Roger II (1095–1154)

King of Sicily from 1130, the second son of Count Roger I of Sicily (1031–1101). By the time he was crowned king on the authority of Pope Innocent II (died 1143), he had achieved mastery over the whole of Norman Italy. He used his navy to conquer Malta and territories in north Africa, and to harass Byzantine possessions in the eastern Mediterranean. His Palermo court was a cultural centre where Latin, Greek, and Arab scholars mixed freely.

Building a Mediterranean empire Roger succeeded his brother Simon as count 1105. By 1122 he had seized Calabria from his cousins and put down revolts by its barons. He secured the duchy of Apulia 1127 after the death of his cousin Duke William, grandson of Robert Guiscard. Pope Honorius II (died 1130) invested him as duke of Apulia, Calabria, and Sicily 1128, and two years later, on the authority of the antipope Anacletus II, he was crowned king of Sicily. In 1139 Roger captured Pope Innocent II, forcing him to confirm this title, with lordship over Norman Italy. Having put down a series of rebellions, he proclaimed the Assizes of Ariano 1140, a comprehensive set of laws by which his realms were to be pacified. Aiming to establish a Mediterranean empire at the expense of the Byzantines, Roger used his powerful navy to capture Malta and to establish control in north Africa from Tripoli to Tunis.

Legacy Roger modelled his government on Byzantine autocracy, but encouraged toleration among the cultures and religions of his people. His daughter Constance married the future Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, and on the death of Roger's grandson William II 1189, Henry inherited the kingdom of Sicily.