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).
Biography[]
Early life[]
Roger was born in Mileto, Calabria, Italy on 22 December 1095, a son of King Roger I of Sicily and Adelaide del Vasto. He inherited the County of Sicily from his brother Simon at the age of 10, and he began his personal rule in 1112. Roger married a daughter of Alfonso VI of Castile, and, in 1122, he backed William II of Apulia against Count Jordan of Ariano in exchange for William renouncing his claim to the Sicilian throne. On William's death in 1127, Roger inherited Apulia and Calabria from him, uniting southern Italy and Sicily under his rule.
Rise to power[]
This move was opposed by Pope Honorius II and the subjects of Apulia and Calabria themselves, and the Pope preached a crusade against Roger, leading to Robert II of Capua and Ranulf II of Alife conspiring against him. After this alliance felll apart in 1128, Honorius invested Roger as Duke of Apulia at Benevento. In 1130, he backed Antipope Anacletus II against Pope Innocent II, and Anacletus rewarded Roger with a crown, naming him "King of Sicily". He was crowned in Palermo on 25 December 1130, but Bernard of Clairvaux - Innocent's champion - convinced Louis VI of France, Henry I of England, and Lothair III of Germany to ally against Roger as southern Italy revolted. In 1131, Roger recaptured Amalfi from the rebels, and he then deposed Grimoald of Bari and replaced him with his son Tancred of Bari. His rivals Robert II of Capua and Ranulf II of Alife captured Benevento from the Papal States, and they defeated Roger at Nocera on 25 July 1132. Roger retreated to Salerno, but, in 1134, following a failed German intervention in Italy, Roger forced Ranulf and Sergius VII of Naples to submit. He then expelled Robert from Capua and installed his third son Alfonso of Hauteville as Prince of Capua. Roger II then gave his eldest son Roger the Duchy of Apulia. In 1135, Holy Roman Emperor Lothair, Pisa, Genoa, and the Byzantine Empire allied against Roger, and, in 1135, a Pisan fleet besieged Naples. Ranulf, Robert, and Sergius again rebelled in Naples, and Aversa and several other important fortresses passed under rebel control. Roger retook Aversa and Alife, but, after failing to take Naples, he returned to Messina late in the year.
In 1136, Emperor Lothair and Duke of Bavaria Henry the Proud invaded Italy. Salerno fell to the German-Norman army, and Bari fell to Lothair in June 1137. In August 1137, Ranulf was named Duke of Apulia, but Roger and an army of Muslim mercenaries conquered Naples from Sergius, ending the independent Neapolitan duchy and fully integrating the ancient city into the Norman realm. On 30 October 1137, at the Battle of Rignano, Ranulf defeated Roger and slew Sergius, and, even after Anacletus' death in 1138, Innocent II still refused to reconcile with Roger II. Ranulf died of malarial fever at Troia on 30 April 1139, and Roger ambushed and captured the Pope at Galluccio on 20 July 1139. The Pope recognized Roger as King of Sicily, Duke of Apulia, and Commander of Capua, and Bari fell to Roger later that year. Roger had Prince Jaquintus of Bari and his councillors hanged, ending the rebellions against his rule.
Roger was a tolerant king who hired many Greek and Arab administrators to govern his realm, and Sicily became the leading maritime power in the Mediterranean. From 1146 to 1153, Sicily's fleets made several conquests in North Africa. Tripoli fell in 1146 and Cape Bon in 1148, and Roger founded the Kingdom of Africa. In 1147, amid the Second Crusade, Roger sent a fleet to capture Corfu from the Byzantines, and his fleet also sacked Athens, ravaged Euboea, and kidnapped the Jewish craftsmen of Thebes and brought them back to Palermo to help the Sicilian silk industry. The expedition ended with the sack of Corinth. Roger died at Palermo in 1154