Alexander of Telese

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Alexander of Telese (Italian: Alessandro Telesino) was the abbot of San Salvatore, near Telese, in southern Italy from before 1127 to before November 1143. He was a chronicler and historian whose most famous work is The Deeds Done by King Roger of Sicily, a largely biographical work coverring the reign of Roger II of Sicily. This work was written at the request and with the patronage of Matilda, a half-sister of Roger and wife of Ranulf II, Count of Alife. It covers only the years after 1127 in detail, ending abruptly in 1136. Though written for the sister of Roger and wife of his chiefest enemy, it was definitely a piece of royalist propaganda. It couples well with the chronicle of his contemporary Falco of Benevento, who opposed Roger in everything.

[edit] Sources

• Norwich, John Julius. The Normans in the South 1016-1130. Longmans: London, 1967.
• Norwich, John Julius. The Kingdom in the Sun 1130-1194. Longman: London, 1970.
• Alexander of Telese, translated by G. A. Loud. The Deeds Done by Roger of Sicily. Introduction and Books One, Two, Three, and Four