William VII (Montferrat)
Wilhelm VII the Great (Italian: Guglielmo il Gran Marchese ; † February 8, 1292 ) was a Margrave of Montferrat from the Aleramiden family . He was a son of Margrave Boniface II of Montferrat († 1253) and Margaret, a daughter of Count Amadeus IV of Savoy .
In his first marriage Wilhelm was married to the noblewoman Elena de Bosco, with whom he had no children. In his second marriage he married the English noblewoman Isabel de Clare in Lyon in 1258 . Her father Richard de Clare, 2nd Earl of Gloucester , had paid Wilhelm 4,000 marks for the marriage . With her he had a daughter, Margarete († 1286), who was married in 1281 to the Castilian Prince Johann († 1319). In his third marriage, he was married to Princess Beatrix of Castile († 1280) from 1271, a daughter of the King of Castile and Roman-German King Alfonso X the Wise . Your children were:
- Yolande (Irene) († 1317), ⚭ 1284 with the Byzantine emperor Andronikos II. Palaiologos
- Johann I († 1305), Margrave of Montferrat
- Alessina († around 1305), ⚭ with Poncello Orsini
Like his ancestors before, Wilhelm was a staunch supporter of the imperial cause ( Ghibellines ) in Italy against the supporters of the Pope (Guelphs), primarily Charles of Anjou . His father-in-law Alfonso X of Castile, who had also been Roman-German King since 1257, entrusted him with the vicariate in Italy, i.e. with the deputy of the king. By choosing and conquering several cities such as Pavia , Vercelli , Alessandria and Turin, he succeeded in seizing the Signora. Because of the latter, he came into conflict with the Count of Savoy. The Ghibelline cause was increasingly placed on the defensive in the years to come due to the lack of military support from King Alfonso of Castile . The Ghibelline League therefore recognized Rudolf I of Habsburg as the rightful king in 1277 . In 1278 Wilhelm, who was also called "Capitano di guerra", was able to seize power in Milan . In 1290 he was captured by Alessandria, which he spent in an iron cage and in which he died in 1292.
literature
- Aldo Angelo Settia: Guglielmo VII, 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. 764-769.
Web links
Remarks
- ↑ He is occasionally called "Wilhelm IX", not because he was the ninth Wilhelm as Margrave of Montferrat, but the ninth of his name in the Aleramide family.
- ^ Michael Altschul: A baronial family in medieval England. The Clares . The Johns Hopkins Press, Baltimore 1965, p. 35
| predecessor | Office | successor |
|---|---|---|
| Boniface II |
Margrave of Montferrat 1253–1292 |
Johann I. |
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | William VII |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wilhelm VII the Great; Guglielmo il Gran Marchese |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Margrave of Montferrat |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 13th Century |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 8, 1292 |