William III of Sicily

William III. of Sicily (c. 1185; † around 1198 in Alt -Ems ) was the last Norman king of Sicily from the house of Hauteville.

Life

He was the son of Tancred of Lecce and Sibyl of Acerra. When his father died in February 1194 William was still a minor. So his mother took over the regency.

The Roman- German Emperor Henry VI. stressed due to his marriage to Constance of Sicily also the Sicilian throne. In August 1194 Henry VI marched. with an army in Naples one. Sibylle had William and his sisters in the castle of Caltabellotta to safety and after Henry VI. in November 1194 Palermo had conquered, and flee even there, while Henry captured the Sicilian crown jewels.

Henry VI. Sibylle offered generous terms of surrender and the young William to the County of Lecce and the Principality of Capua, when he renounce his rights to the kingdom. In December 1194 the contract was signed and Henry had himself crowned Christmas 1194 in the presence of Sibyl and William in the Cathedral of Palermo to the king of Sicily.

A few days later, however, the royal family and many barons were being accused of having organized a conspiracy, jailed and deported to Germany. Wilhelm was blinded and from 1195 at the Castle Alt- Ems ( today Hohenems, Vorarlberg) held captive, where he eventually died. His date of death is not narrated from some letters of Pope Celestine III. can be concluded, however, that he probably died in 1198.