Roger of Lauria Roger of Lauria , Loria or de Llúria in Catalan ( " c " . 1245 – 17 January 1305 ) , was an Sicilian - Aragonese admiral , who was the commander of the fleet of Aragon during the War of the Sicilian Vespers . He was probably the most successful and talented naval tactician of the medieval period . He is known as Ruggero or Ruggiero di Lauria in Italian . Biography . Roger of Lauria was born at Lauria or Scalea in southern Italy , the son of Richard of Lauria , Great Justiciar of the Kingdom of Naples , and Donna Bella , a nurse of Constance of Hohenstaufen . His father had served under King Manfred of Sicily ; when the last member of that family , Conradin of Swabia , was beheaded at Naples in 1268 , he took refuge with other Ghibelline exiles at Barcelona ( Catalonia ) with his mother . Later King Peter III of Aragon , who had married Constance of Hohenstaufen , made him knight together with Corrado Lancia , who was to be a comrade of Roger in many of his enterprises . In 1282 Roger was named commander of the Aragonese fleet , keeping this charge under Peter ' s successors James II and Frederick III . Roger of Lauria commanded the Aragonese fleet during the campaign to capture Sicily from the Angevins after the Sicilian Vespers revolt in 1282 , which made the Aragonese rulers of Sicily . He fought and won six naval galley battles in total . On 8 July 1283 ( Battle of Malta ) he defeated the Angevins in the Grand Harbour of Malta . On 5 June 1284 ( Battle of Castellammare ) , he defeated the Neapolitan fleet and even captured the enemy commander , Charles of Salerno ( the future Charles II of Naples ) . On 4 September 1285 ( Battle of Les Formigues ) during the Aragonese Crusade , he defeated the French near Barcelona , which destroyed for a long time the French naval power in the Mediterranean . Within days , he had landed and took part in the Battle of the Col de Panissars . On 23 June 1287 ( Battle of the Counts ) he again defeated the Angevins near Naples , despite his fleet consisting of only forty ships against the enemys ' eighty . After this victory , without any authorisation from King James , he made a truce with the Neapolitans . Observers noted that this truce probably deprived the Aragonese - Sicilians of the victory also on the mainland . When Frederick III was elected King of Trinacria ( Sicily ) , Roger received as reward for his victories the fief of Aci and the annexed castle , stripped from the bishops of Catania . However , the relationship between the admiral and the young King soon soured ; when the former passed to the Angevins , Aci was besieged and captured by Frederick , and Roger took refuge at his summer residence in Castiglione di Sicilia . Again besieged and defeated , he was arrested and brought to Palermo . However he managed to escape and left Sicily , while all his fiefs were confiscated . Roger therefore passed to the service of Edward I of England , to fight against the French . But , in spite of his promises , he returned to Italy , where , on 4 July 1299 ( Battle of Cape Orlando ) , he defeated the Sicilians near Sicily , capturing eighteen enemy galleys . He had another victory on 14 June 1300 ( Battle of Ponza ) , in which he defeated and captured king Frederick himself . After the Peace of Caltabellotta , he submitted to Frederick and received a whole pardon . He retreated to Cocentaina , where he died in 1305 . Tactics . Roger was successful in naval warfare because of several skillful tactics . He tried to lure enemy fleets out of defended ports , pretending to retreat and getting them to chase him until they became disorganized , then turning in formation to attack . He had much more control over his captains than the enemies did . His crews were made up of specialized troops , instead of the more generic types used by his enemies . His Catalan archers were used initially , while his oarsmen and / or " almogàvers " ( unarmored and highly mobile elite troops armed with two javelins , a lance and a dagger ) stayed under cover . When the galleys closed , often from the sides of the enemy galleys ( which damaged their oars ) , these " almogàvers " were much more agile than the heavily armored knights with swords his enemies often used , especially on the moving deck of a galley at sea . He used trickery to disguise the size of his force . In addition , he sometimes kept some of his galleys hidden , to attack the rear of the enemy after the battle had started . Roger was also infamous for the ruthless sackings and the devastations of his actions , often driven only by greed and personal advantage . On the other side , his reputation alone possibly caused some enemies to lose heart during a battle . Namesakes . The " Regia Marina " ( Italian Royal Navy ) battleship " Ruggiero di Lauria " , completed in 1888 and stricken in 1909 , was named for Roger of Lauria .