Roger de Hauteville begins conquest of Sicily

1060

Robert Guiscard's younger brother crossed from Calabria to Messina and began wresting Sicily from its Arab emirs in campaigns that would run for three decades. The eventual Norman kingdom of Sicily would be a multicultural marvel, with Greek, Arabic, and Latin used side by side at court. Roger's methodical approach, castle by castle and town by town, showed a patience rare among Norman adventurers.