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"Thread Time!" every now and then I will be doing what I have decided to call Thread Time on a variety of topics so my 1st topic will be on a person who forever changed the history of my Country, this being Roger the II of Sicily
Ok so Roger II was born on the 22 of December 1095, his father Roger the I (a very influential and important figure in Sicilian history) who was the Count of Sicily at the time he is famous for his conquest of Southern Italy and Malta, the last conquest was aided by the Normans.
After Roger the I had passed away he was succeeded by Simon who is not really well known and died after 3 years of ruling at age 12, Roger the II was next in line and became the count of Sicily at age 10 under the regency of his Mother Adelaide del Vasto ( who was aided by...
such notable figures like Christodulus the Emir from Palermo) in 1109 Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos ( pictured here)bestowed upon him the title of protonobilissimos, in recognition of his knowledge of the Byzantine court.
In the summer of 1110, Roger was visited by the Norwegian king Sigurd Jorsalfare, who was on his way to Jerusalem.[a][9] The story suggests that Sigurd gave Roger the name King of Sicily, twenty years before he actually obtained this title.
in 1212 at the age of 16, Roger began his personal rule where he was named Knight and Count of Sicily and Calabria. In 1117, his mother, who had married Baldwin I of Jerusalem, returned to Sicily, since the Patriarch of Jerusalem had declared the marriage invalid.
This might have explained his later reluctance to go crusading. At this period of his life Roger had married his 1st wife Elvira ( who was the daughter of Alfonso the VI of Castile)
In 1122, William II the Duke of Apulia, who was fighting with Count Jordan of Ariano, offered to renounce his remaining claims to Sicily as well as part of Calabria. Roger, in exchange, provided William with 600 knights and access to money for his campaign
in July 1127 William died childless, Roger has claimed all possessions belonging to the Hauteville family ( Norman nobility) in the peninsula including overlordship of the principality of Capua which had been nominally given to Apulia almost thirty years earlier. However...
