Roger II and the creation of the Kingdom of Sicily (Manchester Medieval Sources)

This student-friendly volume brings together English translations of the main narrative sources, and a small number of other relevant documents, for the reign of Roger II, the founder of the kingdom of Sicily. The kingdom created by King Roger was the most centralized and administratively advanced of the time, but its genesis was fraught with difficulty as the king sought to extend his power from the island of Sicily and Calabria into other parts of the south Italian mainland. This struggle, that lasted from 1127 until 1140, is graphically revealed by the two main texts in this book. A number of other texts illuminate key aspects of the reign: the relationship with the papacy, the German invasion of 1137 that came close to toppling the king's rule, the expansion of Sicilian power into the Abruzzi in 1140, and the law and administration of the kingdom, often seen as a model for the growth of effective government in the twelfth century. Despite the great intrinsic interest of the reign of King Roger, these texts have never appeared in English translation before. This will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of medieval Europe. Roger II and the Creation of the Kingdom of Sicily 4 Contents 6 Preface 8 List of abbreviations 10 The family of King Roger 13 The family of the Norman princes of Capua 14 Maps 15 Introduction 18 The reputation of King Roger 18 The historical background 21 The takeover of the mainland 30 The papacy and the creation of the kingdom 37 The civil war of the 1130s 43 The consolidation of the kingdom 53 The king’s legacy 67 An analysis of the contemporary historians 69 Abbot Alexander of Telese, The History of the Most Serene Roger, first King of Sicily 80 Here begins the preface 80 Book I 81 Book II 94 Book III 121 Book IV 137 Alloquium to King Roger 143 The Chronicle of Falco of Benevento 147 Romuald of Salerno, Chronicon Sive Annales, 1125–54 267 German sources for the reign of King Roger 286 The Annals of Erfurt 1135–7 286 The Saxon Annals 287 The Montecassino Chronicle of Peter the Deacon 296 The Chronicle of St Clement of Casauria 313 Roger II and the papacy: selected documents 320 Paschal II to Count Roger II of Sicily, 1117 320 Anacletus II’s privilege to Roger II, authorising the creation of the kingdom of Sicily, 27 September 1130 321 Anacletus II’s privilege to the Bishop of Messina, 1131 323 Roger II’s privilege to the Pierleone family, 28 January 1134 325 From the Acta of Innocent II’s Council of Pisa, June 1135 327 Innocent II’s privilege to Roger, authorising the creation of the kingdom, 27 July 1139 327 From a letter of Pope Lucius II to Abbot Peter of Cluny, 22 September 1144 329 From the Treaty of Konstanz, 1153 330 The Assizes (or Constitutions) of King Roger 331 Text of Cod. Vat. Lat. 8782, fols. 91r–94v1 331 The Catalogue of the Barons 346 Extracts 346 The Land of Benevento 346 The Bishop of Melfi 352 The Abbot of Banzi 352 Sant’ Agata 353 Bovino 353 Ascoli 353 From Montefusco 354 (From the Principality) 356 These men hold from him 356 (Count Robert of Buonalbergo) 360 (Count Richard of Aquila) 360 (Count Jonathan of Carinola) 362 Curia) 364 (The Court at Aversa) 365 (The Abbot of St. Clement in Pescara) 369 (The Bishop of Aprutium) 370 The Book of Roger by Abû ‘Abdallâh al-Idrîsî 372 Bibliography 381 Manuscript sources 381 Printed primary sources 381 Secondary sources 386 Index 398 Comprises translations of all essential sources for the history of Sicily in the first half of twelfth-century, covering one of the most interesting and significant episodes in European history. Publishes for the first time in English some of the most interesting primary sources for the history of medieval Italy. Will enable teachers for the first time to study the Norman Kingdom of Sicily, created by Roger II and lasting until 1860, in real depth