The Hauteville family (Italian: Altavilla, Sicilian: Autaviḍḍa) was a Norman family, originally of petty lords, from the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy. The Hautevilles rose to prominence through their part in the Norman conquest of southern Italy. In 1130, Roger II of Hauteville, was made the first King of Sicily. His male-line descendants ruled the kingdom until 1194. The Hauteville also took part in the First Crusade and ruled the independent Principality of Antioch (1098).
The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816.
The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which occurred between the 11th and 12th century. Sicily, which was ruled as an Islamic emirate for at least two centuries, was invaded in 1071 by Norman House of Hauteville, who conquered Palermo and established a feudal county named the County of Sicily. The House of Hauteville completed their conquest of Sicily in 1091.
Roger I (Italian: Ruggero; Arabic: رُجار, romanized: Rujār; Maltese: Ruġġieru; Norse: Rogeirr; c. 1031 – 22 June 1101), nicknamed "Roger Bosso" and "Grand Count Roger", was a Norman nobleman who became the first Grand Count of Sicily from 1071 to 1101.
As a member of the House of Hauteville, he participated in several military expeditions against the Emirate of Sicily (beginning in 1061). He was later invested with part of Sicily by his brother, Robert Guiscard, Duke of Apulia, in 1071. By 1090, he had conquered the entire island. In 1091, he conquered Malta. The state he created was merged with the Duchy of Apulia in 1127 and became the Kingdom of Sicily in 1130. His descendants in the male line continued to rule Sicily down to 1194.
William of Hauteville (died 1046), better known by his nickname, William Iron Arm, was a Norman military leader and the first Count of Apulia. He initiated the series of fortunes of the House of Hauteville.