Roger Salernsky

The exact date of birth of Roger is unknown. He was the son of Richard de Principipato and, together with his father, took part in the First Crusade , fighting in the ranks of the troops of Boemund of Tarento . After the founding of the Principality of Antioch and the return of Boehmund to Italy, Roger remained in the East, becoming one of the close cousins ​​of his cousin Tancred .

In December 1112, Tancred died of typhus, entrusting Roger with the defense of Antioch ^[1] . Accepting the regency, Roger immediately faced with the need to reflect the Muslim raids on the borders of the principality. In the spring of 1113, a large Saracen army led by Atabek Mavdud , having come out of Mosul , defeated the soldiers of Baldwin II of Jerusalem at Tiberias and moved north. Gathering an army and teaming up with Ponce Tripoli , Roger came to the aid of the king. The Allied Christian army looked so impressive that Mavdud did not dare to attack her and retreated ^[1] .

There were major disagreements between Muslim rulers at that time, and many of them seriously feared the strengthening of the power of the Mosul Atabeks. Roger, a good politician, took advantage of this to make an alliance with the Saracens against the new Atabek Burzuk . In 1114, the troops of the former enemies of the crusaders - the ruler of Damascus Tugtekin , the emir Aleppo Badr al-Din Lulu and the Artukid commander Ilgazi ^[2] approached Apamea, which belonged to the regent of Antioch. Later, the units of the Baldwin of Jerusalem and Pons of Tripoli joined the allied army. The Saracens and Crusaders managed to go on the offensive and force Burzuk to move east, however, after this success, the Turkish rulers retired to their fortresses, and Roger was forced to defend himself from new enemy raids alone.

Burzuk planned to attack Antioch and tried to distract Roger with ingenious maneuvers. However, thanks to the scouts, the Antioch regent found out about the intentions of the Atabek and ordered his troops to move towards the enemy ^[3] . On September 14, 1115, the Seljuks, who did not expect a response attack, were defeated by the Knights of Antioch and Edes at the battle of Tel Danif; this brilliant victory put an end to Burzuk’s plans to conquer Syria ^[4] .

Roger appropriated most of the lands captured during the campaign against Mosul, and significantly expanded the boundaries of the Principality of Antioch ^[5] . His success frightened the Muslims of Aleppo and Damascus, which were formerly his allies, and they again began military operations against the Normans. However, the emirate of Aleppo was in a state of political crisis - his ruler Badr al-Din Lulu did not enjoy the support of the population and was ultimately killed by his own guards, and the eunuch Yaruktash, who seized power after his death, was involved in an exhausting war with his neighbors. Using this, Roger led an expedition against the emirate, took several cities and fortresses and plundered the outskirts of Aleppo ^[6] . He demanded that his knights be given the right to accompany Muslim caravans from Aleppo to Mecca and to allow them to levy a fee for the passage of pilgrims to Christian lands. Moreover, Roger forced the ruler of the emirate to take him a vassal oath - from now on, the Saracens of Aleppo were obliged to fight on the side of the Antioch prince against co-religionists ^[6] .

Roger’s demands were too humiliating for the Muslims of Aleppo, and in May 1117 the city ​​opened the gate to the Turkish commander Ilgazi. He immediately declared jihad against Antioch and began to gather troops. Having waited for Roger to leave his capital with an impressive army, Ilgazi set out on a campaign at the end of spring 1119 and attacked Christians near Sarmada . On June 28 (some sources say another date is June 18 , but this is probably a mistake), the two armies met in a battle that ended in the complete defeat of the Antiochs. The losses of Christians were so great that the chroniclers called this battle “the battle on the Bloody Field ” ( lat. Ager Sanguinis ) ^[7] . In the battle, Roger also died, killed by a blow of the sword in the face. Since he did not leave any heirs, Baldwin of Jerusalem became regent after his death.

The Regency of Roger Salerno was generally a successful period in the history of the Principality of Antioch. De Principato became one of the first European rulers in the East to begin alliances with Muslim emirs, using discord between them. This policy brought considerable benefits - thanks to the actions of the regent Aleppo lost independence, and Damascus soon recognized the supreme power of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Of particular importance was the victory gained at Tel Danif, which actually saved all the feudal lords of Syria, both the crusaders and Muslims, from the deaths ^[4] . The defeat of Atabek Mavdud contributed to the military successes of the King of Jerusalem ^[8] , as well as the expansion of the borders of the Principality of Antioch and the general strengthening of its position ^[5] .

Roger was also very fortunate to establish suzerainty over Aleppo, but due to the overly hasty actions of the regent, the population of the emirate murmured and called for help from Ilgazi, which ultimately led to disastrous consequences. The defeat and death of Roger in the Battle of the Bloody Field became a crushing blow for the crusaders; since almost his entire army was exterminated, Antioch remained defenseless. In fact, Antioch was saved from death only by the timely arrival of the King of Jerusalem, who defended the city and the principality ^[9] .

It is known that Roger was married to Godern, the representative of the de Rethel family , who was the sister of Baldwin II. This marriage was concluded no earlier than 1114. The regent of Antioch did not have time to start offspring.

• Weimar P. Crusades / Per. with fr. D.A. Zhuravleva. - SPb. : AST; Eurasia, 2006 .-- 384 p. - (Historical Library). - 5,000 copies. - ISBN 5-8071-0192-8 .