Papers by PATRICK R MORGAN
Comitatus: A Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 2019
This article analyzes the mutable and adaptive royal image of King Roger II of Sicily (r. 1130–11... more This article analyzes the mutable and adaptive royal image of King Roger II of Sicily (r. 1130–1154) by examining his royal coinage in its Mediterranean context. Two case studies demonstrate how Roger, who ruled over a culturally diverse group of regions in Sicily and southern Italy, appropriated these regions’ equally diverse histories, images,
and traditions of rule when minting his royal coinage. In recently conquered Sicily, this meant the slow but steady Christianization of previously Islamicate images of rule on coins, and in southern Italy, the imitation of earlier Byzantine imperial coins that had circulated in the region. The adaptability of the royal image to specific contingencies was
due in large part to the novelty and uncertain legitimacy of the Kingdom of Sicily. The kingdom’s lack of historical precedent meant that the king and his advisors were free to appropriate the historical traditions of other, more venerable political entities to suit the needs of the crown.
Keywords: kingship, numismatics, Sicily, Byzantium, Mediterranean, Normans, Roger II, Islamic history.
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Papers by PATRICK R MORGAN
and traditions of rule when minting his royal coinage. In recently conquered Sicily, this meant the slow but steady Christianization of previously Islamicate images of rule on coins, and in southern Italy, the imitation of earlier Byzantine imperial coins that had circulated in the region. The adaptability of the royal image to specific contingencies was
due in large part to the novelty and uncertain legitimacy of the Kingdom of Sicily. The kingdom’s lack of historical precedent meant that the king and his advisors were free to appropriate the historical traditions of other, more venerable political entities to suit the needs of the crown.
Keywords: kingship, numismatics, Sicily, Byzantium, Mediterranean, Normans, Roger II, Islamic history.
and traditions of rule when minting his royal coinage. In recently conquered Sicily, this meant the slow but steady Christianization of previously Islamicate images of rule on coins, and in southern Italy, the imitation of earlier Byzantine imperial coins that had circulated in the region. The adaptability of the royal image to specific contingencies was
due in large part to the novelty and uncertain legitimacy of the Kingdom of Sicily. The kingdom’s lack of historical precedent meant that the king and his advisors were free to appropriate the historical traditions of other, more venerable political entities to suit the needs of the crown.
Keywords: kingship, numismatics, Sicily, Byzantium, Mediterranean, Normans, Roger II, Islamic history.