William II, Duke of Athens

William II
prince of Sicily
Coat of arms of Aragonese Sicily
Duke of Athens & Neopatria
Reign	1317–1338
Predecessor	Manfred, Duke of Athens
Successor	John, Duke of Randazzo
Born	1312
Died	22 August 1338 Trapani
Buried	Dominican church of Trapani
Noble family	of Barcelona
Spouse(s)	María Álvarez de Jérica
Father	Frederick II of Sicily
Mother	Eleanor of Anjou

William II (1312 – 22 August 1338) was the third son of Frederick III of Sicily and Eleanor of Anjou. He inherited the Duchy of Athens after the death of his elder brother Manfred on 9 November 1317.

During his minority, his Greek possessions were governed by his illegitimate elder brother Alfonso Frederick, who in 1319 added the Duchy of Neopatria to the Catalan domains. In 1330, Alfonso returned from Greece and William ceded the counties of Malta and Gozo to him. Nicola Lanza replaced him in Greece.

In 1335, William married María Álvarez de Jérica, a descendant of Roger of Lauria, without papal dispensation, as both John XXII and Benedict XII wanted to check the power of Frederick his father. Two years later, his father willed him the Principality of Taranto, the county of Calatafimi, the honour of Monte Sant'Angelo, and various castles and lands in Noto, Spaccaforno, Capo Passero, and Avola when his mother, Eleanor, daughter of Charles II of Naples, died. She died in 1341, but William died first on 22 August 1338. He left his library to the Dominicans of Palermo and was buried in the cathedral there.

Ancestry

Ancestors of William II, Duke of Athens

16. Peter II of Aragon 8. James I of Aragon 17. Maria of Montpellier 4. Peter III of Aragon 18. Andrew II of Hungary 9. Violant of Hungary 19. Yolanda de Courtenay 2. Frederick III of Sicily 20. Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor 10. Manfred of Sicily 21. Bianca Lancia 5. Constance of Sicily 22. Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy 11. Beatrice of Savoy 23. Marguerite of Burgundy 1. William II of Athens 24. Louis VIII of France 12. Charles I of Naples 25. Blanche of Castile 6. Charles II of Naples 26. Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Provence 13. Beatrice of Provence 27. Beatrice of Savoy (=19) 3. Eleanor of Anjou 28. Béla IV of Hungary 14. Stephen V of Hungary 29. Maria Laskarina 7. Maria of Hungary 30. Kuthen the Cuman 15. Elizabeth the Cuman 31. Galicie of Halicz

Sources

• Fiske, H. Acta Aragonensia. Berlin-Leipzig, 1908.
• Ghisalberti, Alberto M. Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: III Ammirato – Arcoleo. Rome, 1961.