So, William II Hauteville died in 1189 at just 36 years of age, he had not direct male descendants, so he left his Kingdom to his aunt Costanza and, through her, to the Hohenstaufen Imperial family. (Before they could actually claim the Kingdom of Sicily they had however to beat the illegitimate Hauteville scion, Tancredi di Lecce).
He was a good ruler - hence the name
- and this is confirmed by many contemporary chronicles, both Christian and Muslim, who praise him in the highest of terms.
Now, what if William didn't catch whatever illness killed him and lived longer (possibly even much longer, if he died at 59 years of age he would still have 23 years of rule more than in otl)?
It seems that he was preparing to participate in the III crusade, what impact would Sicily (and its strong navy) have on the crusade? Also, the IV crusade might be butterflied, but it is likely that he or his heir could support Venice in a similarly infamous adventure, considering the historical ambitions that Norman Sicily had over Greece.
The tricky part would be him producing an heir, as apparently he had been married for more than ten years without issue, although his wife Joan of England had two children with her second husband...
If the Kingdom is not united with the Empire it can avoid the worst of the conflicts with the papacy and in time become a very strong mediterranean Empire, probably taking over Aragon's role. Palermo might become a commercial center to rival Genoa, Pisa and Venice, and will likely keep its partially islamic character longer (gold coins coined there had arabic inscriptions for example).
The jewish community will probably continue to prosper and, without Frederick II the muslims of Sicily probably won't be deported to Lucera and will continue to live in more natural communities in Sicily.
Clearly it is always possible that in the course of centuries something might happen like the expulsions that happened in Iberia since 1492, but that's not a given, especially if there is some sort of dinastic continuity and a long history of relatively good intercommunal relations makes "tolerance" entrenched enough.
He was a good ruler - hence the name
Now, what if William didn't catch whatever illness killed him and lived longer (possibly even much longer, if he died at 59 years of age he would still have 23 years of rule more than in otl)?
It seems that he was preparing to participate in the III crusade, what impact would Sicily (and its strong navy) have on the crusade? Also, the IV crusade might be butterflied, but it is likely that he or his heir could support Venice in a similarly infamous adventure, considering the historical ambitions that Norman Sicily had over Greece.
The tricky part would be him producing an heir, as apparently he had been married for more than ten years without issue, although his wife Joan of England had two children with her second husband...
If the Kingdom is not united with the Empire it can avoid the worst of the conflicts with the papacy and in time become a very strong mediterranean Empire, probably taking over Aragon's role. Palermo might become a commercial center to rival Genoa, Pisa and Venice, and will likely keep its partially islamic character longer (gold coins coined there had arabic inscriptions for example).
The jewish community will probably continue to prosper and, without Frederick II the muslims of Sicily probably won't be deported to Lucera and will continue to live in more natural communities in Sicily.
Clearly it is always possible that in the course of centuries something might happen like the expulsions that happened in Iberia since 1492, but that's not a given, especially if there is some sort of dinastic continuity and a long history of relatively good intercommunal relations makes "tolerance" entrenched enough.