William II was

Viscount of Narbonne The viscount of Narbonne was the secular ruler of Narbonne in the Middle Ages. Narbonne had been the capital of the Visigoth province of Septimania, until the 8th century, after which it became the Carolingian Viscounty of Narbonne. Narbonne was n ...

(1397-1424) and the nominal

Judge of Arborea The Kings or ''Judges'' (from the Latin ''iudices'' and the Sardinian ', "judges," the title of the Byzantine officials left behind when Imperial power receded in the West) of the Arborea were the local rulers of the west of Sardinia during t ...

(1407-1420). He was the grandson of Beatrice, youngest daughter of Marianus IV of Arborea and Timbra de Rocabertí, and

Aimery VI of Narbonne Aimery VI (died 1388), Viscount of Narbonne and Lord of Puisserguier, was a 14th-century French noble. He was an Admiral of France Admiral of France (french: Amiral de France) is a French title of honour. It is the naval equivalent of Marshal ...

(married 1363). When Marianus V, the youngest son of Beatrice' elder sister

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It is the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages. The name was introd ...

, died in 1407, Arborea experienced a succession crisis. The late Beatrice had a claim to the judgeship which was picked up by her grandson, son of

William I William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 10 ...

. The real judge from 1407 was

Leonardo Cubello Leonardo is a masculine given name, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese equivalent of the English, German, and Dutch name, Leonard. People Notable people with the name include: * Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), Italian Renaissance scientist ...

, great nephew of

Hugh II of Arborea Hugh II was Judge of Arborea, reigning from 1321 CE until his death in 1336 CE. He was the illegitimate son of Marianus III of Arborea and Paulesa de Serra. Hugh sided with James II of Aragon, who had been invested with the Kingdom of Sardinia ...

. On 6 October 1408,

Martin I of Sicily Martin I of Sicily (c. 1374/1376 – 25 July 1409), called "The Younger", was King of Sicily from his marriage to Queen Maria in 1390 until his death. Martin's father was the future King Martin I of Aragon, and his grandparents were King Pet ...

disembarked at Cagliari with a strong army. On 8 December, William also reached Cagliari. He was crowned "King of Arborea, Count of

Goceano The Goceano ( sc, Costèra) is a historical and geographical region of center-north of Sardinia island, Italy. It covers a surface of 480 km2 and has a population of 13,000 inhabitants (27 inhabitants/km2). It is located inside the Province ...

, and

Viscount of Bas The Viscounty of Besalú, or Bas (from the Latin ''Basso''), was the sub-comital authority in the county of Besalú during the Middle Ages. It was ruled by the House of Cervera (also called ''Cerveró(n)'' or ''Cervelló(n)'', from the Latin ''Cerv ...

" at

Oristano Oristano (; sc, Aristanis ) is an Italian city and ''comune'', and capital of the Province of Oristano in the central-western part of the island of Sardinia. It is located on the northern part of the Campidano plain. It was established as the pr ...

on 13 January 1409. The two forces, of Martin and of William, met at the

Battle of Sanluri The Battle of Sanluri was fought on 30 June 1409 between the armies of the Sardinian Judicate of Arborea and the Aragonese-Sicilian army led by the King Martin I of Sicily. The location was the fortified village of Sanluri, in Sardinia. The ...

. The Arborean troops of William, including many

Genoese crossbowmen The Genoese crossbowmen ( it, Balestrieri genovesi) were a famous military corps of the Middle Ages, which acted both in defense of the Republic of Genoa and as a mercenary force for other Italian or European powers. Armed with crossbows, they ...

, broke into two

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

s. The left battle was destroyed in a location called ''occidroxiu'' (the slaughterhouse). The right battle was broken into two part, the first was being chased to

Sanluri Sanluri ( sc, Seddori, la, Sullurium) is a comune in Sardinia, Italy. It became part of the Province of South Sardinia, following the creation of that local unit in 2016. The territory of Sanluri comprises an area of . In 1436, Sanluri was ele ...

and eventually was routed there, and the other one was forced by William to take refuge in the castle of Monreale, in the nearby village of Sardara, and continued the resistant. On 4 July, the

Villa di Chiesa Iglesias (, ; from ; sc, Igrèsias) is a ''comune'' and city in the province of South Sardinia, Italy. It was co-capital of the province of Carbonia-Iglesias with Carbonia, and the province's second-largest community. Under Spanish control Igle ...

surrendered to Giovanni di Sena, which dealt a crippling blow to Arborea even though the Sicilian king had died on 25 July in Cagliari. William returned to France to seek aid, leaving Leonardo Cubello in charge in his absence. Leonardo successfully defended Oristano. William returned to Sardinia in Spring 1410. He reorganised his territories with his capital at Sassari. With the help of Nicolò Doria, he recaptured Longosardo on 9 August. He tried to take Oristano and

Alghero Alghero (; ca, label= Alguerese, L'Alguer ; sc, S'Alighèra ; sdc, L'Aliera ) is a city of about 45,000 inhabitants in the Italian insular province of Sassari in northwestern Sardinia, next to the Mediterranean Sea. The city's name comes from ...

, which were defended by Peter Torrelles, who died of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

in 1411. On 5 and 6 May 1412, he entered Alghero, but was driven off by the citizenry. With the chances of victory turned out to be grim, William reluctantly surrendered and sold Arborea to Alfonso V on 17 August 1420 for 100,000 gold florins. He was killed in 1424 in the

Battle of Verneuil The Battle of Verneuil was a battle of the Hundred Years' War, fought on 17 August 1424 near Verneuil-sur-Avre in Normandy between an English army and a combined Franco- Scottish force, augmented by Milanese heavy cavalry. The battle was a s ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:William 02 of Narbonne Viscounts of Narbonne Judges (judikes) of Arborea 1397 births 1424 deaths 15th-century French people