William V, Marquess of Montferrat
Encyclopedia
William V of Montferrat (c. 1115 – 1191), also known as William the Old to distinguish him from his eldest son, William Longsword
, was marquess of Montferrat from c. 1136 to his death in 1191. William was the only son of marquess Renier I
and his wife Gisela, a daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy
and widow of Count Humbert II of Savoy
. It seems likely, given that he was still fit enough to participate in battle in 1187, that William was one of his parents' youngest children.
He was described by Acerbo Morena as of medium height and compact build, with a round, somewhat ruddy face and hair so fair as to be almost white. He was eloquent, intelligent and good-humoured, generous but not extravagant. Dynastically, he was extremely well-connected: a nephew of Pope Callixtus II, a half-brother of Amadeus III of Savoy
, a brother-in-law of Louis VI of France
(through his half-sister Adelasia of Moriana
), and cousin of Alfonso VII of Castile.
, daughter of Leopold III of Austria and Agnes of Germany
, sometime before March 28, 1133. Judith was probably about 15 at the time. None of their surviving children seem to have been born before 1140 (there may have been older ones who died in infancy), and the youngest son was born in 1162. She died after 1168. They had five sons, four of whom became prominent in the affairs of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
and of Byzantium
:
and three daughters:
The vida of the troubadour
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
claims that there was another daughter, Beatrice, who m. Henry I del Carretto, marquess of Savona
, and that she is the Bel Cavalher (Fair Knight) of Vaqueiras's songs. However, the lyrics of Vaqueiras's songs (as opposed to the later vida) describe Beatrice as Boniface's daughter, and thus William's granddaughter.
Otto (Oddone of Montferrat, d. 1251), who became Bishop of Porto, and Cardinal in 1227, has sometimes been identified as a son of William V, and confused with Frederick. However, his dates make it more likely that he was a son of William VI of Montferrat, whether legitimate or not is uncertain.
William and Judith's powerful dynastic connections created difficulties in finding suitable wives for his sons, however: too many potential spouses were related within prohibited degrees. In 1167, he unsuccessfully tried to negotiate marriages for his eldest sons to daughters of Henry II of England
- but the girls were very young at the time and were related through Judith's descent from William V of Aquitaine
. He then applied for sisters of William I of Scotland
, who were not related, but were already married.
, alongside his half-brother Amadeus of Savoy (who died during the campaign), his nephew Louis VII of France
, his brother-in-law Count Guido of Biandrate, and his wife's German and Austrian relatives.
As supporters of the imperial party (later known as the Ghibellines), he and his sons fought with the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
(Judith's nephew) in his lengthy struggle against the Lombard League
. Following Barbarossa's capitulation with the Peace of Venice in 1177, William was left to deal with the rebellious towns in the area alone. Meanwhile, the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos
sought support for his own politics in Italy.
William broke with Barbarossa and formed an alliance with Manuel. His eldest surviving son, Conrad, was taken prisoner by Barbarossa's Chancellor, Archbishop Christian of Mainz, but then captured the chancellor in battle at Camerino
. In 1179 Manuel suggested a marriage between his daughter Maria
, second in line to the throne, and one of William's sons. As Conrad and Boniface were already married, the youngest son, Renier, was married off to the princess, who was ten years his senior. Renier and Maria were later killed during the usurpation of Andronikos
, and the family rebuilt ties with Barbarossa.
, a minor, as co-King of Jerusalem
, William, then probably in his late sixties, left the government of Montferrat to Conrad and Boniface, and returned to the east. He was granted the castle of St. Elias (present-day El Taiyiba). He fought in the Battle of Hattin
in 1187, where he was captured by Saladin
's forces. In the meantime, his second son, Conrad, had arrived at Tyre from Constantinople
. Conrad was given the command of the defences. During the siege of Tyre in November that year, he is said to have refused to surrender as much as a stone of its walls to liberate his father, even threatening to shoot him with a crossbow himself when Saladin had him presented as a hostage. Eventually, Saladin withdrew his army from Tyre. In 1188, William was released unharmed at Tortosa, and seems to have ended his days in Tyre, with his son. He probably died in the summer of 1191: Conrad last describes himself as "marchionis Montisferrati filius" in a charter of May that year.
under King Richard
.
William of Montferrat, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon
William of Montferrat , also called William Longsword , was the Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, the eldest son of William V, Marquess of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg...
, was marquess of Montferrat from c. 1136 to his death in 1191. William was the only son of marquess Renier I
Renier I of Montferrat
Renier or Rainier was the ruler of the state of Montferrat in north-west Italy from about 1100 to his death, and the first such to be identified in contemporary documents as Margrave of Montferrat....
and his wife Gisela, a daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy
William I, Count of Burgundy
William I , called the Great , was Count of Burgundy and Mâcon from 1057 to 1087. He was a son of Renaud I and Alice of Normandy, daughter of Richard II, Duke of Normandy...
and widow of Count Humbert II of Savoy
Humbert II of Savoy
Umberto II, surnamed the Fat , was Count of Savoy from 1080 until his death in 1103. He was the son of Amadeus II of Savoy....
. It seems likely, given that he was still fit enough to participate in battle in 1187, that William was one of his parents' youngest children.
He was described by Acerbo Morena as of medium height and compact build, with a round, somewhat ruddy face and hair so fair as to be almost white. He was eloquent, intelligent and good-humoured, generous but not extravagant. Dynastically, he was extremely well-connected: a nephew of Pope Callixtus II, a half-brother of Amadeus III of Savoy
Amadeus III of Savoy
Amadeus III of Savoy was Count of Savoy and Maurienne from 1103 until his death. He was also known as the Crusader....
, a brother-in-law of Louis VI of France
Louis VI of France
Louis VI , called the Fat , was King of France from 1108 until his death . Chronicles called him "roi de Saint-Denis".-Reign:...
(through his half-sister Adelasia of Moriana
Adélaide de Maurienne
Adelaide of Savoy was the second spouse but first Queen consort of Louis VI of France.-Biography:...
), and cousin of Alfonso VII of Castile.
Dynastic marriage
William married Judith or Ita von BabenbergJudith of Babenberg
Judith of Babenberg , , was a daughter of Agnes of Germany and her second husband Leopold III of Austria. The chronicler Otto of Freising was one of her older brothers; Conrad III of Germany her half-brother. Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor was her nephew.She married c...
, daughter of Leopold III of Austria and Agnes of Germany
Agnes of Germany
Agnes of Germany was the daughter of Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor and Bertha of Savoy. Her maternal grandparents were Otto, Count of Savoy, Aosta and Moriana and Adelaide, Marchioness of Turin and Susa....
, sometime before March 28, 1133. Judith was probably about 15 at the time. None of their surviving children seem to have been born before 1140 (there may have been older ones who died in infancy), and the youngest son was born in 1162. She died after 1168. They had five sons, four of whom became prominent in the affairs of the Kingdom of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
and of Byzantium
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
:
- William LongswordWilliam of Montferrat, Count of Jaffa and AscalonWilliam of Montferrat , also called William Longsword , was the Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, the eldest son of William V, Marquess of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg...
, Count of Jaffa and AscalonCounty of Jaffa and AscalonThe double County of Jaffa and Ascalon was one of the four major seigneuries comprising the major crusader state, the Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin.-History:...
, father of Baldwin V of JerusalemBaldwin V of JerusalemBaldwin V of Jerusalem was the son of Sibylla of Jerusalem and her first husband, William of Montferrat... - ConradConrad of MontferratConrad of Montferrat was a northern Italian nobleman, one of the major participants in the Third Crusade. He was the de facto King of Jerusalem, by marriage, from 24 November 1190, but officially elected only in 1192, days before his death...
, King of JerusalemKingdom of JerusalemThe Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods.... - BonifaceBoniface of MontferratBoniface of Montferrat was Marquess of Montferrat and the leader of the Fourth Crusade. He was the third son of William V of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg, born after his father's return from the Second Crusade...
, his successor to Montferrat and founder of the Kingdom of ThessalonicaKingdom of ThessalonicaThe Kingdom of Thessalonica was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over the conquered Byzantine lands.- Background :... - Frederick, who entered the Church and became Bishop of Alba (dates uncertain).
- RenierRenier of MontferratRenier of Montferrat was the fifth son of William V of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg...
, married into the Byzantine imperial family
and three daughters:
- Agnes, who married Count Guido Guerra III Guidi of VentimigliaVentimigliaVentimiglia is a city and comune in Liguria, northern Italy, in the province of Imperia. It is located southwest of Genoa by rail, and 7 km from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia River, which divides the town into two parts...
. The marriage was annulled on grounds of childlessness before 1180, when Guido remarried, and Agnes entered the convent of Santa Maria di Rocca delle Donne. - Adelasia or AzalaïsAzalaïs of MontferratAzalaïs of Montferrat was marchioness and regent of Saluzzo.-Biography:Azalaïs was one of at least three daughters of William V of Montferrat and his wife Judith of Babenberg...
(d. 1232), who married Manfred II, marquess of SaluzzoSaluzzoSaluzzo is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, Piedmont region, Italy.The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc...
, c. 1182, and was regent for her grandson Manfred IIIManfred III of SaluzzoManfred III was the third marquess of Saluzzo, from 1215 to his death. He was the son of Boniface of Saluzzo and Maria di Torres of Sassari . Since his father died in 1212, he succeeded his grandfather Manfred II as marquess on the latter's death in 1215. His paternal grandmother Azalaïs or...
. - An unidentified daughter, who married Albert, marquess of Malaspina.
The vida of the troubadour
Troubadour
A troubadour was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages . Since the word "troubadour" is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a trobairitz....
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras was a Provençal troubadour and, later in his life, knight. His life was spent mainly in Italian courts until 1203, when he joined the Fourth Crusade....
claims that there was another daughter, Beatrice, who m. Henry I del Carretto, marquess of Savona
Savona
Savona is a seaport and comune in the northern Italian region of Liguria, capital of the Province of Savona, in the Riviera di Ponente on the Mediterranean Sea....
, and that she is the Bel Cavalher (Fair Knight) of Vaqueiras's songs. However, the lyrics of Vaqueiras's songs (as opposed to the later vida) describe Beatrice as Boniface's daughter, and thus William's granddaughter.
Otto (Oddone of Montferrat, d. 1251), who became Bishop of Porto, and Cardinal in 1227, has sometimes been identified as a son of William V, and confused with Frederick. However, his dates make it more likely that he was a son of William VI of Montferrat, whether legitimate or not is uncertain.
William and Judith's powerful dynastic connections created difficulties in finding suitable wives for his sons, however: too many potential spouses were related within prohibited degrees. In 1167, he unsuccessfully tried to negotiate marriages for his eldest sons to daughters of Henry II of England
Henry II of England
Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...
- but the girls were very young at the time and were related through Judith's descent from William V of Aquitaine
William V of Aquitaine
William V , called the Great , was Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou from 990 until his death. He was the son and successor of William IV by his wife Emma of Blois, daughter of Theobald I of Blois. He seems to have taken after his formidable mother, who ruled Aquitaine as regent until 1004...
. He then applied for sisters of William I of Scotland
William I of Scotland
William the Lion , sometimes styled William I, also known by the nickname Garbh, "the Rough", reigned as King of the Scots from 1165 to 1214...
, who were not related, but were already married.
Alliances with the Western and Eastern Empires
William took part in the Second CrusadeSecond Crusade
The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...
, alongside his half-brother Amadeus of Savoy (who died during the campaign), his nephew Louis VII of France
Louis VII of France
Louis VII was King of France, the son and successor of Louis VI . He ruled from 1137 until his death. He was a member of the House of Capet. His reign was dominated by feudal struggles , and saw the beginning of the long rivalry between France and England...
, his brother-in-law Count Guido of Biandrate, and his wife's German and Austrian relatives.
As supporters of the imperial party (later known as the Ghibellines), he and his sons fought with the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
(Judith's nephew) in his lengthy struggle against the Lombard League
Lombard League
The Lombard League was an alliance formed around 1167, which at its apex included most of the cities of northern Italy , including, among others, Crema, Cremona, Mantua, Piacenza, Bergamo, Brescia, Milan, Genoa, Bologna, Padua, Modena, Reggio Emilia, Treviso, Venice, Vercelli, Vicenza, Verona,...
. Following Barbarossa's capitulation with the Peace of Venice in 1177, William was left to deal with the rebellious towns in the area alone. Meanwhile, the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos
Manuel I Komnenos was a Byzantine Emperor of the 12th century who reigned over a crucial turning point in the history of Byzantium and the Mediterranean....
sought support for his own politics in Italy.
William broke with Barbarossa and formed an alliance with Manuel. His eldest surviving son, Conrad, was taken prisoner by Barbarossa's Chancellor, Archbishop Christian of Mainz, but then captured the chancellor in battle at Camerino
Camerino
Camerino is a small town of 7.135 inhabitants in the Marches , in the province of Macerata, Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about 40 miles from Ancona....
. In 1179 Manuel suggested a marriage between his daughter Maria
Maria Komnene (Porphyrogenita)
Maria Komnene was the eldest daughter of the Emperor Manuel I Komnenos by his first wife, Irene of Sulzbach. She was known as the Porphyrogenneta or Porphyrogenita because she had been "born in the Purple Chamber", i.e...
, second in line to the throne, and one of William's sons. As Conrad and Boniface were already married, the youngest son, Renier, was married off to the princess, who was ten years his senior. Renier and Maria were later killed during the usurpation of Andronikos
Andronikos I Komnenos
Andronikos I Komnenos was Byzantine Emperor from 1183 to 1185). He was the son of Isaac Komnenos and grandson of Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.-Early years:...
, and the family rebuilt ties with Barbarossa.
Crusade in Outremer
In 1183, with the accession of his grandson Baldwin VBaldwin V of Jerusalem
Baldwin V of Jerusalem was the son of Sibylla of Jerusalem and her first husband, William of Montferrat...
, a minor, as co-King of Jerusalem
Kingdom of Jerusalem
The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Catholic kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 after the First Crusade. The kingdom lasted nearly two hundred years, from 1099 until 1291 when the last remaining possession, Acre, was destroyed by the Mamluks, but its history is divided into two distinct periods....
, William, then probably in his late sixties, left the government of Montferrat to Conrad and Boniface, and returned to the east. He was granted the castle of St. Elias (present-day El Taiyiba). He fought in the Battle of Hattin
Battle of Hattin
The Battle of Hattin took place on Saturday, July 4, 1187, between the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem and the forces of the Ayyubid dynasty....
in 1187, where he was captured by Saladin
Saladin
Ṣalāḥ ad-Dīn Yūsuf ibn Ayyūb , better known in the Western world as Saladin, was an Arabized Kurdish Muslim, who became the first Sultan of Egypt and Syria, and founded the Ayyubid dynasty. He led Muslim and Arab opposition to the Franks and other European Crusaders in the Levant...
's forces. In the meantime, his second son, Conrad, had arrived at Tyre from Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
. Conrad was given the command of the defences. During the siege of Tyre in November that year, he is said to have refused to surrender as much as a stone of its walls to liberate his father, even threatening to shoot him with a crossbow himself when Saladin had him presented as a hostage. Eventually, Saladin withdrew his army from Tyre. In 1188, William was released unharmed at Tortosa, and seems to have ended his days in Tyre, with his son. He probably died in the summer of 1191: Conrad last describes himself as "marchionis Montisferrati filius" in a charter of May that year.
Popular culture
William de Montferrat is an assassination target in the video game Assassins Creed. In the game, de Montferrat is Liege Lord of AcreDistrict of Acre
The Sanjak of Acre was a prefecture of the Ottoman Empire, located in modern-day northern Israel. The city of Acre was the sanjak's capital.Acre was captured by the Ottoman Sultan Selim I in 1517, but the city fell into disuse soon thereafter...
under King Richard
Richard I of England
Richard I was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Count of Nantes, and Overlord of Brittany at various times during the same period...
.
Sources
- Haberstumpf, Walter. Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale. I Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII–XV, 1995 (external link to downloadable text).
- Hamilton, Bernard. The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, 2000.
- Settia, Aldo A. "Guglielmo V di Monferrato, detto il Vecchio", Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. LX, Roma 2003 (external link)
- Usseglio, Leopoldo. I Marchesi di Monferrato in Italia ed in Oriente durante i secoli XII e XIII, 1926.