William of Holland
William II of Holland was elected antiking of Germany at twenty and died at twenty-eight falling through ice. Born in 1227, he was Count of Holland from 1234 under a regency. In 1247 Pope Innocent IV, who had deposed Frederick II at the Council of Lyons two years earlier and whose first antiking Henry Raspe had died within months, needed a candidate and settled on him. Four ecclesiastical electors chose him in October 1247. He was nineteen or twenty, held a small county, and had almost no resources of his own. His first task was to take Aachen, since a German king was not properly made without coronation there. It took a siege of five months, and he was crowned in November 1248. His support was papal money, the Rhineland archbishops and the towns, and his standing improved considerably after Frederick II died in 1250 and the Hohenstaufen position in Germany collapsed. Conrad IV left for Italy in 1251 and died there in 1254, after which William was the only king in Germany with a plausible claim. He allied with the Rhenish League of towns, married a daughter of the Duke of Brunswick, and began to look like a real ruler rather than a papal instrument. He then went to fight the West Frisians, who had refused to recognise him and would not pay. In January 1256 he rode onto a frozen marsh alone ahead of his men, went through the ice, and was killed by Frisian peasants. The Great Interregnum followed.
- Lived: 1227 CE – 1256 CE
- Nationality: German
- Roles: head_of_state, military_leader
