He made two unsuccessful attempts to reform eremitical communities according to his own strict ascetic discipline. Finally, he withdrew to Stabbio di Rodi, some eight kilometers from Castiglione della Pescaia, to a rocky valley through which a modest stream — the Ampio — flowed only in spring and autumn. The place, so remote that even hunters and shepherds avoided it, became known as „mala valle”, or “the wretched valley.” There, Saint William constructed a poor and fragile hut, in which he lived until his death on February 10, 1157 — first in solitude, and from the feast of the Epiphany in 1156, with a disciple named Albert. Shortly before his death, a second companion, Rinaldo, also joined  them.  In the solitude of Malavalle — which after his death became the cradle of his order — William embraced the monastic life he had always longed for. His way of life imitated, and perhaps even surpassed, the extreme asceticism of the Desert Fathers. Such rigorous bodily mortification is found only in hagiographic accounts and the classical literature of monastic asceticism. William observed continual fasting. He subsisted on raw herbs, water, and bread, brought to him from time to time by devout faithful from Buriano. He permitted himself warm food only three times a week and drank a small quantity of diluted wine; even on feast days, his diet remained unchanged. He reduced his intake of food and water to the bare minimum necessary for survival, so as to allow no indulgence to bodily desires. To his fasting he added manual labor. With his own hands he attempted to cultivate the barren soil surrounding his hut — a ground overgrown with thistles and brambles — so that even his work might become a form of divine service and penance. At night, he slept on a bed designed to prevent rest: he could neither stretch out nor lie comfortably. His head rested on a misshapen wooden support, and his body was pressed by coarse animal hides. At night, he wore a chain mail shirt directly against his naked skin. It is said that his body was covered with wounds and scars, by which he sought to imitate the suffering Christ. On February 10, 1157, in the midst of winter, William’s arduous and penitential life came to an end. Soon after his death, numerous devout pilgrims from Tuscany, Lazio, and Umbria began to visit his grave. Some of them chose to remain in Malavalle, embracing the eremitical and penitential way of life of the man they revered as their patron saint. His cult grew steadily in popularity, and on May 8, 1202, Pope Innocent III solemnly canonized him. Saint William of Malavalle did not found a religious order himself; rather, his teachings and example were gathered and preserved by his companion Brother Albert, who had joined him during the final year of his life and who subsequently established the Order of Saint William (the Williamites).