Sicilya Kralı II. Roger’nin Bizans’a Taarruzu ve Bizans-Norman Savaşları (1147-1149)

In the middle of the 12 th century, the Normans of Southern Italy, who were on the rise with King Roger II (1130-1154), began to pose a great threat to Byzantium again. During the Second Crusade (1147-1149), Roger had the opportunity to attack Byzantium (1147) and invaded Corfu and he plundered the richest cities of Greece, Thebes and Corinth. Emperor Manuel Komnenos (1143-1180) was able to deal with this issue only after the Crusader armies passed through Anatolia. After a yearlong siege Corfu was taken from the Normans with the support of a Venetian fleet in 1149. Following this, the plans of a Byzantine-German alliance to launch an expedition to Southern Italy were disrupted as a result of Roger II's political in-trigues. In this article the Byzantine-Norman wars, which began when Roger II attacked By-zantium from the Balkans in 1147 and invaded Corfu, were discussed and evaluated. ABSTRACT During the Byzantine Norman wars that started in the middle of the eleventh century, the Byzantine Empire lost its lands in Southern Italy and had to wage a difficult struggle in the Balkans (1081-1085). Following this, a new period of struggle started in Byzantine-Nor man relations during the reign of Roger II (1130-1154). Having united Sicily and Apulia under his rule, he was crowned as a king in Palermo and became one of the most powerful rulers of Europe by eliminating all his rivals and consolidating his position. This situation, which changed the balance of power in the Mediterranean, brought Byzantium and Germany closer to each other. Emperor Manuel Komnenos maintained and made the alliance with Germany against the Sicilian king even stronger during the reign of his father Ioannes. However, the start of the Second Crusade caused the corruption of all plans of Byzantium. King Conrad III of Germany’s participation in this Crusade left Manuel alone against Roger in the West. Mo -reover, as Byzantium was busy with the Crusaders, Roger would not miss the opportunity to act against the emperor.