Regency of his mother William was born in Palermo to
William I and
Margaret of Navarre. At the age of twelve his father died, and he was placed under the regency of his mother. In 1171 he was declared adult and until then 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.
Marriage and alliances An effort by
Bertrand II, archbishop of
Trani, to negotiate the hand of Byzantine Princess
Maria for William yielded no fruit and led to his breaking up with Byzantine Emperor
Manuel I Comnenus in 1172. In 1173, the Emperor
Frederick Barbarossa proposed William's marriage with his daughter,
Beatrice, but William refused to offend the pope. In the same year the death of Henry, Prince of Capua marked a potential succession crisis: it was said that William II had Constance, the last legitimate heir to the throne, appointed heir and sworn fealty in 1174, but she remained confined in her monastery. By this stage, the succession question had implications not only for the royal household but also for the balance of power across the mainland provinces, where counties, lordships, and offices remained politically consequential prizes. 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. This step, of great consequence to the Norman realm, was possibly taken that William might devote himself to foreign conquests, , 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. 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.
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 1185,
Thessalonica fell to the joint attack of the Sicilian fleet and army and was subsequently sacked. 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 strong Saladin to retire from before
Tripoli in the spring of 1188. . ==Death==