Guglielmo VI degli Aleramici, marchese del Montferrato

- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_VI,_Marquess_of_Montferrat

William VI (c. 1173 – 17 September 1226) was the tenth Marquess of Montferrat from 1203 and titular King of Thessalonica from 1207.

Biography

Youth

Boniface I's eldest son, and his only son by his first wife, Helena del Bosco, William stood originally to inherit all his father's possessions. He participated in diverse campaigns with his father, including the Battle of Montiglio, in which the men of Asti were defeated in 1191. Between 1193 and 1199, he appeared in many of his father's public acts. On 12 June 1199, he was put in charge of Acqui Terme with twenty knights to combat the Alessandrini, and, on 27 October, he was present near Saluggia for the signing of a pact with the commune of Vercelli.

War with Asti

Boniface I joined the Fourth Crusade as a Christian leader in 1203. In accordance with promises made to Asti and Alessandria, he officially abdicated the marquisate to William before he left. Immediately, William turned towards Asti, then protected by Milan. The Astigiani had a history of rebellion and were growing in power. In August, with his father beside him, he formed an alliance with Alba and Alessandria, another rebellious commune, against Asti. His allies proved of little worth as he had to make many concessions to them and was still defeated in the field. In April 1206, he opened negotiations with Asti. The peace treaty was embarrassing for Montferrat, but it was accepted by all three allies. William promised to get his father's ratification, but his father was killed fighting against the Bulgarians unaware of any peace back home.

War against the Ghibellines

Traditionally, the Aleramici adhered to the Ghibelline faction, which supported the Hohenstaufen and their Italian schemes. William, however, lent his support to Otto of Brunswick, the Guelph claimant to the imperial title. Though William expected to see the power of an emperor levelled against his foes, the only aid he received from Otto was directed against small local potentates which posed little real threat. The only great success of the alliance was the sack of Cuneo.

At the Diet of Lodi, William abandoned Otto finally in favour of Frederick II, the Hohenstaufen claimant. On 15 July 1212, he was in Genoa with the other Ghibelline lords to receive Frederick. William led the young emperor from the city to the road which led to Germany. In 1215, William participated in the Second Lateran Council, there arguing the cause of Frederick against Otto. He travelled many subsequent times into Germany to speak to Frederick and during these absences, his enemies plotted against him. In their attempts to seize his lands, however, they were largely unsuccessful.

During his times in Italy, William remained at war with Asti and Alessandria, but without result.

Claims in Greece

Following his father's death in 1207, his conquests in Greece, formed into the Kingdom of Thessalonica, passed into the hands of William's half-brother Demetrius. The succession was opposed by the Lombard nobles of the kingdom, led by the regent Oberto II of Biandrate, who preferred the crown to pass to William. William himself was reluctant to claim the throne, and with the support of Latin Emperor Henry of Flanders, the rebellion of the Lombard barons was overcome, and Demetrius was crowned king.

During the exhausting years battling rebels and Guelphs, William at last resolved to travel to Greece to defend the conquests of his father. To this end he was urged by the churchmen of his realm and also by the troubadour Elias Cairel. When he finally decided to take the cross, aware of the insignificance of his contribution to the total effort, he decided to head by way of Egypt, at the suggestion of Pope Honorius III. But the arrival of Demetrius, fleeing the onslaught of the Greeks under Theodore Komnenos Doukas and the hostility of the Lombard barons, led by Biandrate, convinced him to go to Greece.

Several times he prepared to head out, but each time was detained by the threats of his enemies in Piedmont or by economic restraints which compelled him to mortgage his marquisate to Frederick II. Finally, he cowed some cities into giving him aid in men. Nevertheless, he was present at Capua, Ferentino, and Sora with Frederick II in February 1223. Delayed again and again, he drank a toast at Brindisi to his setting off in 1225, but he fell ill at the last minute. His fleet remained in port until Spring 1226, when, under urging from Honorius, it finally cast off. The delays had been fatal and William himself died at Almyros on 17 September. The rest of his army was hit by a dysentery epidemic and melted away.

Marriages and children

On 9 August 1202 William married Berta (1182–1224), daughter of the Marquess Bonifacio di Clavesana, Count of Cortemiglia. They had at least three children:

• Boniface II, Marquess of Montferrat (born ca 1203, date of death unknown).
• Beatrice (ca 1210–1274), Lady of Saint-Bonnet in her own right. She married three times:
  • On 15 November 1219, Guigues VI of Viennois
  • In 1252, Guy II, Lord of Bauge
  • Pierre de la Roue
• Alix (ca. 1215–1232), married in May 1229 Henry I of Lusignan, King of Cyprus.
• Oddone di Monferrato (died 1251), who became Bishop of Porto, and Cardinal in 1227, may have been a son of William VI; whether he was legitimate or not is uncertain.

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- http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/MONFERRATO,%20SALUZZO,%20SAVONA.htm...

GUGLIELMO di Monferrato, son of BONIFAZIO Marchese di Monferrato & his first wife Elena di Bosco (-Thessaly 17 Sep 1225). A charter dated 13 Jun 1199 records an agreement between the communes of Alessandria, Asti and Vercelli and "dominum Bonifacium marchionem Montisferrati et Gulielmum filius eius"[186]. The Cronica of Sicardi Bishop of Cremona names "Wilielmus in Ytalia et Demetrius aput Tessalonicam" as sons and successors of "Bonifacius marchio Montis-ferrati"[187]. The Chronica Jacobi de Aquis, dated to 1334, names "Conrado et Gulielmo" as the sons of "Bonifacio" and his first wife[188]. He succeeded his father as GUGLIELMO VI Marchese di Monferrato. "Domini Guillelmi marchionis Montisferrati" granted property to "filiorum condam domini Alberti Hencise marchionis…domini Guillelmi, Raimundi et Jacobi, et Henrici eorum nepotis" by charter dated 24 Jan 1204[189]. This charter shows that Guglielmo adopted the title Marchese before his father´s death, presumably due to his absence in Greece. He arrived in Greece in 1225 to help his half-brother reconquer the kingdom of Thessaloniki, but before reaching the city he died from fever[190] although it was said that he had been poisoned[191]. The Ryccardus de Sancti Germano Chronica records the death in Sep 1225 of "marchio Montisferrati in Romania naturali morte"[192].

m firstly (1187) SOPHIE von Staufen, daughter of Emperor FRIEDRICH I "Barbarossa" & his second wife Béatrix de Bourgogne-Comté (-[1187/88]). The primary source which confirms her parentage and marriage has not yet been identified.

m secondly (before 9 Aug 1202) BERTA di Clavesana heiress of Mambarasco e Cortemiglia, daughter of BONIFAZIO Marchese di Clavesana & his wife ---. Her parentage and marriage are confirmed by the charter dated 9 Aug 1202 which records that Bonifazio Marchese di Monferrato promised "Guilelmo filio suo" to ratify the peace agreement with Alexandria and Asti and with "socero suo domino Bonefacio de Cravexana…"[193]. 1224.

• Marchese Guglielmo VI & his second wife had [six] children:
• Marchese Guglielmo VI had [two] illegitimate children by unknown mistresses:

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