Wilhelm II. (Geneva)

Wilhelm II († 1252 ) was a count of Geneva . He was a son of Count Wilhelm I († 1195) and his second wife, Beatrix von Faucigny .

He was married to Alix de La Tour-du-Pin , daughter of Albert II. De La Tour-du-Pin , from around 1223 . They had several children including:

• Rudolf († May 29, 1265), Count of Geneva
• Amadeus († 1276), Bishop of Die
• Robert († 1287), Bishop of Geneva

Wilhelm took part in the Albigensian Crusade in 1209 and fought in the sieges of Béziers and Carcassonne .

Around 1220 he succeeded his half-brother, Humbert , as Count des Genevois, disregarding the inheritance rights of his nephews. He led a feud against his cousin Aimon de Faucigny, whom he was able to force into submission in 1229. These events resulted in a war with Peter of Savoy , in whose entourage were the sons of Humbert and who was also a son-in-law of the Lord of Faucigny. In 1237 Peter of Savoy was captured, but soon afterwards he managed to escape. In the same year, Count Amadeus IV of Savoy forced a peace treaty which, however, could not end the hostilities permanently.

In 1242 Wilhelm had to hand over Arold Castle to Peter of Savoy. After he moved to England in the spring of 1250, Wilhelm reopened the war, which he lost after Peter quickly returned from Savoy in the same year. On June 10, 1250, William had to cede several castles in Vaud , the feudal lordship on Faucigny and the count's city castle in Geneva to Peter of Savoy in a peace treaty brokered by the Archbishop of Lyon . Around the same time, Sire Amadeus II von Gex, a side branch of the Geneva Count's house died out. Instead of being able to take over their inheritance, Wilhelm had to accept the inheritance from Gex to Simon de Joinville, the deceased's son-in-law, who immediately submitted to the suzerainty of Peter of Savoy.

literature

• Johann Ludwig Wurstemberger: Peter the Second, Count of Savoy, Margrave in Italy, his house and his lands: a character image of the thirteenth century , Stämpfinsche Verlagshandlung, 1856