Guglielmo del Monferrato I

• Preferred Name: Guglielmo del Monferrato I^[1]
  
• Alternate Name: Guillaume I of Montferrat
  
• Gender: M
  
• MilitaryService: a Frank who crossed the Alps leading 300 armed retainers to fight alongside Guy III of Spoleto against Berengar of Friuli for the Iron Crown of Lombardy.BET 888 AND 889
  
• Death: BET 961 AND 967 in Piedmont, Italy at LATI: N5 LONG: E0 with note: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORTHERN%20ITALY%20900-1100.htm#Aleramodiedbefore991 GUGLIELMO, son of ---. Comes. Maybe of Frankish origin. 961/967.
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Count of MontferratBET 924 AND 933
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Count of LiguriaBET 924 AND 933
  
• FSID: KCHJ-P7N
  
• Birth: ABT 865 in Piedmont, Italy at LATI: N5 LONG: E0 with note: GEDCOM data
  
• http://familysearch.org/v1/TitleOfNobility: Conte di Torresana
  
• Clan Name: with note: Description: House of Aleramici
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  William I, Marquis of Montferrat (Italian: Guglielmo I del Monferrato, floruit 921, d. 933 or before) stands at the head of the Aleramici family which ruled Montferrat for four centuries. He was the father of the first Marquis Aleram.
  
  According to the Gesta Berengarii Imperatoris, William was a Frank who crossed the Alps leading 300 armed retainers in 888–889 to fight alongside Guy III of Spoleto against Berengar of Friuli for the Iron Crown of Lombardy. He apparently established himself in northwestern Italy, probably supported by Guy, where he eventually received the title of comes. It is also probable that he gave his support to Berengar after Guy's death, for he appears, in 921, along with Lambert, Archbishop of Milan, and two other counts, Giselbert and Samson, as dilectissimi fideles of the Emperor. The counts were also cited as illustres comites. They stood opposed to Adalbert of Ivrea and others in rebellion against Berengar.
  
  William transferred his allegiance again following the death of Berengar. He appears for the last time alive in 924, intervening on behalf of the bishop of Piacenza with Rudolf II of Burgundy, a claimant for the Italian crown. Never again does he appear in history and a diploma of his son's dating to around 933 fixes his death sometime between those two years (924–933). Nonetheless, some, including 18th-century historian Malaspina and 20th-century historians Usseglio and Cognasso (writing in 1960), consider him to have been alive in 961, based on a faulty reading and interpretation of the foundation charter of the monastery of Grazzano, founded that year by Aleram and his family.
  
  Various legendary assertions about his Saxon and Kentish origins and the origins of his wife have been met by the definitive Dizionario Biografico with the pronouncement: Ma tali asserzioni non sono ancora state seriamente coinprovate da documenti: "But such assertions are not yet seriously backed up by the documents."
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_I,_Marquis_of_Montferrat
  
  === Salischer Franke, 890 Gf. v. Torresana ===
  Salischer Franke, 890 Gf. v. Torresana
  
  === !Vol 2 - Tafel 199 ===
  !Vol 2 - Tafel 199
  
  === House of Aleramici - ===
  Guglielmo III, Marchese di Montferrato (-1041)
  Guglielmo III (William) was the Margrave of Montferrat and Count of Vado from 991 to his death. He was the eldest son and successor of Oddone and the grandson of Aleramo. William's religious policy was a continuation of Aleram's. He founded the monastery of Spigno. In 1014, he and his brother Riprando donated land to the abbey of Fruttuaria. Between his succession and 1002, he made other donations to Acqui Terme.
  
  While following in the familiarl policy of ecclesiastical patronage, William abandoned Aleram's support of the Holy Roman Emperors. Instead, he intervened in the wars of the Italian communes which characterised early eleventh-century Italy. He joined an anti-imperial alliance with Count Obert the Red, Margrave Ulric Manfred II of Turin, and Bishop Leo of Vercelli. The allies soon found themselves at odds and warring on each other. Leo besieged Santhià, where William was then residing, and William, to avenge himself on the bishop, besieged Vercelli and put it to flame. William signed a peace treaty with Ulric Manfred and married his son Henry to Manfred's daughter Adelaide.
  
  Even after all his allies had been pacified by imperial troops, William continued to resist Conrad II, but he fared poorly. Conrad destroyed his fortress in the valley of Orba.
  
  Ranier II, Marchese di Montferrato
  Renier was a powerful lord in his own time, appearing extensively in the contemporary documentation. With him the Aleramici of Montferrat first begin to throw off the shroud of obscurity and demonstrate a degree of influence in Italian politics. The beginning of his reign, nevertheless, is not clearly known, as he first appears in a document of 23 March 1111 as Raynerius de Monteferrato marchio. He appears with this same title years later in 1126 and 1133 when, with other members of his family, he founded the Cistercian monstery of Santa Maria di Lucedio near Trino.
  
  Around the time of his appearance in the pages of history, c. 1111, Renier was a follower of the Emperor Henry V. In that year he obtained an imperial concession for the citizens of Turin: a diploma regarding the Via Francigena which passed through the town. Also that year, with his cousin Oberto I of Occimiano, he donated to the Chapter of Saint Evasius of Casale the church of San Martino di Zenzano infra castrum Aucimianum (in the castle of Occimiano). That this act took place in Occimiano testifies to the importance of that locality, which had in the past been the seat of kings.
  
  In 1113, Renier donated his portion of the Langiano to the monastery of San Secondo di Terra Rossa, affiliated with the Abbey of Fruttuaria. On 23 May 1116, Renier was present with the Emperor when the latter bestowed the castles of Celle, Frassinello, Fubine, and Cuccaro on his nephew Conrad and Guido Cane.
  
  In 1105, Renier married Gisela, daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy, already the widow of Humbert II of Savoy and mother of Adelaide of Maurienne, who, in 1115, became the second queen of Louis VI of France. She and Renier had three or four daughters and one son:
  1. Joanna, who married William Clito, Count of Flanders,
  2. Matilda, who married Alberto Zueta, Margrave of Parodi
  3. Adelasia, who became a nun
  4. one possibly named Isabella, who married Guido, Count of Biandrate
  5. Guglielmo V, who became the next Marchese di Montferrato.
  
  Guglielmo V "il Vecchio",
  Guglielmo (William) took part in the Second Crusade, 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.
  
  In 1183, with the accession of his grandson Baldwin V, 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.
  
  William married Judith or Ita von Babenberg, 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:
  1. William Longsword, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, father of Baldwin V of Jerusalem
  2. Conrad, King of Jerusalem
  3. Boniface, his successor to Montferrat and founder of the Kingdom of Thessalonica
  4. Frederick, who entered the Church and became Bishop of Alba
  5. Renier, married into the Byzantine imperial family
  and three daughters:
  1. Agnes, who married Count Guido Guerra III Guidi of Ventimiglia. 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.
  2. Adelasia or Azalaïs (d. 1232), who married Manfred II, marquess of Saluzzo, c. 1182, and was regent for her grandson Manfred III.
  3. An undentified daughter, who married Albert, marquess of Malaspina.
  
  Bonifazio di Monferrato (1150-1207)
  
  The crowning of Bonifazio di Monferrato
  
  BONIFAZIO di Monferrato, son of GUGLIELMO V "il Vecchio" Marchese di Monferrato & his wife Judith of Austria [Babenberg] (1150-killed in battle 4 Sep 1207). The Cronica Alberti de Bezanis names "Gullielmus Spatam-longam, Conradum, Bonifacium, Fredericum et Raynerium" as the five sons of "Gulielmus marchio Montisferati" & his wife. Regent of Monferrato 1191. He succeeded his brother in 1192 as BONIFAZIO I Marchese di Monferrato. He assisted Emperor Heinrich VI King of Germany in his conquest of Sicily in 1194. He joined the movement for a Fourth Crusade, and was elected leader on the death of Thibaut III Comte de Champagne, a decision which was ratified at Soissons in Aug 1201. Under the terms of the partition of the Byzantine Empire agreed in March 1204 between Venice and the crusading armies, approximately 3/8 of the territory of the former empire was to be distributed between the crusaders. Bonifazio, as leader of the crusade, expected to be installed as emperor of the newly formed Latin Empire of Constantinople. He married the widow of ex-Emperor Isaakios II in order to advance his claims, but he was outmanoeuvred by Enrico Dandolo Doge of Venice who secured the appointment of Baudouin IX Count of Flanders whom he considered a less powerful candidate. Bonifazio was assigned a large fief in Anatolia, but demanded Thessaloniki which he claimed belonged as of right to his family since Emperor Manuel I had granted his brother Ranieri a large estate there. At a meeting with Venetian representatives at Adrianople 12 Aug 1204, he ceded the island of Crete (which he claimed had been given as a fief to his brother Ranieri by Emperor Manuel I) to Venice and bought Venice's rights to Thessaloniki. Bonifazio captured Demotika and besieged Adrianople to press his claim. Peace was soon mediated, and Emperor Baudouin exchanged Demotika for Thessaloniki, where Bonifazio declared himself King of Thessaloniki. He extended his kingdom northwards to include Macedonia and southwards into Thessaly. He was faced with continual threats from the north from the Bulgarians and, against this common threat, allied himself with Henri Latin Emperor of Constantinople, confirmed by the marriage of his daughter to the emperor. He was killed by a small Bulgarian raiding party, his head being sent as a trophy to Kalojan Tsar of Bulgaria. The Cronica of Sicardi Bishop of Cremona records the death in 1207 of "Bonifacius marchio Montis-ferrati" killed in battle.

1. Aleramo del Monferrato II, b. 904 in Sezzadio, Alessandria, Piemonte, Italy     d. 991 in Grazzano Badoglio, Asti, Piemonte, Italy

1. Title: Foundation for Medieval Genealogy - GUGLIELMO, son of ---. Comes. Maybe of Frankish origin. 961/967
   Author: FMG Projects/MedLands
   Publication: Name: https://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORTHERN%20ITALY%20900-1100.htm#Aleramodiedbefore991;
   Note: GUGLIELMO, son of ---. Comes. Maybe of Frankish origin. 961/967. m ---. The name of Guglielmo's wife is not known. Guglielmo & his wife had one child: a) ALERAMO (-[967/91]). "Hugo et Lotharius…Reges" granted property "Forum…supra fluvium Tanari in comitatu Aquensi…et Villa…Roncho" to "fideli nostro Aledramo comiti" by charter dated 6 Feb 938[589]. "Berengarius et Adelbertus filius eius…Reges" confirmed a donation to the abbey of Grazano by "Aledramus Marchio filius Gulielmi Comitis et Gilberga filius D. Berengarii Regis, et Anselmus seu Oddo germani lege viventes Salica" by charter dated Aug 951[590]. Emperor Otto I granted land to Marchese Alleramo by charter dated 23 Mar 967[591]. m firstly ---. m secondly (before Jul 961) GILBERGA d´Ivrea, daughter of BERENGARIO II King of Italy [Ivrea] & his wife Willa d'Arles (945-). "Gislam [et]…Girbergam" are named as daughters of Berengar and Willa by Liutprand[592]. The primary source which confirms her marriage has not yet been identified. Aleramo & his first wife had three children: - MARCHESI di MONFERRATO, MARCHESI di SALUZZO.
   Page: Source record for GUGLIELMO, son of ---. Comes. Maybe of Frankish origin. 961/967.