William I of Sicily

William I
King of Sicily
Reign	26 February 1154 -7 May 1166
Predecessor	Roger II
Successor	William II
Born	1131
Died	May 7, 1166
Burial	Cathedral of Palermo, Sicily
Spouse	Margaret of Navarre
House	Hauteville
Father	Roger II of Sicily
Mother	Elvira of Castile

William I (1131 – May 7, 1166), called the Bad or the Wicked (Sicilian: Gugghiermu lu Malu, was the second King of Sicily, ruling from his father's death in 1154 to his own in 1166. He was the fourth son of Roger II and Elvira of Castile.

William's title "the Bad" seems little merited and expresses the bias of the historian Hugo Falcandus and the baronial class against the king and the official class by whom he was guided.

William was the son of King Roger II of Sicily, grandson of Roger I of Sicily and great-grandson of Tancred of Hauteville. He grew up with little expectation of ruling. The deaths of his three older brothers Roger, Tancred, and Alfonso between 1138 and 1148 changed matters, though when his father died William was still not well-prepared to take his place.

On assuming power, William kept the administration which had guided his father's rule for his final years. Only the Englishman Thomas Brun was removed, and the chancellor Maio of Bari was promoted. The real power in the kingdom was at first exercised by Maio, a man of low birth, whose title ammiratus ammiratorum was the highest in the realm. Maio continued Roger's policy of excluding the nobles from the administration, and sought also to curtail the liberties of the towns. The barons, always chafing against the royal power, were encouraged to revolt by Pope Adrian IV, whose recognition William had not yet sought, by the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Comnenus, and by the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I.

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