Roger II of Hauteville, king of Sicily

In 1101 Roger II de Hauteville was, under the guardianship of his mother Adelaide, heir to the county of Sicily. In 1127, when William, the duke of Apulia, died without heirs, he claimed his inheritance. After a period of conflict with the rebellious southern barons, the pope and the German emperors, he managed to become ruler of the whole of southern Italy, taking the title of king of Sicily (crowned in 1130, he only received papal recognition in 1139): the Norman kingdom of Sicily was born. In 1146 he embarked on a campaign against the Muslims in North Africa, occupying the coast from Tripoli to Cape Bon. In 1147 he conquered the Byzantine possessions of Corfu, Corinth and Thebes.