- Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat
Boniface of Montferrat ( _it. Bonifacio del Monferrato; _el. Βονιφάτιος Μομφερρατικός, "Vonifatios Momferratikos"), (c. 1150 – 1207) was
Marquess of Montferrat and the leader of theFourth Crusade . He was the third son of William V of Montferrat andJudith of Babenberg , born after his father's return from theSecond Crusade . He was a younger brother of William 'Longsword', Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, and of Conrad I of Jerusalem.Boniface in Italy
Boniface's youthful exploits in the late 1170s are recalled in the famous "Epic Letter", "Valen marques, senher de Monferrat", by his good friend and court troubadour
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras . These included the rescue of the heiress Jacopina of Ventimiglia from her uncle Count Otto, who was intending to deprive her of her inheritance and send her toSardinia . Boniface arranged a marriage for her. WhenAlbert of Malaspina (husband of one of Boniface's sisters) abducted Saldina de Mar, a daughter of a prominent Genoese family, Boniface rescued her and restored her to her lover, Ponset d'Aguilar. Like the rest of the family, he also supported his cousin Frederick I Barbarossa in their wars against the independent city communes of theLombard League .Boniface's eldest brother, William, had died in 1177, soon after marrying Princess Sibylla, the heiress to the
Kingdom of Jerusalem . In 1179, theByzantine emperor Manuel I Comnenus offered his daughter Maria the Porphyrogenita as a bride to one of the sons of William V. Since Boniface, like his older brother Conrad, was already married, and Frederick was a priest, the youngest brother, Renier, married her instead, only to be murdered along with her during the usurpation of Andronicus.In 1183, Boniface's nephew Baldwin V was crowned co-king of Jerusalem. William V went out to the Latin Kingdom to support his grandson, leaving Conrad and Boniface in charge of Montferrat. However, in 1187, Conrad also left for the East:
Isaac II Angelus had offered his sister Theodora to Boniface as a wife, to renew the family's Byzantine alliance, but Boniface had just married for the second time, while Conrad was a recent widower.In 1189, Boniface joined the council of regency for
Thomas I of Savoy , son of his cousin Humbert III, until the boy came of age about two years later. In 1191, after the new Emperor Henry VI granted him the county ofIncisa , a fifteen-year war broke out against the neighbouring communes ofAsti andAlessandria . Boniface joined theCremona League, while the two cities joined the League ofMilan . Boniface defeated the cities atMontiglio in June that year, but the war as a whole went badly for the dynasty's interests. AtQuarto , he and Vaqueiras saved his brother-in-law Alberto of Malaspina when he was unhorsed. The first phase of the war ended with a truce in April 1193. By now, Boniface was Marquess of Montferrat, following the deaths of his father in 1191 and of Conrad, the newly elected King of Jerusalem, in 1192. (No claim to Montferrat ever seems to have been made on behalf of Conrad's posthumous daughter Maria.)In June 1194, Boniface was appointed one of the leaders of Henry VI's expedition to
Sicily . AtMessina , amid the fighting between the Genoese and Pisan fleets, Vaqueiras protected his lord with his own shield - an act which helped the troubador win a knighthood from Boniface that year, after the campaign's successful conclusion: Henry's coronation inPalermo . In October 1197, the truce with Asti ended. Boniface made an alliance withAcqui in June 1198. There were numerous skirmishes and raids, including atRicaldone andCaranzano , but by 1199 it was clear the war was lost, and Boniface entered into negotiations.Throughout the 1180s and 1190s, despite the wars, Boniface had nevertheless presided over one of the most prestigious courts of chivalric culture and troubador song. In the 12th century, the Piemontèis language (which in the present day reflects more French and Italian influences) was virtually indistinguishable from the
Occitan of SouthernFrance andCatalonia . Besides Vaqueiras, visitors includedPeire Vidal ,Gaucelm Faidit , andArnaut de Mareuil . Boniface's patronage was celebrated widely. To Gaucelm, he was "Mon Thesaur" ("My Treasure"). Curiously, Vaqueiras sometimes addressed him as "N'Engles" ("Lord Englishman"), but the in-joke is never explained. His sister Azalaïs, Marchioness ofSaluzzo , also shared this interest and was mentioned by Vidal.The Fourth Crusade
When the original leader of the Fourth Crusade, Count
Theobald III of Champagne , died in 1201, Boniface was chosen as its new leader. He was an experienced soldier, and it was an opportunity to reassert his dynasty's reputation after defeat at home. Boniface's family was well-known in the east: his nephew Baldwin and brother Conrad had been Kings of Jerusalem, and his niece Maria was heiress of the kingdom.Boniface's cousin
Philip of Swabia was married toIrene Angelina , a daughter of the deposed Byzantine emperorIsaac II Angelus and niece of Conrad's second wife Theodora. In the winter of 1201 Boniface spent Christmas with Phillip in Hagenau, and while there also met with Alexius Angelus, Isaac II's son, who had escaped from the custody of his uncleAlexius III Angelus . At this time the three discussed the possibility of using the crusading army to restore Alexius' right to the throne. Both Boniface and Alexius travelled separately to Rome to ask forPope Innocent III 's blessing for the endeavour; however, Boniface was specifically told by Innocent not to attack any Christians, including the Byzantines.The Crusader army was in debt to the doge of Venice, who had provided their fleet. He instructed them to attack the rebellious cities of Trieste, Moglie, and Zara and beat them into submission before sailing for Cairo. The Pope was angered by these Christian cities being attacked by a Crusader army. The doge,
Enrico Dandolo , was now the true war leader of this Crusade, with Boniface as only a figurehead. Alexius Angelus made many promises to the Crusaders and their principal financer, the doge of Venice, for riches and honors if they would help him reclaim his kingdom. Dandolo placated the Pope by having Alexius Angelus promise to submit the Orthodox Church to Rome when he was restored to his throne in Constantinople. This being done, the fleet set sail forConstantinople in 1203.After the conquest of Constantinople in 1204, Boniface was assumed to be the new emperor, both by the western
knight s and the conquered Byzantine citizens. However, the Venetians vetoed him, believing that he already had too many connections in the Empire (and, likely, felt that they would not have as much influence in the new Empire if Boniface was in control). Instead, they chose Baldwin of Flanders. Boniface founded theKingdom of Thessalonica and also held territory inCrete , though he later sold Crete to the Venetians. Late 13th and 14th century sources suggest that Boniface based his claim to Thessalonica on the statement that his younger brother Renier had been granted Thessalonica on his marriage to Maria Komnene in 1180. [E.g.Salimbene de Adam , "Chronicle", 1966 edition vol. 2 p. 790. Cf. Harv|Runciman|1951-1954|loc=vol. 3 p. 125, and for full discussion Harv|Haberstumpf|1995|p=56-67.]Family and death
Boniface was first married c. 1170 to Helena del Bosco. They had three children:
* William VI, b. c. 1173. Marquess of Montferrat.
* Beatrice, m.Henry II del Carretto , marquess ofSavona , as the second of his three wives; she is the "Bel Cavalher" ("Fair Knight") of Vaqueiras's songs, composed in the 1190s.
*Agnes of Montferrat (d. 1207), m. the EmperorHenry of Flanders in 1207.According to
Nicetas Choniates , Boniface had remarried in late 1186-early 1187. This bride was possiblyJeanne de Châtillon-sur-Loing , daughter of Raynald de Châtillon-sur-Loing and his first wife PrincessConstance of Antioch . The "Lignages d'Outremer" name "Maria e Joanna" as the two daughters of "Rinaldo de Castellion" and his wife "Costanza…la Nova Princessa", stating that Marie (presumably being an error for Agnes) married "el re d'Ungaria" and Jeanne married "el re de Salonichio". This is the only reference so far found to this daughter but, if it is correct, "el re de Salonichio" can only refer to Boniface. Jeanne would have been the maternal aunt of Boniface's last wife; apparently, the marriage was childless or, if they had children, none survive to adulthood. [ [http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/CHAMPAGNE%20NOBILITY.htm#JeanneChatillonMBonifazioMonferrato Champagne Nobility ] ]Some sources claim that in 1197, Boniface married Eleonora, a daughter of his cousin
Humbert III of Savoy . If so, she died in 1202, leaving no known children. Usseglio is sceptical of this marriage having taken place: the evidence is thin, and there would have been questions of consanguinity. It is notable that Vaqueiras, in his songs of the 1190s, addressed Beatrice, but neither he nor any other troubadour working at the court in this period dedicated any songs to a wife of Boniface, which suggests he was a long-term widower.In 1204 in
Constantinople he married the Dowager EmpressMargaret of Hungary , daughter of KingBela III of Hungary . Margaret was the widow of EmperorIsaac II Angelus . They had one child:
* Demetrius, b. c. 1205, King of ThessalonicaBoniface was killed in an ambush by the
Bulgarians onSeptember 4 ,1207 , and his head was sent to BulgarianTsar Kaloyan. The loyalRaimbaut de Vaqueiras , who had followed him to the East, probably died with him: it is significant that he composed no "planh " (lament) in his memory.Notes
ources
*cite book|last=Linskill|first=Joseph|title=The Poems of the Troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras|year=1964
*cite book|last=Magoulias|firsT=Harry J. (transl.)|title=O City of Byzantium, Annals of Niketas Choniates|year=1984|id=ISBN 0-8143-1764-2
* [http://www.trobar.org/troubadours/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras_epic_letter.php Vaqueiras, Raimbaut de. "The Epic Letter"] (external link to bilingual text)
*cite book|last=Villehardouin|first=Geoffrey de|chapter=The Conquest of Constantinople|title=Chronicles of the Crusades|year=1963id=ISBN 0-14-044124-7Bibliography
*cite book|last=Brand|first=Charles M.|title=Byzantium Confronts the West|year=1968|id=ISBN 0-7512-0053-0
*cite book|last=Cognasso|first=Francesco|title=Il Piemonte nell’Età Sveva|year=1968|location=Turin
*cite book|last=Goria|first=Axel|chapter=Bonifacio di Monferrato|title=Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, vol. XII|location=Rome|year=1970|pages=118-124 [http://www.marchesimonferrato.com/Bonifacio%20I.htm
*Harvard reference | Surname=Haberstumpf | Given=Walter | Title=Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale. I Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII–XV | Place=Torino | Year=1995 | URL=http://centri.univr.it/RM/biblioteca/scaffale/volumi.htm#Walter%20Haberstumpf
*cite book|year=1999|last=Queller|first=Donald E.|coauthors=Thomas F. Madden |title=The Fourth Crusade: The Conquest of Constantinople'|id=ISBN 0-8122-1713-6
*Harvard reference | Surname=Runciman | Given=Steven | Title=A history of the Crusades | Publisher=Cambridge University Press | Place=Cambridge | Year=1951-1954
*cite book|last=Usseglio|first=Leopoldo|title=I Marchesi di Monferrato in Italia ed in Oriente durante i secoli XII e XIII|year=1926
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