Roger of Salerno (died June 28, 1119) was regent of the Principality of Antioch

Principality of Antioch

The Principality of Antioch, including parts of modern-day Turkey and Syria, was one of the crusader states created during the First Crusade.-Foundation:...

 from 1112 to 1119.
He was the son of Richard of the Principate and the 2nd cousin of Tancred, Prince of Galilee

Tancred, Prince of Galilee

Tancred was a Norman leader of the First Crusade who later became Prince of Galilee and regent of the Principality of Antioch...

, both participants on the First Crusade

First Crusade

The First Crusade was a military expedition by Western Christianity to regain the Holy Lands taken in the Muslim conquest of the Levant, ultimately resulting in the recapture of Jerusalem...

. He became regent of Antioch when Tancred died in 1112; the actual prince, Bohemund II

Bohemund II of Antioch

Bohemond II was the Prince of Taranto and Prince of Antioch from 1111. He was the son of the founder of the principalities, Bohemond I, and Constance, daughter of Philip I of France. Taranto was lost to Roger II of Sicily in 1128....

, was still a child. Like Tancred, Roger was almost constantly at war with the nearby Muslim states such as Aleppo

Aleppo

Aleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...

. In 1114 there was an earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

 that destroyed many of the fortifications of the principality, and Roger took great care to rebuild them, especially those near the frontier.

Roger defeated Bursuq in 1114 at the Battle of Sarmin

Battle of Sarmin

In the Battle of Sarmin on September 14, 1115, Prince Roger of Salerno's Crusader army surprised and routed the Seljuk Turkish army of Bursuq bin Bursuq of Hamadan.-Background:...

, and in 1115 at the Battle of Tell Danith. With Joscelin I of Edessa, Roger put enough military pressure on Aleppo that the city allied with Ortoqid emir Ilghazi

Ilghazi

Najm ad-Din Ilghazi ibn Artuq was the Turkish Artukid ruler of Mardin from 1107 to 1122.- Biography :His father Artuk was the founder of the Artukid dynasty, and had been appointed governor of Jerusalem by the Seljuq emir Tutush. When Artuk died, Ilghazi and his brother Sökmen succeeded him as...

 in 1118. Ilghazi invaded the Principality in 1119, and despite the urging of the Patriarch

Latin Patriarch of Antioch

The Latin Patriarch of Antioch was an office created in 1098 by Bohemund, founder of the Principality of Antioch, one of the crusader states....

, Roger did not wait for reinforcements from Jerusalem

Kingdom of Jerusalem

The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....

 or Tripoli

County of Tripoli

The County of Tripoli was the last Crusader state founded in the Levant, located in what today are parts of western Syria and northern Lebanon, where exists the modern city of Tripoli. The Crusader state was captured and created by Christian forces in 1109, originally held by Bertrand of Toulouse...

. At the ensuing Battle of Ager Sanguinis

Battle of Ager Sanguinis

In the Battle of Ager Sanguinis, also known as the Battle of the Field of Blood, the Battle of Sarmada, or the Battle of Balat, Roger of Salerno's Crusader army of the Principality of Antioch was annihilated by the army of Ilghazi of Mardin, the Artuqid ruler of Aleppo on June 28,...

 he had 700 knights and 3000 foot soldiers, including 500 Armenian

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia

The Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia , also known as the Cilician Armenia, Kingdom of Cilician Armenia or New Armenia, was an independent principality formed during the High Middle Ages by Armenian refugees fleeing the Seljuk invasion of Armenia...

 cavalry, but nearly all were killed, including Roger himself. Ilghazi's forces scattered to plunder the surrounding land and did not attack Antioch

Antioch

Antioch on the Orontes was an ancient city on the eastern side of the Orontes River. It is near the modern city of Antakya, Turkey.Founded near the end of the 4th century BC by Seleucus I Nicator, one of Alexander the Great's generals, Antioch eventually rivaled Alexandria as the chief city of the...

 itself. Baldwin II of Jerusalem

Baldwin II of Jerusalem

Baldwin II of Jerusalem , formerly Baldwin II of Edessa, also called Baldwin of Bourcq, born Baldwin of Rethel was the second count of Edessa from 1100 to 1118, and the third king of Jerusalem from 1118 until his death.-Ancestry:Baldwin was the son of Hugh, count of Rethel, and his wife Melisende,...

 came north to take over the regency of the principality.

Roger's reign was chronicled by his chancellor Walter

Walter the Chancellor

Walter the Chancellor was a French or Norman crusader and author of the twelfth century....

.