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7 - Roger II of Sicily

Imagining Self-Coronation

from Part II - Infamy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2020

Jaume Aurell
Affiliation:
Universidad de Navarra, Spain
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Summary

The seventh chapter starts with an analysis of the different sources narrating Roger II of Sicily’s ritual coronation, performed on 25 December 1130. Roger sought for his monarchy the appearance of a legitimate kingdom, supported by the weight of tradition, that the Pope had restored with the consent of the princes and the people. The second part of the chapter moves to the interpretation of the image of Roger II being crowned by Christ, as depicted in the mosaic in the Martorana Church in Palermo, one of the strongest indications of the Christocentric evolution outlined in the previous chapters of the book, and a formidable example of symbolic self-coronation. Roger II’s respect for his Muslim Arab subjects, as well as his attempt to assimilate Arab and Byzantine cultural traditions, are at the root of his iconographic programme: the visual language could be understood by Arabs, Normans, Greeks and Latins. This supra-linguistic, multinational, multiethnic and multicultural form is a typical inheritance of the kingdom of Sicily, and would without doubt have inspired the universalist and imperial politics of Roger II’s grandson Frederick II, specifically at his majestic self-coronation in Jerusalem.

Type
Chapter
Information
Medieval Self-Coronations
The History and Symbolism of a Ritual
, pp. 175 - 195
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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  • Roger II of Sicily
  • Jaume Aurell, Universidad de Navarra, Spain
  • Book: Medieval Self-Coronations
  • Online publication: 20 May 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108879279.009
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  • Roger II of Sicily
  • Jaume Aurell, Universidad de Navarra, Spain
  • Book: Medieval Self-Coronations
  • Online publication: 20 May 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108879279.009
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Roger II of Sicily
  • Jaume Aurell, Universidad de Navarra, Spain
  • Book: Medieval Self-Coronations
  • Online publication: 20 May 2020
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108879279.009
Available formats
×