Conferences - Roger I of Hauteville

History and Heritage
Cycle of 2 Lectures and Screening on Roger I of Hauteville.

This cycle of two lectures and a screening explores the fate of Roger I of Hauteville and the connections between Normandy and southern Italy in the 11th century. Born from the Norman expansion that began after the creation of the Duchy of Normandy in the 10th century, this movement is reinforced by the political tensions that characterize the reign of William the Conqueror and by the lack of land that drives many Normans towards the Mediterranean.

Among them are Robert Guiscard and Roger I of Hauteville. Having become Count of Sicily and southern Calabria, Roger I established his capital in Mileto and began the conquest of Sicily in 1061, completed in 1091. Taking advantage of the weakening of the Kalbid emirate, he built fortresses, cathedrals, and religious establishments that contributed to the political and spiritual organization of his territories and to the emergence of the future Regnum of Hauteville in the 12th century.

The cycle also focuses on Robert of Grandmesnil, former abbot of Saint-Évroult-en-Ouche, who settles in southern Italy after his exile from Normandy. Abbot of Sainte-Euphémie, he plays a major role in the development of Latin monasticism in Sicily and Calabria, serving the political agenda of Roger I, husband of Judith of Évreux.

Through the intertwined paths of William the Conqueror, victor of the Battle of Hastings in 1066, and Roger I of Hauteville, architect of the conquest of Sicily, these meetings highlight the movements of men, ideas, and powers that shape Norman history on a European and Mediterranean scale.

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