| Roger I | |
|---|---|
 Roger I as he appears on atrifollaro minted atMileto | |
| Grand Count of Sicily | |
| Reign | 1071–1101 |
| Predecessor | Robert Guiscard (as Lord) |
| Successor | Simon of Hauteville |
| Born | c. 1031 ProbablyHauteville-la-Guichard,Duchy of Normandy |
| Died | 22 June 1101 Mileto,Duchy of Apulia and Calabria |
| Burial | Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Trinity, Mileto |
| Spouse | Judith d'Évreux Eremburga of Mortain Adelaide del Vasto |
| Issue more... | Jordan Geoffrey, Count of Ragusa Mauger, Count of Troina Felicia, Queen of Hungary Simon, Count of Sicily Roger II of Sicily |
| House | Hauteville |
| Father | Tancred of Hauteville |
| Mother | Fredisenda |
Roger I (Italian:Ruggero;Arabic:رُجار,romanized: Rujār;Maltese:Ruġġieru;Norse:Rogeirr;c. 1031[1] – 22 June 1101), nicknamed "Roger Bosso" and "Grand Count Roger",[a] was aNorman nobleman who became the firstGrand Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101.
As a member of theHouse of Hauteville, he participated in several military expeditions against theEmirate of Sicily (beginning in 1061). He was later invested with part of Sicily by his brother,Robert Guiscard,Duke of Apulia, in 1071.[2] By 1090, he had conquered the entire island. In 1091, heconquered Malta. The state he created was merged with the Duchy of Apulia in 1127 and became theKingdom of Sicily in 1130. His descendants in the male line continued to rule Sicily down to 1194.
Roger was born inNormandy, probably in the village ofHauteville-la-Guichard, of which his father wasseigneur. He was the youngest son ofTancred de Hauteville and his second wifeFressenda.[3] Through his mother he was possibly grandson ofRichard the Fearless. Little is known about his and his brothers' lives before the expeditions toSouthern Italy.
Roger arrived inSouthern Italy as a young man in the summer of 1057.[4] TheBenedictine monkGoffredo Malaterra, who comparesRobert Guiscard and his brother Roger to "Joseph andBenjamin of old," gives this description of Roger:
He was a youth of the greatest beauty, of lofty stature, of graceful shape, most eloquent in speech and cool in counsel. He was far-seeing in arranging all his actions, pleasant and merry all with men; strong and brave, and furious in battle.[5]
His travel to Italy, together with his brotherRobert, was caused by the death of their older half-brotherHumphrey,Count of Apulia. While Robert, being the oldest among the two, inherited the main title, Roger became his vassal after being given the newly conquered County ofCalabria.
For a time, Roger lived like a bandit in his castle ofScalea, nearCosenza.[4] In a treaty of 1062, the brothers divided the conquest so that each "was to have half of every castle and town in Calabria".[6] Roger then established his court atMileto. OnChristmas 1061, he marriedJudith d'Évreux, daughter of thecount of Évreux,William.
The two brothers then conqueredReggio, the only city in Calabria still underGreco-Roman control, after a long and difficultsiege. The fort ofSquillace, where the Byzantine soldiers took refuge, was taken too. From the fortresses of Calabria, the two brothers started planning the conquest ofSicily, at the time controlled byMuslims.[7]
At the time, Sicily was ruled byMuslims, and the population was composed mostly ofByzantine GreekChristians. The Arab princes controlling the island had become all but independent from the sultan ofTunis.
Robert and Roger found the excuse to invade Sicily after the request for help fromIbn al-Thumna, emir ofCatania, who was at war with his brother-in-law,Ibn al-Hawwas, emir ofAgrigento. In May 1061 the brothers crossed fromReggio and capturedMessina.[7] From then on, they advanced almost undisturbed all the way toCastrogiovanni.
A disagreement between Roger and Robert led the former to leave Sicily, but he quickly returned along with CountessJudith to defend the inhabitants ofTroina, then threatened by the Muslims. He was well received by the Greek peasants. While Roger was seizingNicosia, however, the same Greeks tried to capture the poorly-guarded countess, and Roger had to turn back to save his wife. Despite the Muslims joining forces with the Greeks, Roger managed to defeat them[b] and continued his advance.
In June 1063, Roger defeated a Muslim army at the famousBattle of Cerami.[8] Even ifGoffredo Malaterra reports an utterly exaggerated account of the battle, we know thatSerlo II, Roger's nephew, led a smaller army in the conflict. According to legend,Saint Michael Archangel, shining with light, appeared galloping in front of theChristians and guided them to victory.
After putting together an army of 500 soldiers, Roger tried to seize control ofPalermo, but after three months of scarce results, he decided to abandon the idea. His demeanor kept increasing, and he won another important victory at theBattle of Misilmeri in 1068, against a much bigger Islamic army.
After DukeRobert conqueredBari, lastByzantine holding inItaly, in 1070, he redirected his focus to Sicily, and helped Roger in the conquest of the island's major cities. In 1071, Roger was given the title ofGrand Count of Sicily,[9] while Robert keptMessina andVal Demone for himself. The two brothersbesieged Palermo on opposite sides, and the Muslims resisted for 5 months. Then Guiscard managed to open a door for his brother to enter the city, and on 10 January 1072 Palermo was finally taken. Few cities remained for Sicily to be fully controlled.
When Robert died in 1085, Roger, being the senior member in the family, had to return to Apulia to settle the dispute amongBohemond, Robert's first son byAlberada (considered illegitimate), andRoger Borsa, Robert's first son bySikelgaita. In return for supporting Roger Borsa, he got to keep Calabria, which had been given to him by Robert, for himself, and was later given Palermo in 1091.
Returned to Sicily, Roger went to war withBenavert, emir ofSyracuse andNoto. On May 1086, together with his sonJordan, Roger launchedan attack on Syracuse. In the middle of the night they attacked the Saracen fleet, taken by surprise. Roger directly jumped on Benavert'sgalley, and the emir, frightened, tried to jump on another boat, but failed and drowned because of his heavy armor. Benavert's death caused confusion, and in October Syracuse surrendered because of hunger.
After Syracuse, in 1087Agrigento fell to the Normans, together withCastrogiovanni, as they were both held byemir Kamut. During the siege ofButera in 1089, Roger was notified about the arrival ofPope Urban II atTroina, and had to leave the work to his men. He treated the Pope with utter respect and was given precious gifts. He then returned to Butera, which fell in 1090. Arrived atMileto to celebrate his marriage toAdelaide del Vasto, he received some ambassadors from the city of Noto who asked for peace and surrendered to Sicily. Finally, in 1091, Roger controlled the whole island.[10]
Roger's rule in Sicily became more absolute than that of Robert Guiscard in Italy. In addition, due to immigration by Lombards and Normans,Latin Christianity gradually replaced that of the GreekByzantine tradition. At theenfeoffments of 1072 and 1092, no great undivided fiefs were created. The mixed Norman, French and Italian vassals all owed their benefices to the count. No feudal revolt of importance arose against Roger.
In 1091 Roger, in order to avoid an attack from North Africa, set sail with a fleet to conquerMalta. His ship reached the island before the rest. On landing, the few defenders the Normans encountered retreated and the following day Roger marched to the capitalMdina. Terms were discussed with the localqadi. It was agreed that the islands would becometributaries of the count himself and that theqadi should continue to administer the islands. With the treaty many Greek and other Christian prisoners were released, who chanted to Roger theKyrie eleison. He left the islands with many who wished to join him and so many were on his ship that it nearly sank, according to Geoffrey Malaterra.[11] The invasion was romanticized in later centuries, and legends arose that the Count gave the Maltese their red and white flag by cutting a part of his banner.[12]
Politically supreme, the count also became master of the island's church. The Papacy, favouring a prince who had recovered Sicily from Greeks and Muslims, in 1098 granted Roger and his heirs theapostolic legateship of the island. Roger created new Latin bishoprics atSyracuse,Girgenti and elsewhere, nominating the bishops personally, while he turned the archbishopric of Palermo into aCatholic see. Of these bishops and other important clergy positions, a minority were French, and of those even fewer were Norman. Of the five new sees he founded, one bishop was Norman and three others were from other parts of France.[13] He practiced general toleration towards Arabs and Greeks, even sponsoring the construction of over twelve Greek monasteries in the Val Demone region.[14] In the cities, the Muslims, who had generally secured such rights in their terms of surrender, retained their mosques, their qadis, and freedom of trade; in the country, however, they became serfs. Roger drew the mass of his infantry from the Muslims;Saint Anselm, visiting him at thesiege of Capua, 1098, found "the brown tents of the Arabs innumerable". Nevertheless, the Latin element began to prevail, as Lombards and other Italians flocked to the island in the wake of the conquest, and the conquest of Sicily proved decisive in the steady decline of Muslim power in the western Mediterranean from this time.[citation needed]
Roger I died on 22 of June 1101 inMileto and was buried at the Benedictine Abbey of the Holy Trinity. The abbey was destroyed in the earthquake of 1783. Its ruins are currently located in the Mileto Antica archaeological park.
Upon Roger's death, his son,Simon of Hauteville, became the Count of Sicily, with his mother,Adelaide del Vasto, acting as his regent. On 28 September 1105, at the age of 12, Simon died, and the title of count passed to his younger brother,Roger II of Sicily, with Adelaide continuing on as regent, being the mother of Roger II as well.[15]
Roger had three known illegitimate sons:
Roger's first marriage took place in 1062, toJudith d'Évreux.[16] The marriage produced only daughters:
In 1077, a year after Judith's death, Roger married a second time, toEremburga of Mortain.[18] Their children were:
In 1087 Eremburga died, and Roger remarried toAdelaide del Vasto, a sister of his son-in-law Henry del Vasto. Roger and Adelaide's children were:
One of Roger's daughters, named Matilda, marriedGuigues III, Count of Albon.
| Preceded by New creation | Count of Sicily 1071–1101 | Succeeded by |
