ROGER, GREAT COUNT OF SICILY (1101-1138 A.D.)
Of human life, the most glorious or humble prospects are alike and soon bounded by the sepulchre. The male line of Robert Guiscard was extinguished, both in Apulia and at Antioch, in the second generation; but his younger brother became the father of a line of kings; and the son of the Great Count was endowed with the name, the conquests, and the spirit of the first Roger. The heir of that Norman adventurer was born in Sicily; and, at the age of only four years, he succeeded to the sovereignty of the island.[l]
This prince, who thus succeeded to such extensive states was dissatisfied with the title of duke; to obtain a higher one, he lent his aid to the anti-pope Anacletus II, who crowned him king of the Two Sicilies. This new dignity caused him to regard the republican institutions of Amalfi and Naples with dislike, perhaps with dread. He took the former, abolished its privileges, and subjected it to a feudal governor. His next step was to humble his proud barons, of whom some had too much power always to remain peaceful. It was attended with equal success; one after another all were subdued; but the chief, Robert, prince of Capua and Aversa, the descendant of Drengot, was destined to give him some trouble.
Naples, though nominally subject to the Norman princes, still preserved its own government, laws, and institutions, and was prepared to defend them to the last extremity. It opened its gates to Robert, and thereby afforded another stimulus to the vengeance of Roger. The republicans obtained the aid of a fleet from Pisa; Amalfi was forced to equip another to oppose them; the Pisans plundered Amalfi, their chief prize being a copy of the famous Pandects, an accident which is said to have changed the jurisprudence of half Europe; they were defeated, and forced to re-embark by the king, who invested Naples more closely than before. The besieged applied for relief to the emperor and the true pope, Innocent II. Lothair marched in person to their aid, while a Pisan fleet advanced by sea. The siege was raised; Robert of Capua was restored to his principality, and the whole country as far as Bari threw off its allegiance to the Normans.
But discord soon appeared between the pope, the emperor, and the Pisans; their combined forces retired, and Roger had little difficulty in regaining possession of his territories. The fate of Leo IV, a century before, did not deter Innocent II from taking the field against the excommunicated Normans; the result was the same; Innocent was defeated and made prisoner, and was glad to procure his liberation by confirming the regal title of Roger. He did more; he granted to the king the investiture not only of Capua, but of Naples, which had hitherto maintained something like independence, and over which he had assuredly no control. The republic, abandoned by its allies, was constrained to submit; the ducal crown was conferred on the king; the kingdom of the two Sicilies was admitted into the great family of nations.