William of Loritello

William was an Italo-Norman nobleman, the son and successor of Count Robert II of Loritello in 1137.

He reigned only briefly, because, immediately after his succession, the Emperor Lothair II descended the peninsula to fight the royal pretensions of Roger II of Sicily in the Mezzogiorno. On the river Tronto, William did homage to Lothair and opened the gates of Termoli to him. In this he joined Count Hugh II of Molise.

William did not last long in this state. As the first to openly welcome the emperor to the south, the royal furor landed on him with especial swiftness. His county was seized by the crown. It was not regranted until Roger's death, when William I of Sicily granted it to Robert II, Count of Conversano.

Sources

Molise in the Norman period.

Preceded by Robert II	Count of Loritello 1137	Succeeded by Robert III

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 8/10/2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.