Roger I of Hauteville, the ‘Great Count’, count of Sicily

Born in 1031, Roger ¾ together with his brother Robert Guiscard ¾ continued the Norman conquests in Apulia and Calabria. Then the conquest of Sicily began, although the last Muslim stronghold only fell after a thirty-year war (1061- 91). In 1072 he entered Palermo, taking the title of ‘Great Count’ of Sicily. He died in 1101, leaving his widow, Countess Adelaide, as regent during the minority of his son Roger II.