Sicily Greeks, Lombards, and Normans worked together to form a society that historians have said created some of the most extraordinary buildings that the world has ever seen. Palermo continued on as the capital under the Normans. Roger's son Roger II of Sicily succeeded his brother Simon of Sicily as Count of Sicily, and was ultimately able to raise the status of the island to a kingdom in 1130, along with his other holdings, which included the Maltese Islands and the Duchies of Apulia and Calabria. He appointed the powerful Greek George of Antioch to be his "emir of emirs" and
Valdrada of Sicily Valdrada of Sicily Valdrada of Sicily (died c. 1252) was a Sicilian princess and the Dogaressa of Venice by her marriage to Doge Jacopo Tiepolo (r. 1229–1249). Born at the very latest in 1194, Valdrada was the youngest child of King Tancred of Sicily and Sibylla of Acerra. She married the Doge in 1242, two years after the death of his former dogaressa Maria Storlato. Valdrada has been described as dominant and forceful, and is said to have had a great deal of control over her husband and the affairs of Venice. Following Jacopo's resignation in early 1249, she lived