View source for Roger III, Duke of Apulia

{{Short description|Eldest son of Roger II of Sicily (1118–1148)}}
{{infobox royalty
| name         = Roger III
| succession   = [[Duke of Apulia and Calabria]]
| image        = Reverse - first Norman ducat (1140).PNG
| caption      = Roger (left), in battle dress and bearing a sword, and his father (right), dressed as a Byzantine emperor.<br />From the first issue of the [[ducat]] (1140).
| image_size   = 150px
| reign        = 1135 - 1148
| predecessor  = [[Roger II of Sicily|Roger II]]
| successor    = [[William I of Sicily|William I]]
| house        = [[House of Hauteville|Hauteville]]
| father       = [[Roger II of Sicily]]
| mother       = [[Elvira of Castile, Queen of Sicily|Elvira of Castile]]
| spouse       = [[Elizabeth of Blois, Duchess of Apulia|Elizabeth of Blois]]
| issue        = [[Tancred, King of Sicily]] (illegitimate)<br />William (illegitimate)
| birth_date   = 1118
| birth_place  = 
| death_date   = 2 or 12 May 1148
| death_place  = 
| burial_place = 
}}

'''Roger III''' (1118 – 2 or 12 May 1148) was the eldest son of King [[Roger II of Sicily]] and [[Elvira of Castile (Sicilian queen)|Elvira of Castile]].{{sfn|Matthew|1992|p=165}} He was the [[Duke of Apulia]] from 1134 until his death.{{sfn|Matthew|1992|p=165}}

Roger's first public act took place at [[Melfi]] in 1129, where, though still a child, he accepted the fealty of some rebellious barons along with his father and his younger brother [[Tancred, Prince of Bari|Tancred]]. His father was crowned king of Sicily the next year on 25 December. It is possible that Roger received the Duchy of Apulia at this time. He had certainly received it from his father by 1134.{{sfn|Takayama|1993|p=65}} He was perhaps put under the tutelage or guardianship of [[Robert of Selby]]. He took part in his father's campaigns beginning in 1137, when he distinguished himself in the campaign against [[Ranulf of Alife]], whom [[Pope Innocent II]] and the [[Emperor Lothair II]] had invested as rival duke of Apulia. His first major engagement was the [[Battle of Rignano]] on 30 October; a battle in which more experienced warriors, like his father, fled and some, like Duke [[Sergius VII of Naples]], died. Roger's bravery, and success in the first charge, at Rignano solidified his martial reputation early.

After Ranulf's death (1139), Apulia was secured, but Innocent and his ally, Prince [[Robert II of Capua]], marched on Melfi. At [[Galluccio]], Roger ambushed the papal troops with only a thousand knights and captured the pope and his entourage. Three days later, on July 25 at [[Treaty of Mignano|Mignano]], Innocent confirmed the elder Roger as king, the younger as duke, and the third son, [[Alfonso of Hauteville|Alfonso]], as [[prince of Capua]]&mdash;officially severing Robert from his support. Next, Duke Roger took the city of [[Naples]] into his possession and made it an integral part of the kingdom, ending the republican government which had continued after Sergius' death.

In 1140, after the promulgation of the king's [[Assizes of Ariano]], the first ''[[ducat]]s'' were minted bearing an effigy of the young duke in battledress beside his father, with their hands on the Cross. The ''ducat'' was named after the duchy of Apulia. Roger and Alfonso, the second son Tancred being dead, then moved into the [[Abruzzi]] to harass papal lands. At that time, late in 1140, Roger's bride to be, [[Elizabeth of Blois, Duchess of Apulia|Elizabeth]], arrived from the court of her father, [[Theobald II of Champagne]].{{sfn|Evergates|2016|p=x}} Roger's most famous consort, however, was his mistress, Emma, the daughter of [[Achard II, Count of Lecce]], with whom he had two illegitimate children, 
* [[Tancred of Sicily|Tancred]],{{sfn|Matthew|1992|p=165}} later king, and 
* William (after 1137 &ndash; 1167/68).


In 1149, barely thirty, Duke Roger died an unknown death in an unknown location.{{sfn|Matthew|1992|p=165}} He was mourned by the Arab poet [[Abu ed-Daw]], who said, "the arms of the brave have fallen . . . and the eloquent seek for words in vain."<ref>While it is common attribute this lament to the death of Roger, it is in fact more likely one of his younger brothers.</ref> Roger was buried in the chapel of Saint Mary Magdalene next to the old [[Cathedral of Palermo]]. He was later transferred to an eponymous chapel now in the barracks of San Giacomo. His successor was his only surviving brother, [[William I of Sicily|William]], later King of Sicily.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Sources==
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite book |first=Ferdinand |last=Chalandon |authorlink=Ferdinand Chalandon |title=Histoire de la domination normande en Italie et en Sicile |volume=2 |location=Paris |year=1907 |publisher=Alphonse Picard}}
*{{cite book |title=Henry the Liberal: Count of Champagne, 1127-1181 |first=Theodore |last=Evergates |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press |year=2016 }}
*{{cite book |last1=Grierson |first1=Philip |authorlink1=Philip Grierson |last2=Blackburn |first2=Mark A. S. |last3=Travaini |first3=Lucia |title=Medieval European Coinage |series=Vol. 14: Italy (III) (South Italy, Sicily, Sardinia) |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998}}
*{{cite book  |first=Hubert |last=Houben |title=Roger II of Sicily: A Ruler Between East and West |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2002}}
*{{cite journal  |first=Evelyn |authorlink=Evelyn Jamison |last=Jamison |title=The Norman Administration of Apulia and Capua, more especially under Roger II and William I, 1127–66 |journal=Papers of the British School at Rome |volume=6 |year=1913 |pages=211–481 |doi=10.1017/s006824620000132x|s2cid=161057290 |url=https://zenodo.org/record/1447431 }}
*{{cite book  |first=Donald |last=Matthew |title=The Norman Kingdom of Sicily |year=1992 |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press}}
*{{cite book  |first=Hiroshi |last=Takayama |title=The Administration of the Norman Kingdom of Sicily |location=Leiden |publisher=E. J. Brill |year=1993}}
{{refend}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1118 births]]
[[Category:1148 deaths]]
[[Category:Sicilian people of Norman descent]]
[[Category:Italo-Normans]]
[[Category:Norman warriors]]
[[Category:Dukes of Apulia|Roger 3]]
[[Category:12th-century Italian nobility]]
[[Category:Hauteville family]]
[[Category:Heirs apparent who never acceded]]
[[Category:Sons of kings]]
[[Category:Children of Roger II of Sicily]]