Roger II, c.1095–1154, count (1101–30) and first king (1130–54) of Sicily, son and successor of Roger I. He conquered (1127) Apulia and Salerno and sided with the antipope Anacletus II against Pope Innocent II Innocent II, d. 1143, pope (1130–43), a Roman named Gregorio Papareschi; successor of Honorius II. He was created cardinal by Paschal II. On the death of Honorius II , a faction of the cardinals elected him pope.
..... Click the link for more information. . In 1130, Anacletus crowned Roger king. Innocent rallied Holy Roman Emperor Lothair II and other allies against Roger but was defeated in 1139. Naples and Capua recognized Roger's sovereignty; Innocent was obliged to invest him with the lands that, for the next seven centuries, were to constitute the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily. Roger also conquered the coast of Africa from Tunis to Tripoli. He established a strong central administration and attempted to fuse the disparate ethnic groups in his kingdom. Prosperity returned to Sicily, and Roger's brilliant court at Palermo was a center of the arts, letters, and sciences. Roger was succeeded by his son, William I.

Bibliography

See E. Curtis, Roger of Sicily (1912, repr. 1973); J. J. Norwich, Kingdom in the Sun (1970).

Roger II

(born Dec. 22, 1095—died Feb. 26, 1154, Palermo) Grand count of Sicily (1105–30) and king of Sicily (1130–54). The son of Roger I, he was a capable and energetic ruler who incorporated the mainland territories of Calabria (1122) and Apulia (1127). He was crowned king by the antipope Anacletus II, and he forced Innocent II to confirm him in 1139. He built a powerful navy but refused to join the Second Crusade, preferring as the ruler of a largely Arab population to show tolerance toward Muslims. He promulgated a law code (1140), and his court was an intellectual center for both Arab and Western scholars.