of England, and Lothair III, Holy Roman Emperor. "[27] By the 1150s most of this coinage was no longer in use and soon after, it disappeared altogether. After this coalition failed, in August 1128 Honorius invested Roger at Benevento as Duke of Apulia. At San Severino, after the victorious campaign, he and the pope jointly invested Ranulf as duke of Apulia in August 1137, and the emperor then retired to Germany. [12] The reward was a crown,[12] and, on 27 September 1130, Anacletus' papal bull made Roger king of Sicily. [14][15] This lavish item made for special events to show power and regality. However, the union of Sicily and Apulia was resisted by Pope Honorius II and by the subjects of the duchy itself. ; 1 2 mm.). The gold embroidery was most likely created by Muslim craftsmen, given the tiraz bands, the Arabic text in calligraphy, and Kufic script. It was these, combined with a gift for imaginative statesmanship all his own, that enabled him to profit from the fecklessness of his cousins—the son and grandson of Robert Guiscard—and to acquire, in return for military aid against a rebellious baronage, more and more of their mainland territories. Two Ifrīqiyan Church Treasuries in Norman Sicily and the Problem of Continuity across Political Change", Kapitaikin, Lev A. Subduing all opposition, he ruled it until his death in Palermo at the age of fifty-eight and it was said of him that he accomplished more in his sleep than other people did when awake. [8] In the summer of 1110, Roger was visited by the Norwegian king Sigurd Jorsalfare, who was on his way to Jerusalem. After the death of Anacletus in January 1138, Roger had sought the confirmation of his title from Innocent. Roger died at Palermo on 26 February 1154 and was buried in the Cathedral of Palermo. Roger’s reforms in laws and administration not only aimed to strengthen his rule but also to improve the economic standing of Sicily and southern Italy. The mosaics show many iconographic and formal similarities to the roughly contemporary programs in the Cappella … In 1112, at the age of sixteen, Roger began his personal rule, being named "now knight, now Count of Sicily and Calabria" in a charter document dated 12 June 1112. He ravaged the coast all along Euboea and the Gulf of Corinth and penetrated as far as Thebes, Greece, where he pillaged the silk factories and carried off the Jewish damask, brocade, and silk weavers, taking them back to Palermo where they formed the basis for the Sicilian silk industry. Roger is the subject of King Roger, a 1926 opera by Polish composer Karol Szymanowski. The important fortress of Aversa, among others, passed to the rebels and only Capua resisted, under the royal chancellor, Guarin. It formed part of the imperial regalia of the Holy Roman Empire. Henry, Robert, and Ranulf took a large contingent of troops to besiege the peninsular capital of the kingdom, Salerno. (2017). While they were away, Roger's half-sister Matilda, Ranulf's wife, fled to Roger claiming abuse. Early life. The Assizes of King Roger . It invested the king and his bureaucracy with absolute powers and reduced the authority of the often rebellious vassals. The imagery on the mantle is very striking as it is meant to exemplify Roger II's power and victory over the previous dynasty. Roger II of Sicily (22 December 1095-26 February 1154) was Count of Sicily from 1105 to 1130 (succeeding Simon ), Duke of Apulia and Calabria from 1127 to 1134 (succeeding William II and preceding Roger III ), Prince of Taranto from 1128 to 1132 (succeeding Bohemond II and preceding Tancred ), and King of Sicily from 27 September 1130 to 26 February 1154 (preceding William I ). He also incorporated the mainland territories of Calabria in 1122 and Apulia in 1127. Anacletus II died in January 1138, but Innocent II refused to reconcile with the King. Omissions? The nephew of Robert Guiscard and son of Count Roger I of Sicily, Roger II succeeded to Sicily at the age of nine in 1105 and took personal control in 1112, when he was sixteen. The king himself, more than any other ruler of his day, was an intellectual who had thought deeply about the science of government, and although he cherished no love for the empire of the East—which, like that of the West, maintained its claim to its former South Italian possessions—his whole upbringing inclined him toward the Byzantine concept of monarchy: a mystically tinged absolutism in which the sovereign, as God’s viceroy, lived remote and elevated from his subjects in a magnificence that reflected his intermediate position between earth and heaven. Please select which sections you would like to print: While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The manuscript dates from the late twelfth century. He also incorporated the mainland territories of Calabria in 1122 and Apulia in 1127. Loud was published in Medieval Italy on page 175. The mantle's pan-Mediterranean influence is brought out in the materials used to create it, the way it was made, and its design. Al-Idrisi in service of King Roger II. [b][10] Roger married his first wife, Elvira, daughter of Alfonso VI of Castile and his fourth queen, Isabella, who may be identical to his former concubine, the converted Moor, Zaida, baptised Isabella. Under the greatest of its admirals, George of Antioch, it subdued much of what is now Tunisia to form a profitable, if short-lived, North African empire; it captured Corfu; it harassed the Greek coast, abducting the best of the Theban silk workers to found the court workshop at Palermo; and in 1149 it sailed up the Bosporus to fire a few impudent arrows into the gardens of the imperial palace. After this he was quickly able to pacify his mainland realm, where his vassals—abetted by the German emperor Lothar II who led a large, though unsuccessful, expedition to South Italy in 1136–37—had kept up an almost permanent insurrection. According to Nicetas Choniates, the island capitulated thanks to George's bribes (and the tax burden of the imperial government), welcoming the Normans as their liberators. Roger was the son of Count Roger I of Sicily and his third wife, Adelaide of Savona. In Sicily itself, where the ban on large fiefs had left little opposition to Roger’s rule, the new kingdom steadily grew more prosperous. However, the pope wanted an independent Principality of Capua as a buffer state between the Kingdom of Sicily and the Papal States, something Roger would not accept. Share. [24] With the emperor's departure, divisions in his opponents' ranks allowed Roger to reverse his fortunes. [38] They had two children: Roger's third marriage was in 1151 to Beatrice of Rethel, a grandniece of King Baldwin II of Jerusalem. Coronation Mantle of Roger II of Sicily . Later, Roger exhumed his body from his grave in Troia cathedral and threw it in a ditch, only to repent subsequently and rebury him decently.