George of Antioch George of Antioch ( died 1151 or 1152 ) was the first true " ammiratus ammiratorum " , successor of the great Christodulus . George was a Greek Melchite , born in Antioch , whence he moved with his father , Michael , and mother to Tunisia . His parents found employment under the Zirid Sultan , Tamim ibn Muizz . George fell out with Tamim ' s son and successor , Yahya , and secretly left for Christian Sicily , stealing away in disguise aboard a Palermitan ship , then harboured in Mahdia , while his Muslim masters prayed . Upon arrival in the Sicilian capital , George went immediately to the palace and found service with the Norman count , Roger II . Rise and early career : subjugation of Apulia . Due to his bilingualism ( in Greek and Arabic ) and his familiarity with the Mediterranean , he was soon working as an ambassador on missions to Fatimid Egypt . He rose to the title of " familiaris " of the court and by 1123 had risen to second in command in Christodulus ' navy . In the attack on Mahdia that year , George captured the fortress of ad - Dimas , but the campaign had to be abandoned . In the following five years , George overshadowed Chrisotodulus and by 1127 had replaced him in the position of emir of Palermo . In that year , both emirs were present at Montescaglioso with Count Roger , but Christodulus seems to have died soon thereafter and George succeeded him . George was instrumental in fully subduing independent - minded Apulia and Calabria in the years following Roger ' s succession there . In 1129 , George brought sixty ships to bear on besieged Bari , then rebellious under Prince Grimoald Alferanites . Surrender was forced , but Roger pardoned the prince . In 1131 , Roger demanded that the citizens of Amalfi turn over the keys to the castle as well as full control over their city ' s defences . The Amalfitans refused and George blockaded the city and captured all Amalfitan ships , forcing the city to surrender . In 1132 , George was given the title " ammiratus ammiratorum " , which translates as " Admiral of Admirals " in modern English , but was understood as " Emir of Emirs " to his contemporaries . He was also given the Greek title " Archon of Archons " . In 1143 , George founded the Greek Orthodox church of S . Maria dell ' Ammiraglio , also known as the Martorana , in Palermo . In the church there is a contemporary mosaic depicting George , as well as a famous mosaic representing Roger II being crowned by Christ . Height of career : conquests in Greece and Africa . In 1146 , George captured Tripoli and established Sicilian authority in North Africa on a permanent basis . He had already captured several minor coastal cities in the fifteen years prior , but Mahdia , which had been in the hands of Abul - Hasan al - Hasan ibn Ali since the failed attack of 1123 , did not capitulate yet . In 1147 , Roger attacked the Byzantine Empire , which continued to contest his gains in southern Italy . George he sent from Otranto with seventy galley s to assault Corfu . According to Nicetas Choniates , the island capitulated due to the imperial tax burden and George ' s promises . Leaving a garrison , George sailed on to the Peloponnesus . He sacked Athens and quickly moved on to the Ionian Islands . He ravaged the coast all along Euboea and the Gulf of Corinth and penetrated as far as Thebes , where he pillaged the silk factories and carried off the Jewish silk weavers . George capped the expedition with a sack of Corinth , in which the relics of Saint Theodore were stolen , and then returned to Sicily . In 1148 , George finally conquered Mahdia . Antecedently , the governor of Gabès had revolted against his overlord , al - Hasan , and promised to deliver his city to Roger II if he was confirmed as governor . War inevitably broke out in the summer of 1148 . George led a fleet against Mahdia . The sultan voluntarily went into exile , taking with him very little treasure , and Mahdia capitulated . The cities of Sfax and Soussa surrendered soon after . Tunisia ( Ifriqiya ) was incorporated into the Kingdom of Sicily , which reached its apogee through George ' s conquests , containing not only Sicily and the Mezzogiorno , but also Corfu and Tunisia . In 1149 , Corfu was retaken and George took a fleet of forty ships up the Bosphorus to the walls of Constantinople , where he tried to land . Failing this , he ravaged a few " villae " on the Asian coast and fired arrows at the imperial palace . He died soon after , in year 546 AH according to Ibn al - Athir , corresponding to 1151 or 1152 . He was succeeded in his offices by Philip of Mahdia . George was a polyglot and very cultured man . He founded the church of San Michele in Mazara del Vallo . Besides that and his eponymous church , George of Antioch left as an architectural monument the seven - arched Admiral ' s Bridge over the River Oreto by Palermo where , on May 27 , 1860 , Giuseppe Garibaldi ' s Redshirts first fought the troops of Francis II of the Two Sicilies in the " Risorgimento " .