William II of Sicily

William II
William II
	William II offering the Monreale Cathedral to the Virgin Mary.
King of Sicily
Reign	7 May 1166 – 11 November 1189
Predecessor	William I
Successor	Tancred
Born	December 1153; Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily
Died	11 November 1189 (aged 35); Palermo, Kingdom of Sicily
Burial	Cathedral of Palermo, Sicily
Spouse	Joan of England
House	Hauteville
Father	William I of Sicily
Mother	Margaret of Navarre

William II (December 1153 – 11 November 1189), called the Good, was king of Sicily from 1166 to 1189. Our understanding of William's character is very indistinct. Lacking in military enterprise, secluded and pleasure-loving, he seldom emerged from his palace life at Palermo. Yet his reign is marked by an ambitious foreign policy and a vigorous diplomacy. Champion of the papacy and in secret league with the Lombard cities he was able to defy the common enemy, Frederick Barbarossa.[1] In the Divine Comedy, Dante places William II in Paradise. He is also referred to in Boccaccio's Decameron (tale IV.4, where he reportedly has two children, and tale V.7).

William was nicknamed "the Good" only in the decades following his death. It is due less to his character than to the cessation of the internal troubles that plagued his father's reign and the wars that erupted under his successor. Under the Staufer dynasty his reign was characterised as a golden age of peace and justice.[2] His numeral is contemporary and he himself used it.[lower-alpha 1]

Kingship

Regency of his mother

William was only twelve years old at the death of his father William I, when he was placed under the regency of his mother, Margaret of Navarre. Until the king was declared adult in 1171 the government was controlled first by the chancellor Stephen du Perche (1166–1168), cousin of Margaret, and then by Walter Ophamil, archbishop of Palermo, and Matthew of Ajello, the vice-chancellor.[1]

In 1168 du Perche was overthrown by a coup, while the revolts claimed that William was murdered and du Perche planned to have his brother marry Princess Constance, aunt of William who was confined to Santissimo Salvatore, Palermo as a nun from childhood due to a prediction that "her marriage would destroy Sicily", to claim the throne, despite the existence of Henry, Prince of Capua brother of William.

Marriage and alliances

An effort by Bertrand II, archbishop of Trani, to negotiate the hand of a Byzantine princess for William yielded no fruit and led to his breaking up with Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus in 1172.

In the same year the death of Henry, Prince of Capua marked a potential succession crisis, for no heir to throne was living except Constance, who was reportedly designated heir and sworn allegiance to in 1174 but confined in her monastery as before.

In 1174 and 1175 William made treaties with Genoa and Venice and his marriage in February 1177 with Joan, daughter of King Henry II of England and Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine, marks his high position in European politics.[1] Although Joan produced no surviving heir, William showed no intention to annul the marriage.

In July 1177, William sent a delegation of Archbishop Romuald of Salerno and Count Roger of Andria to sign the Treaty of Venice with the Emperor. In 1184, he released 30-year-old Constance from convent, engaged her to the Emperor's son, the future Emperor Henry VI to secure the peace, and married her off on January 1186,[4] causing a general oath to be taken to her as his heir presumptive. This step, of great consequence to the Norman realm, was possibly taken that William might devote himself to foreign conquests.[1]

Monreale Cathedral, built during William's II reign. William and his parents are buried there.

Wars with Egypt and Byzantine Empire

Unable to revive the African dominion, William directed his attack on Ayyubid Egypt, from which Saladin threatened the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. In July 1174, 30,000 men were landed before Alexandria, but Saladin's arrival forced the Sicilians to re-embark in disorder.[5] A better prospect opened in the confusion in Byzantine affairs which followed the death of Manuel Comnenus (1180), and William took up the old design and feud against the Byzantine Empire.[1] Dyrrhachium was captured (11 June 1185). Afterwards while the army (allegedly 80,000 men including 5,000 knights) marched upon Thessalonica, the fleet (200 ships) sailed towards the same target capturing on their way the Ionian islands of Corfu, Cephalonia, Ithaca and Zakynthos. In August Thessalonica fell to the joint attack of the Sicilian fleet and army and was subsequently sacked (7,000 Greeks died).

The troops then marched upon the capital, but the army of the emperor Isaac Angelus, under the general Alexios Branas, defeated the invaders on the banks of the Strymon (7 November 1185). Thessalonica was at once abandoned and in 1189 William made peace with Isaac, abandoning all the conquests. He was now planning to induce the crusading armies of the West to pass through his territories, and seemed about to play a leading part in the Third Crusade. His admiral Margarito, a naval genius equal to George of Antioch, with 60 vessels kept the eastern Mediterranean open for the Franks, and forced the all-victorious Saladin to retire from before Tripoli in the spring of 1188.[1]

Palermo in mourning for the death of William II, from the Liber ad honorem Augusti by Peter of Eboli.

Death

In November 1189 William died at Palermo, leaving no children.[1] Though Robert of Torigni records a short-lived son in 1181: Bohemond, who was named Duke of Apulia.

After his death Norman nobles led by Matthew of Ajello supported Tancred, Count of Lecce, an illegitimate cousin of William, to succeed him, instead of Constance, in order to avoid German rule.

Notes

On some coins he used the Kufic inscription al-malik Ghulam al-thani, meaning "King William the Second"[3]

References

One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Curtis, Edmund (1911). "William II. of Sicily". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 671.
Runciman 2012, p. 7.
Travaini 1991, p. 167.
Frohlich 1993, p. 109.
Queller & Madden 1997, p. 222.

Sources

Frohlich, Walter (1993). Chibnall, Marjorie (ed.). "The Marriage of Henry VI and Constance of Sicily: Prelude and Consequences". Anglo~Norman Studies: XV. Proceedings of the Battle Conference. The Boydell Press.
Queller, D. E.; Madden, Thomas F. (1997). The Fourth Crusade The Conquest of Constantinople. University of Pennsylvania Press.
Runciman, Steven (2012). The Sicilian Vespers: A History of the Mediterranean World in the Later Thirteenth Century. Cambridge University Press.
Travaini, Lucia (1991). "Aspects of the Sicilian Norman Copper Coinage in the Twelfth Century". The Numismatic Chronicle. 151.
Matthew, Donald. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily. Cambridge University Press: 1992.

Preceded by William I	King of Sicily 1166–1189	Succeeded by Tancred
Preceded by Simon	Prince of Taranto 1157–1189	Succeeded by Tancred

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[4] On some coins he used the Kufic inscription al-malik Ghulam al-thani, meaning "King William the Second"[3]

[EB1911-1] One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Curtis, Edmund (1911). "William II. of Sicily". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 28 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 671.

[FOOTNOTERunciman20127-2] Runciman 2012, p. 7.

[FOOTNOTETravaini1991167-3] Travaini 1991, p. 167.

[FOOTNOTEFrohlich1993109-5] Frohlich 1993, p. 109.

[FOOTNOTEQuellerMadden1997222-6] Queller & Madden 1997, p. 222.