William II, Duke of Athens

William (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, he 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.

In 1337, 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

Family 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.

Preceded by Manfred	Duke of Athens 1317–1338	Succeeded by John of Randazzo
New title	Duke of Neopatria 1319–1338