William III of Sicily

William III
A near-contemporary depiction of William (far left) with his father (far right) and brother (middle).
King of Sicily
Reign	February – October 1194
Coronation	January/February 1194
Predecessor	Tancred
Successor	Constance with Henry I
Born	c. 1186 Palermo, Sicily
Died	c. 1198 Alt-Ems, Swabia, Holy Roman Empire
House	House of Hauteville
Father	Tancred, King of Sicily
Mother	Sibylla of Acerra

William III (c. 1186 – c. 1198), a scion of the Hauteville dynasty, was the last Norman King of Sicily, who reigned briefly for ten months in 1194. He was overthrown by his great-aunt Constance and her husband Emperor Henry VI.

He was the second son of Count Tancred of Lecce and his wife Sibylla of Acerra. When in 1189 King William II of Sicily died childless, Tancred, an illegitimate son of the Norman duke Roger III of Apulia gained the support of Pope Clement III to be crowned King of Sicily, denying the rights of his aunt Constance, daughter of late King Roger II.

At the age of four, shortly after the death of first his older brother Roger and then a few weeks later of his father (February 20, 1194), William was crowned king by Pope Celestine III in Palermo. His mother Sibylla acted as his regent.

However, Constance's husband, the Hohenstaufen emperor Henry VI claimed the throne of Sicily in right of his wife. Even before Tancred's death he had been laying plans to invade, and his resources had been further augmented by the ransom he had received for the release of King Richard I of England.

In August 1194 Henry marched against Sicily. Sibylla was unable to organize much effective resistance. By the end of October Henry had conquered all the mainland parts of the kingdom and crossed over into the island of Sicily. On November 20 Palermo fell, William and his mother fled to Caltabellotta Castle.