Roger of Lauria (c. 1245 - 17 January 1305)
... was a Neapolitan admiral in Aragonese service, who was
the commander of the fleet of the Crown of Aragon during the
War of the Sicilian Vespers. He was probably the most
successful and talented naval tactician of the Middle Ages.
He is known as Ruggero or Ruggiero di Lauria in Italian and
Roger de Llúria in Catalan.
Roger of Lauria was born at Lauria or Scalea in what is now
southern Italy, the son of Richard of Lauria, Great
Justiciar of the Kingdom of Sicily, and Donna Bella, a nurse
of Constance of Sicily. His father had served under King
Manfred of Sicily, a Hohenstaufen; when the last member of
that family, Conradin of Swabia, was beheaded at Naples in
1268, he took refuge with other Ghibelline exiles at
Barcelona, part of the Crown of Aragón with his mother.
Later King Peter III of Aragon, who had married Constance of
Hohenstaufen, made him knight together with Corrado Lancia,
who was to be a comrade of Roger in many of his enterprises.
In 1282, Roger was named commander of the Aragonese fleet,
keeping this post under Peter's successors James II and
Frederick III.
Roger of Lauria commanded the Aragonese fleet during the
campaign to capture Sicily from the Angevins after the
Sicilian Vespers revolt in 1282, which made the Aragonese
rulers of Sicily. He fought and won six naval galley battles
in total. On 8 July 1283, he defeated the Angevins in the
Grand Harbour at the Battle of Malta. On 5 June 1284, he
defeated the Neapolitan fleet at the Battle of Castellammare
and even captured the enemy commander, Charles of Salerno
(the future Charles II of Naples).
On 4 September 1285, during the Aragonese Crusade, he
defeated the French near Barcelona at the Battle of Les
Formigues, which destroyed for a long time the French naval
power in the Mediterranean. Within days, he had landed and
taken part in the Battle of the Col de Panissars. On 23 June
1287, he again defeated the Angevins near Naples at the
Battle of the Counts, despite being outnumbered forty ships
to eighty. After this victory, without any authorization
from King James, he made a truce with the Neapolitans.
Observers noted that this truce probably deprived the
Aragonese-Sicilians of the victory also on the mainland.
When Frederick III was elected King of Trinacria (Sicily),
Roger received the fief of Aci and the annexed castle
stripped from the bishops of Catania as rewards for his
victories. However, the relationship between the admiral and
the young King soon soured; when the former passed to the
Angevins, Aci was besieged and captured by Frederick, and
Roger took refuge at his summer residence in Castiglione di
Sicilia. Again besieged and defeated, he was arrested and
brought to Palermo. However, he managed to escape and left
Sicily, while all his fiefs were confiscated. Roger then
entered the service of Edward I of England to fight against
the French. But, in spite of his promises, he returned to
Italy, where, on 4 July 1299, he defeated the Sicilians near
Sicily at the Battle of Cape Orlando, capturing eighteen
enemy galleys.
He had another victory on 14 June 1300, the Battle of Ponza,
in which he defeated and captured King Frederick himself.
After the Peace of Caltabellotta, he submitted to Frederick
and received a whole pardon. He retreated to Cocentaina in
the Kingdom of Valencia, where he died in 1305.
source: wikipedia |
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