Summary: William II presided over a golden age of internal peace and prosperity, and when he died suddenly in the flower of his youth, he was mourned as no other king of Sicily. Yet, while he may have been outwardly splendid, he wasn't a good ruler. If there was peace it was accidental; he committed the kingdom to ruinous foreign adventures, and squandered its resources. Worst of all he promised the throne to Sicily's greatest enemy in exchange for a temporary peace. Join Lars Brownworth as he looks at the reign of William II, the irresponsible and foolish king remembered by history as William the Good.
