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 nom ...

(1397-1424) and the nominal

Judge of Arborea The Kings or ''Judges'' (from the Latin language, Latin ''iudices'' and the Sardinian language, Sardinian ', "judges," the title of the Byzantine officials left behind when Imperial power receded in the West) of the Kingdom of Arborea, Arborea ...

(1407-1420). He was the grandson of Beatrice, youngest daughter of

Marianus IV of Arborea Marianus IV (in Sardinian: Marianu IV de Arbarèe, in Catalan: Marià IV d'Arborea, 1319–1376), called the Great, was the Judge (king) of Arborea, kingdom in the island of Sardinia, from 1347 to his death. He was, as his nickname indicate ...

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 1087 ...

. 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 a ...

. 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 Peter ...

disembarked at

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

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" 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 Arborean troops of William, including many Genoese crossbowmen, 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 Sardara, Sàrdara in the Sardinian language, is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of South Sardinia in the Italian region Sardinia, located about northwest of Cagliari and about northwest of Sanluri. Located in the Campidano plain, ...

, 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 Giovanni may refer to: * Giovanni (name), an Italian male given name and surname * Giovanni (meteorology), a Web interface for users to analyze NASA's gridded data * '' Don Giovanni'', a 1787 opera by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, based on the legend ...

, 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 Sassari (, ; sdc, Sàssari ; sc, Tàtari, ) is an Italian city and the second-largest of Sardinia in terms of population with 127,525 inhabitants, and a Functional Urban Area of about 260,000 inhabitants. One of the oldest cities on the island, ...

. With the help of

Nicolò Doria Nicolò Doria (Genoa, 1525 – Genoa, 13 October 1592) was the 72nd Doge of the Republic of Genoa. Biography Son of Giacomo Doria and Bettina De Mari, and member of the wealthy Doria family, he was born in Genoa presumably around 1525. On 20 Oc ...

, he recaptured Longosardo on 9 August. He tried to take Oristano and Alghero, which were defended by

Peter Torrelles Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

, 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

florin The Florentine florin was a gold coin struck from 1252 to 1533 with no significant change in its design or metal content standard during that time. It had 54 grains (3.499 grams, 0.113 troy ounce) of nominally pure or 'fine' gold with a purcha ...

s. 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 sig ...

References

Sources

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