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Person Number Five – ROGER OF SICILY
Why Roger of Sicily?
Roger exemplifies the restless, barbarian strand in European history.
Who were the barbarians?
Three key influences created Europe: classical civilisation (i.e. Greece and Rome),
Christianity, and the barbarian invasions. “Barbarian” comes from a Greek word for
any peoples who didn’t speak Greek, so their speech sounded like “baa baa baa…”
The term “barbarian invasions” is used for the peoples who overran and supplanted
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the western Roman empire in the 4 and 5 centuries. These included Saxons,
Franks, Vandals, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Huns, Allemanni and Lombards. However
these migrations continued long after Rome’s fall. They include the Vikings whose
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attacks on Christendom from the 8 century caused universal dread. Even after they
converted to Christianity they had a widespread impact on Europe, settling and ruling
lands from Greenland to Sicily. They were among the most remarkable of the
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barbarian peoples. The migrations ended with the 13 century Mongol invasions
which stopped just short of overrunning western Europe.
Who were the Vikings?
“Viking” is not a name for a people, but for their activity of sailing and raiding;
“voyages of mass destruction” could be a translation. The Vikings were given
different names at different stages in their history - Northmen, Norsemen,
Norwegians, Normans, Danes, Vikings, Varangians or Rus. Eventually they became
assimilated into the countries where they settled.
Who was Roger?
King Roger II of Sicily belongs to the Norman phase of the Viking story. He exemplifies
the important medieval Norman presence in southern Italy and Sicily. He is
remarkable for creating a multicultural and tolerant ethos in his court and kingdom.
His grandson, the Emperor Frederick II, continued this. This was unique in
Christendom.
How did the Normans come to be in Sicily?
Sicily lies at a geographical meeting point of different cultures, religions and
civilisations. For over 2,000 years the Greeks of Sicily had fought other Greeks,
Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines and Moslems. But Normandy is a long way from
Sicily. Norman knights came because the younger sons could not inherit lands in
Normandy. They therefore left to become freebooters, adventurers and mercenaries.
This was a long Viking tradition. Roger II’s ancestors were the sons of the Norman
