According to archdeacon Thomas of Split, Roger was "from a town called Turris Cepia in the region of Benevento",[1] that has been identified with Torre Maggiore in Apulia in Italy.
[2] Although he received the prebend of a chaplainship, and later of the archdeacon in the cathedral chapter[3] of the Diocese of Várad (today Oradea, Romania) in the kingdom, he was in the company of Cardinal Giacomo in Italy between 1236 and 1239.
Leeks, purslane, onions and garlic, left in the gardens of the peasants, were, when they could be found, brought to me as the choicest delicacies; the others made do with mallow, houseleek and cowbane roots.
We filled our hungry stomach with these and the spirit of life was revived in our drained bodies.He went to Rome, where he received the post of archdeacon of Sopron in the western part of the Kingdom of Hungary, Várad having been completely destroyed by the Mongols.
[7] Finally, King Béla IV of Hungary, the supreme lord of the town, approved the appointment of Roger, who arrived in his seat in February 1250.
[7] He passed through the region of Pannonia, entered Hungary, and then proceeded to the court of King Béla bearing a letter of recommendation from the pope.