Roger II crowned King of Sicily
December 25, 1130
In Palermo cathedral on Christmas Day, the Norman count of Sicily had himself anointed king of a new polyglot kingdom stretching from the Abruzzi to Malta. His court would mint coins in three scripts, employ an Arab geographer named al-Idrisi, and become Europe's most astonishing cultural crossroads. Roger governed through a centralized bureaucracy modeled on the Fatimid divan, administering justice in Latin, Greek, and Arabic with equal fluency.
In context
Also in 1130 (6 other events on record)
- Ibn Tumart proclaims himself Mahdi · Africa · Religion
- Maori arrival in New Zealand approaches · Oceania · Exploration
- Papal schism of Anacletus and Innocent · Europe · Religion
- Hassan II born into the Nizari Ismailis · Middle East · Religion
- Kalyani inscriptions of the Western Chalukyas · South Asia · Culture
- Great Zimbabwe gold rises in trade · Africa · Politics
Before and after in Europe
Before and after in Politics
Era
High Middle Ages (1000–1300), one of 1,306 events from that era on Saeculum.