d. 1119 · Regent of Antioch (1113–1119)
Roger of Salerno
Regent of the Principality of Antioch; in 1115 he defeated Bursuq's Seljuk army at Tell Danith, but in 1119 he was defeated and killed by Ilghazi at the Battle of the Field of Blood.
BIOGRAPHICAL DOSSIER
Life and historical role
Life and political setting
Roger was the son of Richard of Salerno and a relative of Bohemond and Tancred. After Tancred's death in 1112 he became regent of Antioch on behalf of the young Bohemond II.
Role in the Crusades
When the Seljuk sultan's army under Bursuq entered Syria in 1115, he formed a temporary alliance with the rulers of Aleppo and Damascus. On 14 September 1115 he won a great victory at Tell Danith with a surprise attack on the Seljuk army. In 1119, when Ilghazi attacked, he moved without waiting for the king of Jerusalem; on 28 June 1119 his army was destroyed at the Field of Blood near Sarmada and he was killed.
Historical significance and source problems
Roger's death broke Antioch's military strength for a time and led Baldwin II to take over the principality's government. Walter, chancellor of Antioch, wrote the Bella Antiochena, describing both battles from the inside; it presents Roger's moral failings as the cause of the defeat.
Biographical information is linked to the sources shown on the page and to the connected event records. Disputed dates are given as approximate, gaps are not filled by conjecture, and later literary or visual depictions are not treated as contemporary portraits.