County of Sicily
 |
County of Sicily Counté de Cesile Contado di Sicilia | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1071–1130 | |||||||||
 The county in 1112, before merger with mainland Duchy of Apulia and Calabria | |||||||||
| Capital | Palermo | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman Catholicism | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Count | |||||||||
• 1071–1101 | Roger I | ||||||||
• 1101–1105 | Simon | ||||||||
• 1105–1130 | Roger II | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 1071 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 1130 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of |  Italy Malta | ||||||||
The County of Sicily was a Norman state comprising the islands of Sicily and Malta from 1071 until 1130. The county began to form during the Christian reconquest of Sicily (1061–91) from the Muslim Emirate, established by conquest in 965. The county is thus a transitional period in the history of Sicily. After the Muslims had been defeated and either forced out or incorporated into the Norman military, a further period of transition took place for the county and the Sicilians.
History
The County of Sicily was created by Robert Guiscard in 1071 for his younger brother Roger Bosso. Guiscard himself had received the title Duke of Sicily (dux Siciliae) in 1059 from Pope Nicholas II as encouragement to conquer it from the Muslims. In 1061 the first permanent Norman conquest (Messina) was made and in 1071, after the fall of Palermo, the capital of the emirate and future capital of the county, Guiscard invested Roger with the title of count and gave him full jurisdiction in the island save for half the city of Palermo, Messina, and the Val Demone, which he retained for himself. Roger was to hold the county which comprised conquests yet to be made under Guiscard. In February 1091 the conquest of Sicily was completed when Noto fell. The conquest of Malta was begun later that year; it was completed in 1127 when the Arab administration of the island was expelled.
Robert Guiscard left Roger in an ambiguous relationship with his successors of the Duchy of Apulia and Calabria. During the reigns of Roger II of Sicily and William II of Apulia conflict broke out between the two Norman principalities, first cousins through Roger and Robert respectively. Through the mediation of Pope Calistus II and in return for aid against a rebellion led by Jordan of Ariano in 1121, the childless William ceded all his Sicilian territories to Roger and named him his heir.
When William died in 1127, Roger inherited the mainland duchy; three years later, in 1130 in Palermo, he merged his holdings to form the Kingdom of Sicily with the approval of Pope Anacletus II.
List of counts
Sicily was granted, pending its Christian reconquest, to Robert Guiscard as "duke" in 1059 by Pope Nicholas II. The Guiscard granted it as a county to his brother Roger.
| Count | Portrait | Birth | Marriages | Death |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roger I 1071–1101 |
1031 son of Tancred of Hauteville and Fredisenda |
Judith of Évreux 1061 4 children Eremburga of Mortain 1077 8 children Adelaide del Vasto 1087 4 children |
1101 Mileto aged 80 | |
| Simon 1101–1105 |
1093 son of Roger I of Sicily and Adelaide del Vasto |
never married | 1105 Mileto aged 12 | |
| Roger II 1105–1130 |
 |
22 December 1095 Mileto son of Roger I of Sicily and Adelaide del Vasto |
Elvira of Castile 1117 6 children Sibyl of Burgundy 1149 2 children Beatrix of Rethel 1151 1 child |
26 February 1154 Palermo aged 59 |
See also