this favor from the pontiff, he bound himself and his successors to pay a yearly tribute to the Holy See. This was the origin of the papal claims on the Kingdom of Naples. Up to this time the government of Apulia retained certain popular forms, which Guiscard lost no time in destroying. The barons trembled for their privileges. Seditions broke out on every hand. Guiscard punished the principals by death; others he sent into exile, and those who had merely been instruments in the hands of the chiefs he pardoned, and by this clemency strengthened his authority. When he had established order, and had no fear of insurrection in his Italian dominions, he cast his eyes towards Sicily, the conquest of which he had been for some time meditating.

At this juncture Roger arrived in Italy. This youngest of the tribe was endowed with dauntless courage, herculean strength and consummate cunning. As soon as he joined his brother Robert, he was sent at the head of a small band to complete the conquest of Calabria. This having been quickly and satisfactorily accomplished, the two brothers undertook an expedition to Reggio; but a quarrel soon arose on account of Robert's jealousy of the admiration everywhere won by Roger, and his refusal to make an equal distribution of the plunder, for which they had both equally risked their lives. Roger therefore withdrew, and offered his services to his brother William, who treated him more generously, and made him the owner of a castle, from which he made raids into the country, and supported himself by brigandage. This precarious mode of life often reduced him to terrible straits, even to that of horse-stealing, in order to find the means of support. In later and better days he gave express orders that this fact should be recorded, in order that posterity might know from what a low position he had risen to honor and affluence.

By-and-by Roger found the opportunity to surprise and rob a convoy of rich merchants, and with the plunder thus obtained was able to hire a small but determined band of followers, with whom he immediately began devastating his brother Robert's possessions, in revenge for his former selfishRobert, knowing the desperate character he had to deal with, discreetly effected a reconciliation with his brother,

ness.

by promising him the half of Calabria. There, Roger, after suppressing a rebellion supported by a Greek invasion, succeeded in firmly establishing the Norman rule in 1060.

It was about this time that Roger undertook his first expedition to Sicily, which was then under the domination of a number of Saracen chiefs, who were constantly engaged in mutual conflict. Landing near Messina, he repulsed a sortie made by the inhabitants, levied contributions, and returned to Italy laden with spoil. A short time after this he was joined by the lord of Syracuse and Catania, who, having been driven from his possessions by his brother-in-law, offered his services to Roger in the conquest of Sicily. Watching his opportunity, he escaped the notice of the Palerman fleet, crossed the strait in the darkness of night with 300 soldiers, took Messina by surprise, and handed it over to the soldiers to pillage. Then, on being joined by his brother Robert, he rebuilt the walls and strengthened the fortifications, and made Messina henceforward the centre of his operations in Sicily. The brothers now joined forces and marched into the interior.

Their exploits and almost incredible deeds of valor can only be compared with those of the Portuguese in the East Indies. Often, with a mere handful of men, they would attack entire armies; rushing upon them with such terrific suddenness and fury that their enemies were discomfited and fled, before they discovered by whom they were attacked, or the insignificant number of their assailants. No enemy could withstand the Normans in the open plain; but as they had not the means for attacking the towns and forts with which the island of Sicily abounded, they were obliged to accept the aid of the Christians, now impatient to shake off the yoke of the hated Mussulmans, who were daily becoming weaker on account of their incessant quarrels.

In 1061, after a brilliant victory over several thousand Saracens, Roger devastated the whole country as far as Girgenti. Before the end of the year he returned to Italy, married the daughter of a Norman baron, and went to claim the half of Calabria previously promised to him by his brother. Robert refused to recognize the claim, and thus arose an armed contest, which, considering the character of

the combatants, threatened most disastrous results. But these were averted when Robert, who had been taken prisoner by some of his enemies, was released by Roger's prompt intervention. This generous act effected the reconciliation of the brothers and led to the division of Calabria between them.

Roger now returned to Sicily with his young wife, whom he left at Traïna with a small guard, and proceeded to lay siege to Nicosia. In the meantime, however, the Greeks at Traina, maddened by the sometimes brutal treatment of the Normans, rose in revolt, and being joined by 5,000 Saracens, besieged Roger's soldiers, who had taken refuge in the citadel. By some means or other Roger succeeded in joining them, and suffered with them extreme privations on account of the want of provisions. In one of the sorties, when fighting alone at the foot of the wall, he was captured and almost overpowered by the enemy; but by acts of prodigious strength and courage he managed to shake himself clear of them, and escaped to the citadel in safety. At last another sortie was made, provisions were procured, and Roger succeeded in reaching the mainland, whence he returned with sufficient reinforcements, and speedily crushed the revolt. In 1063, near Ceramium, he defeated a large army which had been sent against him by the African Caliph.

Finally, in 1071, siege was laid to Palermo, the bulwark of the Saracen power in Sicily. With Robert's aid this city was reduced, after an obstinate resistance, lasting nearly a year. According to the conditions of the capitulation, the Saracens were allowed to retain their property, and to practice their own forms of religious worship. Roger then assumed the title of Count of Sicily, claiming possession of the country, with the exception of one-half of Palermo and one-half of Messina, which were to belong to Robert and his heirs.

The brothers then divided the island into feudal possessions, assigning them to their nephews and the principal officers of their army. A period of nearly ten years had yet to elapse before the country was completely subdued. Syracuse was taken in 1088; Girgenti in 1089, and Enna in 1091. Again and again the Saracens came from Africa to the aid of their co-religionists, and thus Roger was kept continually in the

field; but he nevertheless succeeded in defending the country and establishing a stable government. The rights of the barons and their obligations to their subjects were founded on justice and moderation, while the violence and anarchy of former days were prevented by wise and well-executed laws. The nobles and wealthy classes of the Saracens returned to Africa, and those who remained lost but few of the rights of ordinary citizens.

In the meantime Robert, who was secure in his own possessions, thought himself powerful enough to cross the sea and to cope with the forces of the Byzantine Emperor Alexius, whose army, although six times as large as his own, he routed under the walls of Durazzo in 1081, and in the following year captured that city. In 1084 he was recalled from this expedition, and joining forces with Roger was able to deliver Pope Gregory VII. from the hands of Henry IV., of Germany. After this he resumed his expedition to the East, defeated the combined Greek and Venetian fleets, raised the siege of Corfu, and was actively engaged in warfare, when he was suddenly cut off by an epidemic disease at the island of Cephalonia, in 1085.

A violent dispute arose between his two sons, Marc Bohemond and Roger Bursa, about the succession. Roger, their uncle, was called in to arbitrate, and pronounced in favor of the younger, Roger, who gave up to him several towns in Calabria, which, with others reserved for himself, had been claimed by Bohemond. This elder brother became more famous as the Bohemond of the First Crusade.

Having become the arbiter and chief of a powerful family, with large dominions, and great military renown, Roger's alliance was sought by the first powers of Europe. In 1096, one of his daughters was married to the King of Hungary. In 1089 he had assumed the title of Grand Count of Sicily, to distinguish him from such of his vassals as bore the title of Count. As a recompense for his fidelity to the Holy See, Pope Urban II., in 1098, granted him the right of naming the bishops for all the dioceses in his dominions. The Pope also granted to Roger and his successors the title of Legate Apostolical in Sicily.

The last years of this rough soldier's life were spent in the interests of his subjects, in promoting works of peace, in founding monasteries and churches, many of which he adorned with great splendor. Not the least notable of the edifices which arose under his direction was the Cathedral of Messina, which was consecrated in 1097. By his fourth and last wife he had two sons, one of whom succeeded him at his death, in 1101, and was the first to bear the title of King of Sicily.

THE NORMAN CONQUEST OF SICILY.

The Saracens were masters of the whole of Sicily; but having ceased to acknowledge the supremacy of the Caliphs of Egypt, and parcelled out the island into separate jurisdictions, they soon began to quarrel amongst themselves. In the course of one of these struggles Ben et Themnah was dispossessed of the government of Catania. Compelled to fly, and bent on revenge, he repaired in disguise to Mileto, in the winter of 1061, and endeavored to persuade Count Roger to invade Sicily. About the same time arrived a deputation of Greeks from Messina, on the same errand, though with different views. The Messinese represented that the Saracens were again disunited; that half the population of the island were Greeks and Christians, who were looking to the Normans for relief, and ready to lend them every assistance. The depositions and exhortations of the two parties encouraged the Norman leaders to attempt the conquest of Sicily.

March and April were employed in preparations. The Duke arrived in person with his troops in the south of Calabria. But the Saracens of Palermo, apprised of the design of the Normans, dispatched several vessels to cruise off Reggio, and prevent the expedition from crossing the straits. The wary Robert saw so much hazard in the enterprise that he repeatedly postponed the attack. His youthful brother, however, unable to restrain himself any longer, without communicating his intentions to the Duke, one dark night set sail with no more than 270 soldiers, eluded the vigilance of the Palermitan cruisers, landed in safety a little below Messina, took the Saracens by surprise, and, assisted by the co-operation of the Christians within the walls, before morning was in pos