Roger Borsa

Roger Borsa (* around 1061 ; † February 22, 1111 ) was Duke of Apulia from 1085. He was a son of Robert Guiscard and his second wife Sikelgaita of Salerno and thus a member of the Norman family Hauteville .

He took part in the conquest of Byzantine possessions in southern Italy and the conquest of Corfu in 1083 at the side of his father and his half-brother Bohemond . After his father's death in July 1085, he ousted his brother and became Duke of Apulia and Calabria . However, Roger did not have the strength of his father and worn himself out fighting the belligerent Norman barons to maintain his authority. In addition, from the end of 1085, Bohemond succeeded in seizing the south of Apulia and, above all, in conquering Taranto . In 1091 he called his uncle Roger I of Sicily to help him to master the uprisings in Calabria. In 1096 he lost control of Amalfi .

During the First Crusade , he was the host of passing crusaders, most notably Duke Robert II of Normandy , whom he took in during his return from autumn 1099 to spring 1100.

In 1092 he married Adela von Flanders , the daughter of Count Robert I. Of three sons, only Wilhelm survived , who succeeded him in Apulia, but found a state in the process of dissolution.

literature

• Ferdinand Chalandon : Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile . A. Picard, Paris 1907.
• John Julius Norwich : The Normans in the South (1016-1130) . Longmans, London 1967.

Web links

• Roger of Apulia at fmg.ac (English)

predecessor	Office	successor
Robert Guiskard	Duke of Apulia 1085–1111	Wilhelm