This is a scholarly and up-to-date narrative of the epic reign of the "Norman" King Roger II, the founder of the kingdom of Sicily during the first half of the twelfth century. It is a thoughtful analysis of the kingdom's mixed east-west culture and the development of its royal government; the most advanced in twelfth-century Europe. Although many recent studies have addressed important aspects of medieval southern Italy, this is the first work in nearly ninety years to be devoted specifically to Roger's life and reign.

This is a scholarly and up-to-date narrative of the epic reign of the "Norman" King Roger II, the founder of the kingdom of Sicily during the first half of the twelfth century. It is a thoughtful analysis of the kingdom's mixed east-west culture and the development of its royal government; the most advanced in twelfth-century Europe. Although many recent studies have addressed important aspects of medieval southern Italy, this is the first work in nearly ninety years to be devoted specifically to Roger's life and reign.

Die Abtei SS. Trinita di Venosa (bei Melfi, Provinz Potenza) wurde als Hauskloster und Grablege der normannischen Herzogsfamilie der Hauteville um 1040 gegrundet. Wahrend der Herrschaft Robert Guiscards (1057-1085) erreichte sie unter dem normannischen Abt Berengar groe Bedeutung. Mit der Verlagerung des Zentrums der normannischen Herrschaft nach Sizilien verlor sie allmahlich an Bedeutung. 1297 wurde sie von Papst Bonifaz VIII. aufgelost.

Da sich aus ihr Urkunden und erzahlende Quellen erhalten haben, die in der vorliegenden Studie im Anhang ediert werden, wurde sie als...