(Author's words: The content of this chapter is excerpted from "Norman Storm")

Roger of Ultraville is unlikely to become a conqueror.

He is the 12th son of Old Tancred, 16 years younger than his famous brother.

He is always different from other brothers, not as good as theirs, but he is better at thinking, can control his temper, and shows the rare talent of his family members.

People didn't know much about his early life, but only knew that he lived at his home in Normandy at that time.

Perhaps he received the same education as the other brothers, following a wealthy knight as an apprentice during his personal growth.

When he was 24 years old, all the other brothers went south to seek wealth except one person.

If it weren't for the beautiful Judith d'evreux, Roger might have been satisfied with staying in his empty home.

Despite the huge social disparity between the two - Judith is a relative of William the "Conqueror", they still fell in love.

Soon after, Roger publicly stated that he wanted to marry her.

Unfortunately, he has neither land nor wealth.

Judith's father was very upset, and he thought his daughter had been abducted by a humble knight.

If Roger wants to hold her hand, he has to prepare a suitable dowry, so he goes to Italy to seek fame and fortune.

Coincidentally, Roger's brother Giscar was busy conquering Calabria, so why not use his abilities?

The two attacked along the coastline and conquered the entire area within five years.

After this experience, Roger's ambitions expanded and suggested a more fertile goal.

Opposite the narrow Strait of Messina is the Arab-controlled island of Sicily, less than two kilometers from the Italian coast.

Fortunately, the situation on the island was in chaos at that time.

In the mid-9th century AD, the Arabs first landed in Sicily from North Africa, and have been trying to seize the island from the Byzantines for 100 years.

In 965 AD, they finally conquered the last Byzantine stronghold, settled down, and enjoyed the fruits of victory.

For a century, Sicily belonged to a relatively peaceful area in the North African Empire and belonged to Mahdiye, a city on the coast of Tunisia.

However, Mahdia was involved in the power struggle in the world; the war and civil war with Cairo weakened its control over Sicily.

As communications are paralyzed, ethnic conflicts on the island intensify.

The Arabs who first landed on the island hated the Berbers who had been moving from Mahdier, and both ethnic groups did not trust the native Greeks.

When Roger entered Italy, Sicily had been divided by three hostile emirs, and a racial war broke out between the Arabs and Berbers.

This was a great time to invade Sicily, and unexpectedly, it was a local emir who sent an invitation to Roger.

Even by the standards at that time, Ibn Tinnah was a rogue.

In order to control Syracuse, he killed his former chief and occupied his widow.

Then he tried to seize the territory of his neighbor-the lord was Emil of Messina, who happened to be his new wife's brother.

But he suffered a disastrous defeat, and he was forced to sign a shameful treaty, and worsen that he drowns his sorrows by drinking and venting his frustration and dissatisfaction on his wife.

She fled to Messina to join her brother, and the angry Emil immediately vowed to take down Ibn Tinna's head.

After sobering up, Ibn was pursued and forced to leave Syracuse and flee to Italy for refuge.

He met Roger in Calabria and proposed to fight with the Normans to jointly control Sicily.

For Roger, there was no better invitation than this.

Even though it was the harsh winter and it was not the time to start a war, he summoned 150 knights to cross the strait. At first everything went smoothly.

Chief Messina was introduced into an ambush circle and shot dead.

The guards attacked the Normans, intending to avenge their superiors, but were severely damaged.

Unfortunately, Roger only defeated the enemy with his youthful enthusiasm.

He believed that it was a good opportunity to conquer Messina and achieve great achievements, so he led the army to attack the city walls rashly, but failed and suffered heavy losses.

He wanted to withdraw from the boat, but when he arrived at the beach, he found a storm that blew away all the boats.

For three days, the Normans were forced to camp on the beach to resist the continuous attacks of the emperor, and to try their best to keep warm. The situation was extremely miserable.

On the fourth day, the ship finally returned and Roger escaped successfully.

Despite the frustrating results, Roger's determination has not wavered.

He made a comeback a few months later, and this time his brother Giscar also participated in the support.

The two brothers summoned nearly 500 knights to fight.

***After receiving a dangerous alarm, a patrol team was sent to watch the strait closely.

So the brothers came up with a plan.

Giscar was stationed at the northern end of the strait and prepared to cross the sea with great fanfare, while Roger led half of the knights to quietly cross the strait from the southern end.

He landed on the coast 5 miles from Messina and found that there was no one to be stationed here.

He marched towards Messiah, and intercepted a *** baggage transport truck on the way and obtained a list of pay for the Messina defenders.

Something more lucky is still to come.

Most of Messina's defenders had gone north and were preparing to repel Giscar, who had "planned" to cross the sea, leaving behind an empty city wall.

As Roger's first soldier pushed down the battlements, the residents of the city raised their hands to surrender, and Roger's flag rose on the top of the city.

The defenders on the coast saw the flag and realized what had happened and fled inland in a hurry.

Now the Normans have a foothold in Sicily, but they don't have time to rest and enjoy.

The two brothers participated in a ceremony of gratitude presided over by the Greeks, and then joined the ranks of Arab ally Ibn Tinna and marched into the plateau area in central Sicily.

Their goal is to take the fortress of Enna and give Ibn's brother-in-law a fatal blow.

But when they were at the city, they found that the castle was as solid as a god.

To make matters worse, Emil summoned all the troops to prepare for his time, and he was happy to see the annoying Normans going deep into his territory alone.

Emil felt that this was a good opportunity to destroy the Normans in one fell swoop, so he launched a fierce attack.

This is the first time that the *** in Sicily faces the Normans head-on. This experience will be repeated many times over the next 30 years, but the results are the same.

Although the number of players far exceeds that of the opponent, the Arab light cavalry faced the Norman heavy armored knights and had no chance of winning.

The battle ended soon, and for the ***, it was a disaster; thousands of soldiers were killed or captured, and the survivors hid in the safe house of the castle and refused to fight again.

The Normans' trophy was rich enough that every participant became rich.

The overwhelmed Arabs concluded that the Normans were invincible, and more importantly, the Normans thought so.

In the following years, the Normans were always at an absolute disadvantage in number, but they would never hesitate to kill the enemy in battle.

The two brothers were very successful, but they had different opinions on how to make the most of their success.

Giscar was as worried about the situation in the continent as he had another rebellion in the area and needed to withdraw his troops.

But Roger hopes to continue to march.

They did not have heavy siege equipment, so they could not attack Enna, but at least they could charge protection fees from surrendered towns, further weakening the supplies of Emir.

As the elder brother, Giscar's opinion eventually prevailed, but Roger stayed in Sicily for a long enough time to capture Troyna.

Located on the hills, this town is a Greek residence, overlooking the surrounding plains and has a strategic location.

The conflict between the two brothers is becoming increasingly intensified and is about to lose control, but Roger can only obey his brother.

On Christmas, he led the last troops back to Italy.

Giscar summoned him at the court.

What Roger unexpectedly was that he was greeted by Judith, who had been missing for a long time.

In the era of political alliances, the love between Roger and Judith was rare.

Judith's father was a powerful and ambitious nobleman who was determined to use his daughter to broaden his connections.

But Judith fell in love and entered the monastery, cleverly avoiding her father and her suitors with better conditions.

She waited patiently for five years.

At that time, her father had an argument with Duke William and was forced to take her out of Normandy.

When he arrived in Italy, Judith couldn't wait to give up his oath and headed straight for the court of Giscar.

The two enjoyed the joy of reunion, and Roger immediately proposed to Judith, and her down-and-out father also agreed to the marriage.

However, an embarrassing problem arises.

Roger wanted to marry the most prominent family in Normandy, but no land could be given to Judith as a bride.

He is rich - the recent victory has brought him all this - but Giscar refuses to give him any territory.

The reason for the problem is that the brother is jealous.

Everything that Giscar has had has to be done by himself; in his early years he experienced cruel and difficult moments in Italy, and now his little brother is just waiting for him to give away some land for nothing.

Of course, he wasn't just angry about this little thing.

The land and the income generated will bring Roger an independent source of power, not under the control of Giscar.

In this way, Roger will become a potential threat.

However, Roger is no longer the young and immature young man, no longer just devoted himself to serving his brother, nor is he willing to be ignored.

He formally made a territorial claim to Giscar and informed his brother that if no reply was given within 40 days, he would resort to force.

Giscar didn't find it funny, so he summoned his army to march towards Calabria.

Roger was ready for battle, and the two sides soon met in the countryside.

Giscar once trapped Roger in a small town, but when he asked to enter the town, local residents supported Roger and closed the city gate in front of Giscar.

At this moment, Giscar realized that destroying his territory would only have a counterproductive effect, so he tried to replace force with strategies to end the war.

There are supporters of Giscar in the town, and if he can get in touch with these people, there is a chance to dismantle Roger from within.

He successfully sneaked into the town and met with these fans.

But things went against my wishes, and passers-by recognized Giscar.

He almost died on the spot, and was able to protect himself by bluffing, threats and begging.

Although he saved his life, the result was much worse than death: he was dragged before Roger and was questioned.

Roger must have felt satisfied.

Only once, he was above and interrogated his brother.

But Roger was also quite smart and did not take the opportunity to vent his dissatisfaction.

The two brothers need each other, and compared to their narrow revenge mentality, pragmatic thinking still prevails.

Perhaps Roger's calmness made Giscar feel the pressure, but it was just a scene, just like what happened next. Giscar was brought to his brother.

Roger hugged him in public, wailed and promised that he would never cause hostility between his brothers again.

From his own perspective, Giscar completely learned this lesson.

The two brothers never quarreled again.

The resolution of the contradiction gave Roger a chance to breathe in Sicily, but what was unlucky was that the tradition of family opposition continued to the next generation.

As soon as Giscar died, his sons began to argue.

Roger, who has become a veteran politician, has to shoulder the heavy responsibility to unite the divided family.

In the gap between fighting with the ***, he had to return to Italy regularly to resolve the slaughter of each other, and these troubles greatly delayed his conquest of Sicily.

While Roger was temporarily returning to Italy, he asked his illegitimate son Jordan to be responsible for the combat operations in Sicily.

Obviously, this boy inherited his uncle's spirit, because he was young and cunning, cruel and brave, and continued the pace of the conquest.

He occupied one city by stealing domestic animals, and by luring the citizens outside, he seized another city, led his knights to calmly demand his opponent's surrender.

However, this success stimulated him to seek more.

As an illegitimate son, he has no right to inherit, which in his opinion means that he must expand territory and boundaries for himself.

As Roger calmed the unrest in Italy and reached another armistice agreement. When he returned to Sicily, he discovered that Jordan had launched a full-scale rebellion with the goal of obtaining (he thought) his own legacy.

Ironically, Jordan is Roger's favorite son and will almost certainly receive a large inheritance.

However, family peace always seems to be an untouchable wish for Roger.

Roger severely suppressed Jordan's rebellion, but also completely forgave him.

However, a few months later, Jordan died of a high fever.

Roger was distracted by family affairs, and the situation in Sicily was deteriorating.

His ally Ibn Tinna was assassinated, but this was not a particularly huge loss, because Roger never intended to share power with others.

The more serious problem is that the locals no longer regard the Normans as liberators.

Of course, this can only be attributed to Roger himself, because although his threat policy helped him make money, it was not conducive to building the loyalty of the locals.

The areas he conquered were filled with potential Orthodox supporters, but he was busy making money and had no time to manage the place and get support from the locals.

He suffered a lot before realizing the importance of maintaining a good relationship with the locals.

Roger returned to his base camp in northeastern Sicily and started the battle.

Their actions have been stalled for too long in order to requisition the local palace for newlywed wives.

As soon as he led his army to fight, all the Greeks and the *** in the city rose up.

Judith fled along the street and managed to hide in the safe house of the nearby castle.

Roger returned the next day, but his opponent was so fierce that he could not save his wife, but instead was trapped like her.

The winter was extremely cold that year. Although Roger had enough food and grass, there was a severe shortage of fuel and clothing for cold protection.

At the beginning of the second year, they finally saw a way out.

The besiegers rely on the city's fine wine supply to keep warm, and over time, their sense of discipline began to fade.

One cold night, they were drunk and careless, and did not even send a guard to stand guard.

That night, Roger and his soldiers sneaked into the enemy's barracks and massacred the sleeping ***.

Both sides regretted the experience, and Roger never dared to forget this lesson again.

From that day on, he carefully catered to the locals, regardless of faith or race.

He did this well, because now North Africa is taking an offensive.

The ruler of the African coastal city of Mahdiye reaffirmed his legal right to rule over Sicily and ordered his son to lead two armies to attack the Norman "nova".

They marched into the mainland and arrived at the small town of Cerami, west of Troyna, and met Roger on a narrow road.

The situation was extremely unfavorable to Roger. The Saracen army had as many as 50,000 troops, while Roger could only summon 136 knights and less than 600 infantrymen.

But the Normans' confidence was simply unshakable, and the Rogers were at the top of the mountain and were in a favorable position of being condescending.

The *** army was waiting for the Normans to go down the mountain for three days.

On the fourth day, they lost patience and rushed to the mountain, hoping to compete as soon as possible.

The fierce battle lasted for a day, but in the end the more disciplined Normans took the upper hand.

***The repeated impacts cannot break their defense line, and the long-term climbing of the mountain and hills make *** exhausted.

***When retreating, the Normans finally went down the mountain to pursue, and the originally planned orderly retreat turned into a defeat.

In the evening, the Normans took down the barracks and baggage, and the Saracens troops were disintegrated and they were defeated.

This is the most extraordinary battle in history.

A small group of troops not only successfully resisted the enemy with a force of 70 times that of their own, but also completely defeated them.

If anyone had questioned the advantages of the Norman troops in the past, the doubts now dissipated.

Although *** also controls three-quarters of Sicily, the Normans have effectively broken their resistance.

They can no longer organize effective offenses or coordinate their defenses.

From that moment on, it was only a matter of time before the final conquest.

However, no one knows how long it will take to complete the great cause.

Roger tried to take advantage of the victory to take Palermo and gave him a fatal blow, but suffered a crushing defeat.

Palermo is the third largest city in the Mediterranean region, with a population of 250,000 - second only to Constantinople and Cairo - and only a large number of troops could conquer it.

Roger convinced Giscar to provide fire, but Palermo leads to the ocean, so the ground siege has no effect.

What's worse is that Roger chose a large number of wolf spiders in the camp, and many soldiers were bitten, which completely hurt morale.

Three months later, they were forced to retreat to reduce losses and decided to make a comeback after they had ships.

Giscar returned to Italy to make necessary arrangements, but it took another seven years to suppress the rebellion and resist the Byzantine army.

Meanwhile, Roger took advantage of years of conflict between the Berbers and the Arabs to make them uneasy.

Due to a long lack of manpower, he learned to be patient, satisfied with moving forward slowly, and consolidate his results.

In 1068 AD, Roger fell into an ambush by the remnants of the Berbers during an attack.

The opponent relied on the large number of people and power to demand that Roger surrender.

But unexpectedly, Roger optimistly chose to attack and ordered the cavalry to attack several times to eliminate the enemy.

***Not yet risked his open battle with Roger, who made full use of this victory and started a psychological warfare.

He wrote a letter with the enemy's blood, describing the results in detail, and teleported the flying pigeon to Palermo.

Then Roger personally led his army to attack the city, and Giscar's fleet was ready for a long time.

Faced with such a situation, the city almost surrendered on the spot.

Roger put forward the conditions that he had learned from Troyna's rebellion.

Although he asked Palermo to accept the rule of the Normans, *** could enjoy freedom of religious belief as long as he recognized the new regime.

This solution that conforms to common sense and the tolerance of most people constitutes the basis of the Normans' domination.

This was a slow and painful process; it took another 20 years to complete conquest, but wherever Roger went, he proposed the condition of retaining religious beliefs.

The Greek churches were rebuilt and renovated by the state; ***, which accounts for 80% of Sicily's population, was allowed to live in the way of the past century and could continue to maintain their faith for 100 years.

Local governments responsible for taxation and justice were retained, and the new administrative agencies also absorbed Orthodox and *** believers.

The only serious resistance comes from Emir of Syracuse, the main city on the southeastern coast of Sicily, but Roger must face the enemy in person.

After Palermo fell, Giscar left Sicily with most of his troops and never came back.

The first step in seizing Syracuse is to make sure it is cut off from North Africa.

The Berber army is still distributed around Sicily, and the Emir of Mahdia are also causing trouble, which makes people feel ominous.

However, the civil war cut off his ties with the inland North Africa, so he urgently needed wheat from Sicily.

Roger knew his plight and cleverly proposed to sign a special trade agreement to provide Mahdier with all the food he needed, thus keeping him neutral.

In a fight back, the Emir of Syracuse raided a monastery in Roger's territory, robbed some nuns and occupied them as concubines.

This action is very likely to trigger a religious war—the result of Roger avoiding it at all costs—so he acted immediately.

Roger summoned a large army, with an unprecedented scale.

He sent a fleet to block the city from sea and marched from land.

The fleet arrived first and fought the *** ships at sea, where the Athenian Navy lost 1,500 years ago in the Peloponnese War.

This war also played a decisive role.

Emil personally directed the warship, but unfortunately fell from the ship into the water.

His subordinates were frightened and before they could rescue him, he was dragged into the bottom of the water by the armored troops.

Syracuse resisted for several days, but lost the Emir. The local military and civilians had no intention of trying their best and finally chose to surrender.

This victory actually eliminated ***'s power in Sicily.

Although there are still remaining forces, both sides realize that the end of the war is just around the corner.

In the next 30 years, Roger spent most of his time ruthlessly suppressing these forces.

By the spring of 1086 AD, the only emir who was still opposing him was Ibn Hamud.

This person occupies agrigento on the southwest coast, but his power originated from a fortress in Enna, a city in the central region of Sicily.

The fortress was solid, and Roger and Robert tried to capture it, but none of them succeeded.

Moreover, due to limited resources, launching a frontal attack again will obviously not work.

However, the way to conquer the opponent is not just fierce force, and Roger soon came up with a plan.

He prepared carefully as usual. The first step was to cut off Ibn Hamud's connection with potential allies.

Sicily's *** has always received North African assistance, but Roger successfully formed an alliance with Tunisian Emir, cutting off his ties with Ibn Hamud.

Shortly after Roger's diplomat returned from victory, another messenger heard from him: a raid force successfully captured Ibn Hamud's wife and children.

The only thing you have to do now is to give a fatal blow to **.

There is no doubt that Robert Giscar strongly advocated his advantage and attacked Enna after Ibn Hamud's defeat.

But Roger had a more subtle strategy. He knew completely that Ibn Hamud's family was an important bargaining chip in his hands.

Therefore, he treated these prisoners with caution and gave them enough respect.

Their journey was very comfortable and enjoyed the glory of sitting at the same table with Roger.

Except for the lack of freedom, all their requirements are met.

Roger calmly rebuilt the fortifications and consolidated the Norman rule over the new territory.

Ibn Hamud became a lonely man and had to consider whether it was meaningful to continue to resist.

Ibn Hamud quickly realized the reality.

***It is becoming increasingly untenable in the local area, and the hope of external assistance is completely shattered.

Due to Roger's policy of mercy, Ibn Hamud had difficulty arousing people's resistance and could not inspire the remnants of the troops to continue to bleed and sacrifice for the war that was doomed to be unsuccessful.

In early 1087 AD, Roger believed that the time for negotiation had come.

He brought only 100 knights to the foot of the Fortress of Onna and invited Ibn Hamud to negotiate.

Apparently, this Emil has given up on resistance.

Because Roger treats his family well, he personally decides to reach some agreement with the Normans.

The two had a cordial conversation, but when talking about surrender, Ibn Hamud said sadly that it was unacceptable to do so.

He continued, even if he had never been an honest and upright person, his subordinates would never accept such cowardly behavior, and he would be killed before he could open the fortress gate.

Roger keenly captured Ibn Hamud’s implications, and he proposed a new solution that could save his face.

A few days later, Ibn Hamud led the main force into the "well-designed" ambush circle.

In order to save the lives of the soldiers, he "noble" proposed to surrender.

The Normans successfully took Enna, no casualties.

Ibn Hamud was baptized as a Christian.

The Normans provided many large estates for their choice to live.

He chose Calabria to stay away from the center of power in the past, so that no rebellion occurred on the old territory would implicate himself.

He was also able to join the ranks of nobles.

People deliberately ignore Ibn Hamud's absurd and unjust life (he married his cousin), and he spent the rest of his life peacefully without causing any more trouble and becoming a respected little noble.

Roger lived for another 13 years. During this period, he streamlined the government, improved administrative efficiency, and expanded his influence in Italy.

Roger was mainly committed to increasing the wealth of his subjects and avoiding being involved in large-scale conflicts.

The Ultraville family performed outstandingly during the First Crusade.

Old Tancred's no less than 6 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren participated.

But when the First Crusade was launched, Roger was actually the only prince who did not respond.

Roger's territory was far more than that of the Normans, and the accumulation of local wealth also relied on trade with North Africa, so what he least wanted was religious wars.

He formally declared to remain neutral and put pressure on his trading partners to remain neutral, which proved to be the correct economic policy.

By the turn of the century, Sicily was unprecedentedly stable, prosperous and safe.

Trade is booming and art is booming.

Due to the Crusades, trade between Europe and the Levant flocked to the Palermo and Messina markets, driving them to become rich.

Roger's only regret is that his true love Judith cannot be with him and share the beauty.

She died in 1080 AD and left behind four daughters.

The second wife passed away after giving birth to three daughters for him.

Roger is over 60 years old and he feels deeply old.

Like other responsible rulers, his biggest concern is who will succeed the throne.

The illegitimate son, Jordan, showed the commander's chicness in several battles, but died of a high fever in 1092 AD.

In the same year, Roger got married for the third time, and his newlywed wife Adelaide successfully gave birth to two sons.

The eldest son was named Simon, and the youngest son was named Roger with his excited father.

Old Roger can rest in peace now because future generations will inherit his name.

Six years later, the wise ruler of the country, Roger passed away peacefully.

His military victory became a legend, but what was truly brilliant was his rule.

As a rare leader, he not only knows how to conquer, but more importantly, how to rule.

When he first arrived in Sicily, he was only 26 years old and was a young and ambitious knight.

44 years later, after his entire life, he was already a great politician in the Mediterranean region.

To this day, Roger's ability to govern the country is still a beautiful memory of the Sicilians.

They affectionately called him "the great earl."

It was not until after Roger's death that the last gift he left to Sicily was known.

The powerful ruler always leaves uncertainty and disorder behind him, but Roger devoted his life to good governance and continued after his death.

When he died, Roger II, who eventually inherited his legacy, was only 5 years old.

Although long-term rule by young masters often leads to unrest, in 12 years, Roger II did not encounter opposition forces and took charge of a peaceful and stable country.
Chapter completed!