William Grassus

William Grassus (Italian: Guglielmo Grasso; he was also known as Guglielmo da Brindisi), also called William the Fat, was a Genoese admiral who took service with the Emperor Henry VI in his campaign to conquer the Kingdom of Sicily in 1194 and stayed on as Count of Malta and ammiratus ammiratorum until his deposition in 1201.

After 1198 William was an ally of Pope Innocent IV and the young king Frederick I. Sometime before September 1202 he quarrelled with the German vicar Markward von Anweiler and was imprisoned. An attempt by the Republic of Genoa to liberate him failed, but he was freed on Markward's death. His son-in-law Henry had managed to succeed him in Malta and took over control of the Genoese faction at Palermo.

Sources

Matthew, Donald. 1992. The Norman Kingdom of Sicily. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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