Roger II

Timeline

1. 1095–1127Palermo · SicilyRoger was the son of Count Roger I of Sicily; amid struggles among uncles and brothers he gradually established his rule over Sicily and studied Arab and Byzantine administrative traditions, laying the groundwork for later unification of southern Italy.
2. 1130–1140Palermo · SicilyRoger was crowned King of Sicily at Palermo, defeating the Norman lords of southern Italy and rivals backed by the papacy, and began building a centralized royal administration and a court of scholars.
3. 1141–1150Kingdom of Sicily · Southern ItalyDuring this period Roger's relations with Pope Innocent II and Eugene III were tense; after the Treaty of Benevento he still maintained suzerainty over southern Italy, and his fleet intervened in the Byzantine civil war and at one point occupied Corfu and other places, consolidating Mediterranean dominance.
4. 1151–1154Palermo · SicilyIn his later years Roger consolidated arrangements for the royal succession and enfeoffed his sons; his court became an important node for the transmission of Arab geography and Greek philosophy to Western Europe, and he died at Palermo in 1154.