Roger Borsa

Roger Borsa (1060/1061–February 22,1111) was the son and successor of Robert Guiscard, the Norman conqueror of Southern Italy and Sicily. His mother was Sikelgaita, an imposing warrior Lombard noblewoman. His ambitious mother arranged for Roger to succeed his father in place of Robert Guiscard's eldest son by another wife, Bohemund of Taranto. According to John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich:

Related Topics:
1060 - 1061 - February 22 - 1111 - Robert Guiscard - Norman - Southern Italy - Sicily - Sikelgaita - Bohemund of Taranto - John Julius Cooper, 2nd Viscount Norwich

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:"...Roger -- nicknamed Borsa, the purse, from his early-ingrained habit of counting and recounting his money. He was a weak and hesitant thirteen-year-old who gave the impression that a childhood spent with Robert and Sichelgaita had been too much for him."

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His father died in 1085 at Corfu. It happened that when Robert Guiscard died, Bohemund was elsewhere in Italy, so Roger Borsa and his mother were able to seize power. His Lombard heritage also made him a more attractive candidate than his Norman half-brother. Roger was not as adept as Robert Guiscard, and most of his reign was spent in feudal anarchy. Bohemund contested lordship of Apulia with him, and actually seized Apulia in 1085. Though described as a powerful warrior (he took the cities of Benevento, Canosa, Capua, and Lucera by siege) Roger Borsa was never able to check Bohemund's power or bring him under his control. In 1089 Roger Borsa was officially invested with the duchy of Apulia by Pope Urban II.

Related Topics:
1085 - Apulia - 1089 - Pope Urban II

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Roger Borsa married Adela of Flanders, the daughter of Robert I, Count of Flanders, and was succeeded by their son William. However William proved to be as weak a ruler as his father, and the domain was ultimately inherited by a cousin, Roger II of Sicily.

Related Topics:
Robert I, Count of Flanders - William - Roger II of Sicily

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