| Roger Of Lauria |
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| 1245 births | |
| 1305 deaths | |
| people from basilicata | |
| italian admirals | |
| history of catalonia | |
| crown of aragon | |
| warfare of the medieval era | |
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Roger of Lauria, also '''Ruggero''' or '''Ruggiero di Lauria''' (c. 1245 - January 17 1305 ) was an Italian Admiral , who was commander of the fleet of Aragon . He was probably the most successful and talented naval tactician of the Medieval period. BIOGRAPHY Ruggero di Lauria was born at Lauria or Scalea in southern Italy, the son of Richardo of Lauria, Great Justicer of the Kingdom of Naples, and Donna Bella, a nurse of Constance Of Hohenstaufen . His father had served under King Manfred Of Sicily ; when the last member of that family, Conradin Of Swabia , was beheaded at Naples in 1268, he took refuge with other Ghibelline exiles at Barcelona (Aragon) with his mother. Later King Peter III Of Aragon made him knight together with Corrado Lancia , who was to be a fellow of Roger in much of his enterprises. In 1282 Roger was named commander of the Aragonese fleet, keeping this charge under Peter's successors James II and Frederick III . Roger of Lauria commanded the Aragonese fleet during the campaign to capture Sicily from the Angevin s after the Sicilian Vespers revolt in 1282 , who made the Aragonese rulers of the Sicily Island. He fought and won 6 naval galley battles in total. On 8 July 1283 ( Battle Of Malta ) he defeated the Angevins in the Grand Harbour of Malta. The following year on 5 June , at the Battle Of Castellammare , he defeated the Neapolitan fleet and even captured the enemy commander, Charles of Salerno (the future Charles II Of Naples ). Back to Aragon, in 1285 he won the Battle Of Las Hormigas against the French, near Barcelona, which destroyed for a long time the Franch naval power in the Mediterranean. In 1287 ( Battle Of The Counts ) he again defeated the Angevins near Naples, despite his fleet counting only 40 ships against the enemy 80. After this victory, without any authorisation from King James, he sold a truce with the Neapolitans. Observers noted that this truce probably deprived the Aragonese-Sicilians of the victory also on the mainland. When Frederick III was elected King of Trinacria (Sicily), Roger received in reward of his victories the fief of Aci and the annexed castle, stripped from the bishops of Catania. However, the relationship between the admiral and the young King turned soon bad; when the former passed to the Angevines, Aci was besieged and captured by Frederick, and Roger took refuge at his summer residence in Castiglione Di Sicilia . Again besieged and defeated, he was arrested and brought to Palermo . However he managed to escape and left Sicily, while all his fiefs were confiscated. Roger therefore passed to the service of Edward I Of England , to fight against the French. But, in spite of his promises, he returned to Italy, where, on 4 July 1299 ( Battle Of Cape Orlando ), he defeated the Sicilians near Sicily, capturing 18 enemy galleys. After another victory at the Battle Of Ponza on 14 June 1300 , Roger defeated and captured king Frederick himself. After the Peace Of Caltabellotta , he sumbitted to Frederick and received a whole pardon. He retreated to Cocentaina , where he died in 1305 . Tactics Roger was successful in naval warfare because of several skillful tactics. He tried to lure enemy fleets out, pretending to retreat and getting them to chase him until they became disorganized, then turning in formation to attack. He had much more control over his captains than the enemies did. His crews were made up of specialized troops, instead of the more generic types used by his enemies. His Catalan archers were used initially, which his oarsmen and/or almugavars (unarmored and highly mobile troops armed with 2 javelins, a lance and a dagger) stayed under cover. When the galleys closed, often from the sides of the enemy galleys (which damaged their oars), these almugavars were much more agile than the heavily armored knights with swords his enemies often used, especially on the moving deck of a galley at sea. He used trickery to disguise the size of his force. In addition, he sometimes kept some of his galleys hidden, to attack the rear of the enemy after the battle had started. Roger was also infamous for the ruthless sacks and devastations of his actions, often driven only by greed of personal advantages. On the other side, his reputation alone possibly caused some ememies to lose heart during a battle. REFERENCES
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