Tancred of Lecce seized the Sicilian throne in 1189 as an illegitimate grandson of Roger II, his claim immediately contested by Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, who considered Sicily his by right of marriage to Constance of Hauteville. The co-naming of his son Roger on this follaro — struck during the narrow window before Roger's death in 1193 — reflects Tancred's urgent effort to legitimize his dynasty by establishing a visible heir. Roger predeceased his father by months, and Tancred himself died in 1194, leaving Henry VI to take the kingdom almost without resistance.
Tancred of Lecce seized the Sicilian throne in 1189 as an illegitimate grandson of Roger II, his claim immediately contested by Holy Roman Emperor Henry VI, who considered Sicily his by right of marriage to Constance of Hauteville. The co-naming of his son Roger on this follaro — struck during the narrow window before Roger's death in 1193 — reflects Tancred's urgent effort to legitimize his dynasty by establishing a visible heir. Roger predeceased his father by months, and Tancred himself died in 1194, leaving Henry VI to take the kingdom almost without resistance.