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909-1171
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1038-1194
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1171-1250
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A Papal Bull of March 1174 awarded the abbey with the power to wield full control over its prelates. Needing only answer to the papacy and king, it was excluded from the jurisdiction of the church of Palermo and its archbishop (and arch-nemesis) Walter Offamiglio.
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William attacked Egypt, from which Saladin threatened the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem. In July 1174, 30,000 men were landed in Alexandria, but Saladin's arrival forced the Sicilians to re-embark in disorder.
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In January of 1176, William imported a community of monks from Santissima de Cava dei Tirreni, a Companian commune in the province of Salerno.
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Built by William II, and set in Genoard, or Jannat al-'Ard. Hunting lodge in an artificial lake.
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On February 5, 1183, only a decade later, Pope Lucius III curiously endowed Monreale with the title of metropolis when only a little hamlet immediately surrounded the church. The abbey, although functioning as the seat of central administration, remained for a long time without any real urban growth (pilgrims in the 14th century were given indulgences for trekking there).It stood above the Greek Orthodox church of Santa Ciriaca.
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After death of Manuel Comnenus (1180), William tried against Constantinople. Durrës was captured (11 June 1185). Afterwards while the army (80,000 men including 5,000 knights) marched upon Thessalonica, the fleet (200 ships) sailed towards the same target capturing on their way the Ionian islands of Corfu, Cephalonia, Ithaca and Zakynthos. In August Thessalonica fell to the joint attack of the Sicilian fleet and army and was subsequently sacked (7,000 Greeks died).
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William's troops marched at Thessalonica, but the army of the emperor Isaac Angelus defeated the invaders on the banks of the Strymon (7 September 1185). Thessalonica was at once abandoned and in 1189 William made peace with Isaac, abandoning all the conquests.
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William's admiral Margarit with 60 vessels kept the eastern Mediterranean open for the Franks, and forced the all-victorious Saladin to retire from before Tripoli in the spring of 1188.
