Chapter II: Duke Roger/King Ruggerio I (1061 AD -1112 AD)
Early Life
The firstborn son of Robert Guiscard and his second wife Sichelgaita Lantpertidi spent the majority of his youth living in the shadow of his father. Young Roger was born with a hunched back, a condition that would haunt him for the rest of his life. Roger would often wear thick clothing so as to hide his condition, which unfortunately did not sit well with the warm Mediterranean weather.
But what caused Roger the most grief was that his hunched back impeded his dreams of becoming a great warrior like his father and uncle, the latter of whom he was named after. He had difficulty climbing up the steps of the keep on his own, much less wielding a sword. His cousin, Count Robert of Lanciano, recalled watching a six-year-old Roger practicing his swordplay in the royal training grounds. He wrote a letter to the Duke shortly after, saying:
"The boy has the spirit of his ancestors in him, Your Grace. But the problem is that his body holds him back. He could not even swing his practice sword without stumbling to the dirt."
But it was as Count Robert had said. Though young Roger did not inherit his father's martial prowess, he inherited his ambition and warrior's spirit. It was something that not even the great Robert Guiscard could tame. To keep his son's determination in check, Robert would take him out on hunting trips, teaching him how to properly wield a bow in spite of his condition. On one such hunting trip, Roger, nine years of age at the time, stumbled upon a doe whose leg was wounded by a snare. Without a moment's hesitation, Roger drew his bow and struck the doe down, an act that drew praise from his father.
Perhaps it was then that Roger believed that he was destined for greatness.
Roger also learned that martial prowess was not the only necessity of being a good ruler. He was taught philosophy, history and politics. Aside from the local Sicilian language, he learned Greek as well as D'Oil, the language of his Norman ancestors. Roger proved himself to be especially adept in diplomacy, his fluency in Greek impressing courtiers and foreign dignitaries alike.
Still, the warrior's spirit of Roger would never be truly tamed. Even in his adulthood, he still pursued the martial life of his Norman ancestors. He would conduct military drills in the courtyard every year, leading the troops atop his black warhorse Tencendur. This warhorse, named after the personal steed of the great conqueror Charlamagne, had been a personal gift from the Duchess of Tuscany. Roger and Tencendur were practically inseparable, with no one but Roger himself allowed to ride it.
Marriage
Robert Guiscard had betrothed his son to the Doux of Cyprus's daughter, Euphrasia Pegonites. Although the wedding ceremony, which took place on the 2nd of March 1079, was met with fanfare, the marriage itself soon proved to be wanting in love. Roger had little in common with his wife, who was only two years younger than him. While Roger was crass and rugged, Euphrasia was both beautiful and refined. Euphrasia often kept to herself, whereas Roger was always driven and outspoken. Euphrasia was also born from Greek nobility whose roots date back centuries to the time when the Imperium Romanum was at its peak. Roger and his family were, in comparison, seen as unwashed barbarians whose rise to power was through cutthroat opportunism.
To make matters worse, the couple's loveless marriage soon became apparent in court. There were rumours that Roger's passion lay not in the company of women, much less his beautiful wife, but in that of men. Nevertheless, the union saw the birth of many children, beginning with a healthy boy by the name of Augustu, named after the first Roman Emperor.
Duke of Apulia (1081 AD - 1093 AD)
The Tumultuous Early Years
Southern Italy after Robert Guiscard's death in 1081AD.
1) Duchy of Apulia 2) Duchy of Calabria
3) Duchy of Salerno 4) Republic of Benevento
After the death of Robert Guiscard in the Summer of 1081, his realm was partitioned between his two sons. Roger inherited the northern lands while his younger brother Guy inherited the southern half, which Guy formed into the Duchy of Calabria. This quickly became a source of tension between the two brothers, for Guy's possessions were undoubtedly the more prosperous of the two duchies. Guy's seat of power was in Sicily, whose fertile lemon and orange fields provided him with much wealth. Meanwhile, the counties of Capua and Naples, whose lords had pledged allegiance to the younger Altavilla brother, were highly urbanised and had large populations from which he could easily amass a large number of levies. In contrast, only one of Roger's vassals, the County of Lanciano, whose forests were a rich source of timber, had anything of worth to the ambitious Duke. And unlike his older brother, Guy was handsome and, more importantly, showed the potential to be a warrior like his Norman ancestors. These qualities were what made him popular among the lords, and what Roger feared more than a more powerful rival was one that was more popular than him.
However, what Roger had that Guy lacked was a designated heir should he pass away. Their father Robert had supposedly failed to find a suitable bride for Guy. The more likely case, however, was due to Guy's severe bout of consumption. Due to the severity of Guy's condition at the time, it was thus possible that Robert saw little need in finding his son a bride.
While the stalemate between the two brothers persisted, the early years of Roger's reign were marked by a personal tragedy. When Robert Guiscard was still alive, his court had been plagued by a string of grisly murders. The victims' bodies were found cut up in pieces as if they had been delivered by a butcher. On the 5th of April, 1082, Roger found a mysterious letter in his chambers. Written in blood, it read:
"You will end this search at once. Nothing good can come from uncovering my identity, and I will make sure that nothing good comes your way if you keep trying."
Roger's response was unclear, but servants recalled witnessing the Duke having an argument with one of his father's knights named Agapitu along the corridors of the keep. The argument ended with the old knight storming away in a huff, while Roger himself had a worried look on his face.
On the 5th of May, the body of Augustu, just two months shy of his second name day, was found strung up on the walls of the keep. Hidden in the folds of his clothes was another letter written in blood. This time, it read:
"This is my last victim - my last gift to you, Duke Roger. But do not fear, I will still be around, watching you."
Roger almost went mad with grief, and soon secluded himself in his chambers. Not even his wife was allowed to enter, and servants had to usher her to one of the guest rooms where she could mourn the loss of their son as well. The letters are kept in the Stato di Archivo to this day, but the killer's identity remains unsolved and perhaps may never will.
But in the eyes of the common folk, the unexpected death of the young heir was seen as a bad omen for Roger's reign. And with war with Guy seemingly on the horizon, things seemed grim indeed for Roger.
A Reversal of Fortunes
Two years later, on the 31st of March, Guy was found dead in his chambers. The court physician reported that the young duke had relapsed into consumption, but others believed that he had been murdered. As Guy lacked a bride or a designated heir, his lands, titles and vassals were passed on to his older brother Roger. It was an unexpected coup for Roger, for the lands that his father and uncle had conquered were now reunited under his banner. But he needed a glorious conquest to consolidate his rule.
Thus, on 1 July 1084, Roger declared war on the Duchy of Salerno, ruled by his uncle Gisulf. After an eight-month siege, the city of Salerno eventually fell to the Sicilians in the Spring of 1085. The fall of Capua solidified the Altavillas' dominion over Southern Italy with the sole exception being the Republic of Benevento, which was under the protection of the Papacy.
With his authority now consolidated, Roger chose to focus on ruling over his domains. Southern Italy soon experienced a period of prosperity and stability that would last for almost fifteen years. During these years of peace, his wife gave birth to a son and heir - Lurenzu de Altavilla.
King of Sicily (1093 AD - 1112 AD)
The First King
The Duchy of Apulia on the eve of Roger's crowning, c. 1093 AD.
Roger, ambitious as ever, was no longer content with the simple title of Duke. He now craved the title of a King who would stand alongside the other monarchs of Europe. But he first needed the recognition of the Papacy, which had a tumultuous history with Roger's family since the days of the Norman conquests. Thus Roger needed to curry favours with the Supreme Pontiff at the time, Silvester IV.
The Hautevilles had always maintained an ambivalent attitude towards the Greek and Saracen populations that continued to live in their newly conquered lands as subjects. But this was to change under Roger's rule. To prove his goodwill to Pope Silvester IV, Roger began a sweeping process of conversions to Catholicism across the realm, particularly on the island of Sicily This was a process made easier by the influx of Catholic settlers from the mainland, whose growing presence on the island consequently pushed the Greeks and Saracens to the fringes of society. Ruggerio allowed the Maghrebs to resettle themselves in Siracusa, whose interests were eventually represented in 1098 by a local nobleman by the name of Abisalom Ayubidd.
Ruggerio's efforts nevertheless were enough to please the Pope and on the 30th of July 1193, Roger was crowned King of Sicily as Ruggerio I. In commemoration of this event, Ruggerio relocated his capital to Palermo while bequeathing the old family seat in Apulia to his half-brother Bohemond, who was then the Count of Malta. This decision continues to be fiercely debated among scholarly circles, for the old family seat of the Altavillas would give Bohemond's family a strong position to challenge Ruggerio's claims to the throne.
Nevertheless, for the next seven years, the kingdom flourished economically and culturally. Ruggerio became a frequent patron of the arts and with the revenue that constantly flowed into the state treasury, he was able to finance numerous projects. Such projects included an ornamental dagger that displayed symbols and phrases dedicated to the Normans' patron saint St. George as well as The Book of Sicilian Chivalry, a tome detailing the exploits of Ruggerio's Norman ancestors. Even his eldest daughter Lucrezzia, an aspiring artist herself, received her father's spiritual and financial support. She crafted an ornamental coffret made of the finest ivory imported from Africa, with the box and its lid painted with a wolf's head. These artifacts are currently displayed in the grand hallway of the royal palace for courtiers and dignitaries to see.
In 1096, Queen Euphrasia was pregnant with a fourth child. But the child was stillborn, much to the anguish of the royal couple.
First War of Sardinia
The Normans were never ones to remain idle, and Ruggerio soon needed another glorious war to placate his battle-hungry lords. He soon cast his eyes across the Tyrrhenian Sea and towards the island of Sardinia. Once an independent Duchy, the island was conquered by the Athbejid Emirate of Zab in the winter of 1096. There were admittedly merits to a Sardinian Campaign. One was that Ruggerio would be able to present himself as a liberator of the local Catholic population, putting him in good standing with both the Papacy and his fellow Christian monarchs. Another merit was the bountiful mineshafts in the Sardinian town of Argentiera, which were said to possess untouched veins of gold and silver.
However, simply declaring war on the Athebjid Emirate was far from a simple task, for it had many powerful allies. The most dangerous of them was the mighty Almoravid dynasty, whose domains extended from Southern Morocco to the Barbary Coasts of Maghreb. Ruggerio thus needed powerful allies of his own. To that end, he extended marriage alliances to the Kingdom of France as well as the Duchy of Bavaria. Its duke, Heinrich IX of the House of Nordheim, was at the time one of the most powerful vassals in the Holy Roman Empire. Ruggerio's daughter Rosa was betrothed to the future King Henri II while Lucrezzia was betrothed to Duke Heinrich's son Engelbert.
With both alliances solidified by 1098, Ruggerio began to prepare for war. On the first day of February 1100, he declared war on the Athebejid Emirate and its allies. While the total force of Ruggerio and his allies remains unknown, the Sicilian army alone possessed 200 light horsemen and mounted knights, 200 archers, 400 infantry made up of pikemen and light footmen, 20 catapults, and over 3000 armed levies. It is safe to assume that the French and Bavarians at the very least each had armies of comparable size. The Duchy of Cyprus, inherited by Queen Euphrasia in the summer of 1093 after the unexpected passing of her three brothers, had 1500 men.
However, Ruggerio soon made his first grave error. Eager to seize the initiative and the glory that came with it, Ruggerio quickly sailed his army across the Tyrrhenian Sea while his allies were still mobilising their troops. His first target was the city of Cagliari, ruled by the Emir's vassal Count Muzaffaraddin ibn Farqad. 6 months into the Siege of Cagliari, however, Ruggerio soon received reports from his scouts that the combined Saracen army, a mighty force of 10,000 men, a day away from landing on Sardinia. With his allies unable to meet up with him in time, Ruggerio had no choice but to break the siege and retreat up north to the city of Olbia.
By winter, both the French and Cypriot armies had arrived in Olbia, but there was still no sign of the Bavarians. It was then that Ruggerio received dire news. Duke Heinrich was embroiled in a war of his own -- against the neighbouring Duchy of Krain. With the Saracen army just a few days' march from Olbia, Ruggerio and his remaining allies had little choice but to face them without the Bavarians.
What followed soon after was one of the most disastrous battles in Sicilian history. Though details of the Battle of Olbia remain unclear, it was known that half of the Sicilian army had been decimated while French losses were just as severe. While the Saracens were reported to have sustained a moderate amount of casualties, the bulk of their army remained intact. Realising that hopes for a victory were out of reach, Ruggerio had to salvage an already precarious situation by suing for peace. While the allied army had to pay a total indemnity of 468 pounds of gold, it was the Sicilians that had to foot up the bill.
The First War of Sardinia had been an unmitigated disaster for Ruggerio and his kingdom. The indemnities the Sicilians had to pay drained the state treasury, and Ruggerio was forced to borrow more money from local merchant bankers to meet the large sums demanded by the Saracens. But the worst was yet to come. As Ruggerio and his battered and humiliated army marched their way back home, there were soon rumblings of discontent among several of Ruggerio's vassals, who saw a golden opportunity.
War of the Three Counts
In the Spring of 1102, three of Ruggerio's vassals declared their independence from the Kingdom of Sicily. They were Ruggerio's brother-in-law, Count Jonathan of Capua, Count Apollonios of Naples, and Count Abisalom of Siracusa. Upon receiving the letter of demand for independence while in his command tent, Ruggerio furiously rejected their demands, to which the rebellious counts responded by rising up in open revolt.
The rebel army was reported to have over 2000 men, outnumbering the weakened loyalists by a small margin. With Ruggerio and his forces currently encamped in Northern Italy, the rebels quickly marched on to the capital of Palermo in hopes of capturing it before the loyalists could even arrive. But as luck would have it, Ruggerio received a letter from Duke Heinrich of Bavaria. Heinrich had recently defeated the Duchy of Krain and with his forces still mobilised, he offered Ruggerio his support in crushing the rebels as an apology for his failure to support Ruggerio in the Sardinian campaign. Facing a desperate situation, it did not take much persuasion for Ruggerio to accept the offer and soon, 4000 battle-hardened men were marching through the Alps in support of the loyalists.
On 21 November 1102, the rebels succeeded in capturing the fortress city of Castrogiovanni, removing their main obstacle to Palermo. Their victory. however, was soon short-lived. Just a week later, the Sicilian army managed to capture Napoli, taking Count Apollonios prisoner in the process. Although the city surrendered both itself and its lord to Ruggerio, the king ordered his men to sack the city, though its population was mercifully spared. The city of Capua met the same fate three months later.
The combined Sicilian and Bavarian armies quickly marched down to Palermo which was still under siege by the rebels. Having lost one of their leaders and about to face an army three times their size, the rebels surrendered on the 2nd of May 1103. The three ringleaders of the uprising, perhaps in a desperate appeal for clemency, surrendered themselves into the custody of the king. Perhaps they hoped Ruggerio would demand a ransom from their families, and in exchange, they would be allowed to keep their titles.
However, the ringleaders soon realised that they misjudged Ruggerio’s intentions. Instead, Ruggerio stripped them of their lands, titles, and claims before exiling them from his kingdom. While the duchies of Napoli and Capua were placed into the hands of the crown, the country of Syracuse was given to Ruggerio’s knight Politu di Alissandria as a reward for his loyal service. Whatever gold that had been seized from Napoli and Capua was used to help Ruggerio pay off his debts.
A year after the rebellion, now known in history as the War of the Three Counts, the young Prince Lurenzu was betrothed to Eudoxia Murzuphlos of the Duchy of Achia. Queen Euphrasia had also given birth to two more daughters, Catarina in 1105 and Elunora in 1106.
Second War for Sardinia
On September 1st, 1105, King Ruggerio declared another war on the Athbejid Emirate. One would think that the conquest of Sardinia would by now be a fool’s errand, but the Grand Emirate’s allies had changed in wake of Emir Hassan’s ascension. The mighty Almoravid Emirate would not help them this time.
During the first war for Sardinia, the Sicilian army’s first target had been the island itself. Believing that it would strike there again, the Saracens quickly mobilised their forces to the defence of Sardinia. But under the command of Count Politu, the Sicilian army landed not in Sardinia as they did before, but on the shores of Africa. They attacked the first and most vulnerable of the Grand Emirate’s allies, the Riyahdid Emirate.
The capital city of Annaba fell on the 1st of June 1106. From there, the Sicilian army marched into the lands of the Athbejid Grand Emirate and enacted the most brutal of acts upon their people. Villages were put to the torch, towns were plundered and cities were stripped of their treasures. The Saracen armies, trapped in Sardinia by a fleet of ships from Cyprus, could only wait helplessly as Ruggerio’s army plundered and pillaged across their lands.
But the war would rage on for another three years, for King Ruggerio could not bring any of the Emirs to the table to negotiate. If he were to put an end to the war, he needed inflict upon the Saracens a decisive defeat on the battlefield.
During the final years of their marriage, Queen Euphrasia had grown increasingly distant from the Sicilian court, preoccupied with her new duties as the Duchess of Cyprus. Perhaps assailed by the death of her first son, or maybe the loveless marriage she found herself trapped in, the queen had begun to attend lavish feasts, drinking and making merry with her courtiers and guests. Gone was the dignified lady that had charmed the Sicilian court, and instead a lonely queen whose main comfort was wine. Then, on the 20th of April 1107, Queen Euphrasia drank herself to death. Though their marriage had been cool for years, King Ruggerio reportedly confined himself to his chambers in mourning for three days. The Duchy of Cyprus was inherited by their son Lurenzu, now seventeen years old.
With nothing left to gain by staying in Africa, the Sicilian army departed in the autumn of 1109 for Sardinia, leaving behind a land now ravaged by destruction and lawlessness. At the same time, King Ruggerio called for Bavaria’s assistance once more.
By late winter, the Sicilian army landed on the shores of Cagliari, coming face to face with an army of over 5000 Saracens. The Bavarian army, meanwhile, was still a few days’ voyage away. Although the invaders were just shy of 4000 men, the Saracens chose not to act despite the superiority in numbers. Reasons for this remain unknown, but it is possible that the leaders of the Saracens were indecisive or had been facing dissension within their ranks, for their men had not seen any fighting throughout the duration of the war. Regardless, the ambivalent response of the Saracens bought time for King Ruggerio’s Bavarian allies to arrive and reconvene with the Sicilians, which altogether formed a force of 8000 men. The Saracens’ indecisiveness had cost them their only advantage that could have turned the tide of the war.
The two armies eventually met on the outskirts of Cagliari, with the allied army commanded by Count Politu. We regrettably lack extensive details of the Battle of Cagliari that took place on 16 February 1110, but what we know was that the Sicilian mounted knights, under the command of Count Humphrey of Camarda, smashed through the Saracen left wing and clashed with Emir Hassan’s retinue.
As Norman swords clashed with Saracen sabres, Emir Hassan had been struck down by a sword strike by Count Humphrey himself. Humphrey ordered his men to take the injured Emir to the rear guard where he could receive treatment. With their leader captured and their forces overwhelmed, the remainder of the Saracen army was soon routed.
The Sardinian Rebellion
Forced to sue for peace, Emir Hassan surrendered Sardinia to the Sicilians, bringing an end to the Second War for Sardinia. But King Ruggerio had little time to rest on his laurels for he committed a grave error. Though he defeated the Saracens on the battlefield, he failed to occupy the island’s key provinces, which would have cemented his control over the region. Just twelve days after the war’s conclusion, Emir Hassan’s former Sardinian vassals soon rose up against Sicilian rule when Ruggerio attempted to seize Cagliari from the young Count Alim.
Nothing much is known about this rebellion, but by the 28th of May 1111, King Ruggerio was able to restore order in the island. Count Alim was stripped of his land and title before being banished, while the remainder of the rebellious vassals were forced to convert to Catholicism in exchange for their titles and freedom.
Final Years
The Kingdom of Sicily c. 1112.
In his twilight years, Ruggerio became increasingly melancholic and often found solace in the parties hosted by him or his vassals. His hunched back was now even worse than before, and he frequently relied on servants to help him to his chambers. Meanwhile, the ambition that had driven him since he was a child had now been snuffed out by costly wars and rebellions that nearly tore his kingdom apart time and time again.
However, on the 12th of November 1111, Ruggerio saw another opportunity when Pope Silvester IV called for a Crusade against the Fatimid Caliphate for the Holy City of Jerusalem. Various Christian states banded together for God, Gold, and Glory. Ruggerio and his army eagerly sailed for the Levant to reconvene with the other Crusader armies.
On 2 August 1112, the Sicilian army was sailing across the Levantine Sea when Ruggerio decided to retreat to his cabin for the night. His servants knocked on his cabin door the next morning, only to receive no response. Concerned, the king's bodyguards entered and found him lifeless in his bed, a peaceful expression on his face.
King Ruggerio I passed away at 51 years old. He was the first of the Sicilian Kings, whose 31-year-old reign continues to be a contested subject among scholars. Defenders saw him as a ruler who had successfully weathered his realm through constant crises. Others saw him as an insecure ruler desperate to live up to the legacy of his father, whose uncontrolled ambitions brought his kingdom to the brink of ruin.
Ruggerio's flagship stopped by at Cyprus, now ruled by his 21-year-old son Lurenzu who had just received news of his father's unexpected passing. A brief but sombre ceremony was conducted in a local chapel, in which Lurenzu was crowned the new King of Sicily. While Ruggerio's body was being shipped back to Palermo for a proper burial, the young king Lurenzu now had to pick up where his father had left off.
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