Wilhelm V (Montferrat)
Wilhelm V the Old , Italian: Guglielmo il Vecchio ; (* before 1136; † 1191 ) was a Margrave of Montferrat from the Aleramiden family . He was a son of Margrave Rainer von Montferrat († around 1136) and Gisela, a daughter of Count Wilhelm I of Burgundy .
Wilhelm was married to Judith, a daughter of Margrave Leopold III. from Austria from the Babenberg family . Through her mother Agnes von Waiblingen, his wife was a granddaughter of the Roman-German Emperor Heinrich IV , and thus a cousin of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa . Through his half-sister Adelheid von Maurienne , he was a brother-in-law of King Ludwig VI. the fat of France .
The couple had several children, of which the sons in particular achieved historical significance:
- Wilhelm Long Sword († 1177), Count of Jaffa and Askalon
- Konrad († 1192), Margrave of Montferrat and King of Jerusalem
- Boniface I († 1207), Margrave of Montferrat and King of Thessaloniki
- Friedrich, Bishop of Alba
- Rainer († 1183), Byzantine Caesar
- Agnes († 1202), ∞ with Count Guido Guerra III. Guidi
- Alasia, ∞ with Margrave Manfred II of Saluzzo
- NN daughter, ∞ with Margrave Alberto Moro von Malaspina
From 1147 Wilhelm accompanied his nephew, King Ludwig VII of France , on the second crusade . In Italy he was one of the most loyal supporters of Emperor Friedrich I. Barbarossa against the Lombard League . He helped subjugate Milan in 1159 and fought in the Battle of Legnano in 1176 .
Under him the commitment of the House of Montferrat began in the Greek and Latin East. His eldest son Wilhelm Langschwert married the Princess Sibylle in 1176 and became the father of the future King Baldwin V of Jerusalem . However, Wilhelm died in 1177. The youngest son Rainer married a daughter of the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos in 1180 , but was murdered in Constantinople in 1183 . The second son Konrad later also went to Constantinople and served the Emperor Isaac II Angelus .
In 1183 Wilhelm himself traveled to Outremer again to fight the infidels there. In 1187 he took part in the fateful battle of Hattin and was captured by Saladin there . Then his son Conrad came to Tire to save his father. But Saladin threatened to kill his father if Konrad did not hand over the important port city to him. Then Konrad had the smallest stone sought in the city to offer it as a prize for his father, with which he made it clear to Saladin that he was not prepared to give up Tire at any price in the world. Impressed by this, Saladin released the captured Wilhelm in July 1188. Wilhelm stayed with his son in Tire until he died in 1191.
literature
- Donald E. Queller, Thomas F. Madden: The Fourth Crusade. The conquest of Constantinople, 1201-1204. 2nd edition. University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia PA 1997, ISBN 0-8122-3387-5 , p. 28.
- Aldo Angelo Settia: Guglielmo V, detto il Vecchio, marchese di Monferrato. In: Mario Caravale (ed.): Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (DBI). Volume 60: Grosso – Guglielmo da Forlì. Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Rome 2003, pp. 757-761.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ He is sometimes also called "Wilhelm VI.", Not because he was the sixth Wilhelm as Margrave of Montferrat, but the sixth of his name in the Aleramide family.
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Rainer |
Margrave of Montferrat around 1136–1191 |
Konrad |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wilhelm V. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wilhelm the Old; Guglielmo il Vecchio |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Margrave of Montferrat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | before 1136 |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1191 |
| Place of death | Tire |