- William II of Athens
William (1312 –
22 August 1338 ) was the third son ofFrederick III of Sicily andEleanor of Anjou . He inherited theDuchy of Athens andNeopatria after the death of his elder brother Manfred on9 November 1317 .During his minority, his Greek possessions were governed by his illegitimate elder brother
Alfonso Frederick . In 1330, Alfonso returned from Greece and William ceded the counties of Malta andGozo 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 bothJohn XXII andBenedict XII wanted to check the power of Frederick his father. [Fiske, p 837 n507.]In 1337, his father willed him the
Principality of Taranto , the county ofCalatafimi , the honour ofMonte Sant'Angelo , and various castles and lands inNoto ,Spaccaforno ,Capo Passero , andAvola when his mother, Eleanor, daughter ofCharles II of Naples , died. She died in 1341, but William died first on22 August 1338 . He left his library to the Dominicans ofPalermo ["Testamentum ducis Willelmi".] and was buried in the cathedral there.Notes
ources
*Fiske, H. "Acta Aragonensia". Berlin-Leipzig, 1908.
*Ghisalberti, Alberto M. "Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: III Ammirato – Arcoleo". Rome, 1961.
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