Roger's mother, Adelaide del Vasto, returned to Sicily in 1117 after the patriarch of Jerusalem declared her marriage to Baldwin I invalid. The episode was a political humiliation because a royal marriage created an alliance and kinship obligations between rulers. Sending Adelaide home without the rights expected from that union therefore insulted Roger and his court. Roger's own marriage to Elvira of Castile, followed later by other high-status marriages, shows the same dynastic logic being used to build political connections.
Notable Point · 25:11-26:50
Adelaide, Baldwin I, and marriage as a political alliance
Adelaide del Vasto's repudiation by Baldwin I and Roger II's Castilian marriage show how family relationships created interstate obligations and insults.