William II, Lord of Béthune

William II, Lord of Béthune
Ancient coat of arms of the House of Béthune
Spouse(s)	Mathilda of Dendermonde
Noble family	House of Bethune
Father	Robert V, Lord of Béthune
Mother	Adelaide of Saint-Pol
Died	April 1214

William II, Lord of Béthune, nicknamed William the Red (French: Guillaume II « le Roux » de Bethune; d. April 1214) was French nobleman. He was a ruling Lord of Béthune, Richebourg and Warneton, as well as hereditary advocatus of the Abbey of St. Vaast, near Arras.

He was a member of the influential House of Bethune, who had their ancestral seat in Béthune in the Artois region. He was the second son of Lord Robert V, nicknamed Robert the Red, and his wife Adelaide of Saint-Pol. His brothers were:

William II and his elder brother Robert VI accompanied their father in the armed escort of Count Philip I of Flanders when he made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 1177. When they arrived in the Kingdom of Jerusalem, William II and Robert VI wanted to marry Sibylla and Isabella, the sisters of King Baldwin IV of Jerusalem. The King, however, turned them down.

In 1191, the Béthune family, now including the younger brothers Baldwin and Conon, accompanied Count Philip I and their father on another pilgrimage to the Third Crusade. During the crusade, both Philip I and Robert V died.

When Robert VI died childless in 1193, William II inherited the Béthune family possessions. He married Mathilda, the heiress of Dendermonde and had several children with her.

Members of the Béthune family had divided loyalties in the conflict between King Philip II of France and Count Baldwin IX of Flanders about who was the rightful liege lord of Artois. William II and his oldest son Daniel sided with France, while his younger brothers and his son Robert VII sided with Flanders.