William III of Sicily

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. Life and reign William 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 his older brother Roger, William had been crowned co-ruler by his father, Tancred, in Palermo. His father died on 20 February 1194, while 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.