Marquisate of Montferrat

Who rules

Name

Boniface I (Bonifacio I)

Title

Marquis of Montferrat (marchio Montisferrati)

Since

Governing Montferrat while his brothers were in the East in the 1180s; marquis in his own right from 1192, after the death of his father William V (1191) and of his brother Conrad (killed at Tyre, 28 April 1192)

Born

About 1150; about fifty on 1 January 1200

Family

Aleramici. Son of William V the Old and Judith (Iulita) of Babenberg, half-sister of King Conrad III, so a cousin of the Staufen; the DBI calls him a kinsman of Philip of Swabia. Brothers: William Longsword (died 1177, husband of Sibylla of Jerusalem and father of Baldwin V), Conrad (lord of Tyre, king-elect of Jerusalem, killed 1192), Renier (married Maria Komnene in 1180, killed in the Byzantine troubles of 1182-83), Frederick (a churchman). Sisters include Alasia (Azalais), wife of Manfred II of Saluzzo. First wife: Elena del Bosco, married about 1170 (en.wikipedia; the DBI says only that his son William was born of a woman of the del Bosco marquises). Niketas Choniates says he had just married a second time when Isaac II offered him his sister Theodora in 1186-87; that wife is unidentified (fmg.ac) and whether any wife is alive on 1 January 1200 is not pinned. His marriage to Margaret of Hungary, widow of Isaac II, belongs to 1204. Children born by 1 January 1200: William (Guglielmo VI), born about 1173, an adult who has acted beside his father in public acts since 1193 (DBI); daughters Agnes (to marry Henry of Flanders in 1207) and Beatrice (later the second wife of Enrico del Carretto), birth years not pinned. A son Conrad is doubtful and, if real, dead before 13 June 1199 (fmg.ac). Demetrius is not born until about 1205. His niece Maria, Conrad's daughter (born 1192), is heiress of the kingdom of Jerusalem and lives at Acre with her mother Queen Isabella.

Confidence

high

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (Bonifacio I, marchese di Monferrato) for the dated acts; en.wikipedia; fmg.ac Medieval Lands (Monferrato) for the family.

Overlord

The emperor (kingdom of Italy). He holds of the Empire and has served the Staufen loyally: homage to Henry VI in 1190, fiefs in 1191 (the county of Incisa), the grant of Caesarea (Alessandria) in fief at Gelnhausen on 4 December 1193, the Sicilian campaign of 1194 and Henry's coronation at Palermo on 25 December 1194.

What the realm holds

• The Basso Monferrato hills: Moncalvo (he kept Christmas there in 1195), Montiglio, the castles round them
• The Po towns: Chivasso (he was there on 27 February 1196), Trino and Pontestura (his until he sells them to Vercelli on 22 July 1202)
• Overlordship of the county of Incisa (granted by Henry VI after 1189-91; the Incisa marquises hold under him; see Incisa)
• Part of Cossano Belbo and Loreto, from Berengario of Busca (5 July 1192); census rights in Loreto confirmed at Pontestura in 1197
• The Lombard lands of Manfredi Lancia, bought on 3 November 1196 (payment not certain)
• Albisola on the Ligurian coast, bought from Ottone del Carretto (19 November 1191) (Ligurian ground, see the lig sheet)
• Claims over the Stura valley, given in fief to his nephew Boniface of Saluzzo on 6 December 1197
• Lost or sold: Felizzano rights (sold to Astigiani bankers, 1194), Calliano (sold on 17 February 1197 to Ottone Rappa of Alba), the imperial castle of Annone (taken by Asti, December 1197), Casale (defected September 1198), Paciliano (its men forced over, 2 April 1198)

How it was acquired

Inherited Aleramic march, held of the Empire; Boniface succeeded his father and brother in 1191-92. Henry VI added the county of Incisa (1191) and Caesarea/Alessandria in fief (1193), the latter never made good.

Allies and rivals

Allies on 1 January 1200: Milan and Piacenza (alliance of 12-13 June 1199), the commune of Acqui (alliance of 12 June 1198), the commune of Ivrea (alliance of 24 October 1198, guaranteed by Ottone and Enrico del Carretto), his brother-in-law Manfred II of Saluzzo, the Del Carretto brothers, Manfredi Lancia (his vassal since 1196). Enemies under truce: Asti, Alessandria and Vercelli (the anti-Montferrat league of 1197-98). Former allies now opposed: Pavia, Cremona and Bergamo (his league of Breme, 24 September 1191).

Lords who went over to the cities in 1198: the marquises of Occimiano (to Alessandria), the lords of Manzano, Sarmatorio and Monfalcone and Ruffino of Gorzano (to Asti). Tommaso d'Annone, the imperial castellan of Annone (attested 1186), presided over the arbitration commission of 1196-97 between Asti and the marquis; Asti took his castle in December 1197, and no imperial castellan is found holding in the region on 1 January 1200.

The realm that morning

Under truce with Asti, Alessandria and Vercelli since 28-29 March 1199 (the Pontestura truce, extended several times), with the Milanese and Piacenzan arbitration still pending; allied with Milan and Piacenza since June 1199. The marquis is away in Germany on his mediation between Philip and Otto, or returning; William, about twenty-six, acts for the house at home (in 1199 he was at Acqui and, by the DBI on William, at Saluggia on 27 October 1199 for pacts with Vercelli). The house still holds the Po towns and the Moncalvo hills, but has lost Annone, Casale and the Occimiano marquises and is selling land to pay debts.

Wealth

Tolls on the Po crossings and the road from Asti to Vercelli, the Po towns, demesne castles and their dues. He is short of money: he sold his Felizzano rights to Astigiani bankers (1194) and Calliano (1197), and will sell Trino and Pontestura to Vercelli in 1202. The DBI names no coins of his own; his transactions run in Pavian and Genoese pounds.

Military

Vassal knights and the household of an imperial prince. His one great field success was over the Alessandrini and Astigiani at Montiglio on 19 June 1191; since 1197 the war has gone against him. Under the June 1199 pact with Acqui (DBI on William VI) William was to serve in his father's place with twenty knights against the Alessandrini; no other figure is given.

Threats

• The league of Asti, Alessandria and Vercelli, held off only by an extended truce
• The Milanese and Piacenzan arbitral award, which may go against him (it is read at Saluggia on 27 October 1200)
• Debt, forcing further sales of castles and rights
• Vercelli's pressure on Trino and the Po towns
• Asti's growing hold on the lords of the Tanaro and the Langhe

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. By 11 March 1200Boniface is back in Italy, at Ivrea, his ally.Depends on: His safe return from Germany. Stopped by: Detention or death on the road; a new summons by Philip of Swabia.
2. 18 May 1200At Bra Boniface promises military aid to the local lords against Asti.Depends on: Asti pressing the lords of Bra and the Roero; Alba's quarrel with Asti. Stopped by: A settlement with Asti or a renewed and binding truce.
3. 27 October 1200At Saluggia Boniface refuses to hear the reading of the Milanese arbitral award.Depends on: The arbitration of Milan and Piacenza running its course with an award unfavourable to him. Stopped by: A negotiated peace before the award, or an award in his favour.
4. 22 July 1202 (beyond 1200)Sale of Trino and Pontestura to Vercelli, with a five-year right of redemption.Depends on: His debts and Vercelli's peace with him. Stopped by: Money from elsewhere; renewed war with Vercelli.
5. August to September 1201 (beyond 1200)After Theobald III of Champagne dies (24 May 1201) Boniface is chosen leader of the crusade and takes the cross at Soissons. On 1 January 1200 Theobald is the elected leader (Ecry, 28 November 1199) and Boniface has no part in the crusade.Depends on: Theobald's death; the barons' choice. Stopped by: Theobald living; another candidate chosen.

Places of note

• Moncalvo: Hill castle in the heart of the Basso Monferrato; Boniface kept Christmas here in 1195.
• Chivasso: Po town and residence of the marquis (27 February 1196); later the house's chief seat.
• Pontestura: Po castle where the Milanese and Piacenzan envoys imposed the truce of 28-29 March 1199.
• Trino: Po town on the Vercelli border; sold to Vercelli with Pontestura on 22 July 1202.
• Montiglio: Where Boniface defeated the Alessandrini and Astigiani on 19 June 1191.
• Saluggia: Meeting place with Vercelli (27 October 1199) and of the refused Milanese award (27 October 1200).

Where the sources disagree

• en.wikipedia (Ottone del Carretto) speaks of a peace treaty signed in 1199 at San Germano in the Casalese between Boniface and Asti, Alessandria and Vercelli, witnessed by Ottone; the DBI on Boniface knows only the Pontestura truce of 28-29 March 1199, extended several times, and the pending Milanese award (refused by Boniface on 27 October 1200), while the DBI on William VI places pacts with Vercelli at Saluggia on 27 October 1199. We treat 1 January 1200 as a truce with a pending arbitration, not a settled peace.
• fmg.ac gives William VI a first wife, Sophie, daughter of Frederick Barbarossa, married 1187 and dead in 1187-88; the DBI on William does not mention her. Either way William is unmarried on 1 January 1200 (his marriage to Berta of Clavesana is dated before 9 August 1202 by fmg.ac, 1211 by the DBI).
• en.wikipedia dates Boniface's alliance with Acqui to June 1198 (as does the DBI on Boniface, 12 June 1198); the DBI on William VI describes an agreement with Acqui on 12 June 1199. Possibly two acts.

Evidence: The marquis's dated acts are well known from the Codex Astensis and the Montferrat regesta summarised in the DBI; his wives, the extent of his demesne in 1200 and the officers of his household are not.

On the map: The marquisate was a cluster of castles and rights, not a closed territory; the outline follows the Po towns and the hills he still held, and leaves out the places lost in 1197-98. The southern part is thin.

Primary sources for this realm

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Conquest of Constantinople (Villehardouin), Geoffrey of Villehardouin (about 1207 to 1213). Opens with the preaching of Fulk of Neuilly and the tournament at Ecry (28 November 1199) where Theobald III of Champagne and Louis of Blois took the cross, then the taking of the cross by Baldwin of Flanders, Hugh of Saint-Pol, Geoffrey of Perche and others through early 1200, the assemblies at Soissons and Compiegne in 1200, and the six envoys sent to Venice in the winter of 1200 to 1201. Read online