Palaeologus-Montferrat
Palaeologus-Montferrat Palaiologos, Paleologo | |
---|---|
Catholicism | |
Dissolution | 1566 |
Deposition | 1533 |
The House of Palaeologus-Montferrat or Palaiologos-Montferrat, or just Palaeologus or Paleologo, was an Italian noble family and a
The
At the time of their marriage, Yolande was second-in-line to the throne of Montferrat, and when her brother,
Although the Montferrat Palaiologoi continued to use typical Greek names, such as Theodore or Sophia, from time to time, and a handful of marquises had Byzantine aspirations, they tended to pay relatively little attention to events and affairs in the eastern Mediterranean. The imperial branch of the Palaiologos family were displaced in 1453 through the Fall of Constantinople, but the Montferrat cadet branch continued to rule Montferrat for almost another century after that, being replaced by the House of Gonzaga in 1533 after the death of the last male member of the house, John George Palaeologus. The last female member, Margaret Paleologa, died in 1566, rendering the house extinct. Their descendants are still alive today through matrilineal descent in several Italian noble houses, such as the House of Savoy.
History
Background
The ruling house of
In 1284,
In his marriage negotiations with William VII, Andronikos paid William 6,000 livres génois, amounting to the revenue Andronikos and his father, Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos (r. 1259–1282), had received from "the Kingdom of Thessalonica which belonged to the Marquis". Furthermore, Andronikos pledged 500 soldiers, stationed in Lombardy throughout William's lifetime, to aid the Marquis in his wars against the Angevins. The marriage between Andronikos and Irene had the unexpected result of giving the Byzantine imperial family the possibility of inheriting the throne of Montferrat.[3]
Foundation
In January 1305, John I of Montferrat, Irene's brother, died without children. John's will specified that in the absence of heirs of his own, Montferrat should go to Irene and her sons. In March, envoys left Montferrat to ask Irene, or one of her sons, to travel to Italy and claim their inheritance.[3] After receiving the news, Irene and Andronikos clashed over which of their sons was to inherit Montferrat. The Emperor wanted to send their youngest son, Demetrios, but Irene preferred Theodore, who was older and from Thessalonica, and sent him instead.[4] Irene had initially preferred the couple's oldest son John, also preferred by the envoys on account of primogeniture and his older age, but this suggestion was blocked by both the Emperor and the Patriarch of Constantinople, Athanasius I, since sending John, third-in-line to the Byzantine throne, to the West was seen as jeopardizing their own line of succession.[5] Though the Byzantines in ages past would have welcomed the opportunity to send a member of the imperial family to establish a foothold in Italy, the Byzantines of the 14th century recognized that it was the Italians that would profit from a connection with the imperial family, and not the other way around. The possibility that the Italians would launch an attack on the empire as a result of the Monferrat inheritance was entertained by the Patriarch, who opposed the entire affair.[6]
Theodore did not arrive in Italy until the late summer of 1306,
Byzantine fears that Theodore would become "Latinized" were quickly realized. Theodore converted to
'Latinization' and attitude towards Byzantium
Theodore founded the Palaeologus-Montferrat cadet branch of the Palaiologos dynasty,[12] fusing and subsuming the Aleramici lineage with a succession that derived from Byzantium and carried the name of the Palaiologan emperors.[8] Theodore's family ruled Monferrat until the 16th century. Although the Palaiologoi of Montferrat were Latinized, there still had some ties to their homeland; notably reflected in several of them being given typically Greek names, such as Theodore and Sophia. Additionally, they held strong ties to Genoa. Though the Byzantines had seen Argentina Spinola as a mere commoner, her family held significant political power in Genoa. Theodore II of Montferrat, Theodore I's grandson, even managed to take control of the city in 1409, ruling there until 1413.[12]
Theodore I's successor as Marquis of Montferrat, his son John II Palaeologus, attempted to take advantage of the Byzantine civil war of 1341–1347, between Andronikos II's great-grandson John V Palaiologos and John VI Kantakouzenos, in order to invade the empire and conquer Thessalonica. In his 1372 will, John II claimed that Andronikos II's deposition in 1328 by his grandson Andronikos III Palaiologos (John V's father) had been unlawful and thus disqualified Andronikos III and all his heirs from the legitimate line of succession to the throne of Byzantium. John II also pointed out that since Andronikos II had disinherited Andronikos III, John II was thus the rightful emperor as the only true heir to Andronikos II.[11] John II even petitioned the Papacy to recognize his claims to Thessalonica and to the empire, and to help him conquer them.[13] An expedition to "recover" these territories was never organized.[8] Although John II's claims were theoretically inherited by his descendants, none of the marquises seriously pursued a policy of taking over the Byzantine Empire, most of them paying little attention to affairs in the East.[14]
In 1420, Sophia of Montferrat, the great-granddaughter of Theodore I, was chosen by Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos and Pope Martin V to marry her distant relative, John VIII Palaiologos, then the heir to the Byzantine throne.[15] Manuel II agreed to this marriage not because they were related, but because Sophia held connections to Montferrat and Genoa, valuable allies, and because she had been suggested by the Pope. Pope Martin V himself might have been interested in securing the allegiance of Montferrat by suggesting an imperial marriage.[16] Their marriage was not a happy one, on account of John VIII finding Sophia unattractive,[17] and Sophia left John VIII in 1426, returning to Italy. John remarried in the following year.[18]
Extinction and descendants
The Palaeologus-Montferrat family repeatedly intermarried with the powerful
Federico II Gonzaga, who had succeeded the Palaeologus-Montferrat family in 1533, was connected to the family by marriage, being the husband of Margaret Paleologa, niece of John George. Federico had married Margaret on 3 October 1531 with the explicit goal of acquiring Montferrat.[21] With Margaret's death in 1566, the Palaeologus-Montferrat family became extinct. Her and Federico II's descendants, with the Gonzaga name, ruled Montferrat until they were supplanted by the House of Savoy.[20]
The name "Montferrato-Paleologo" is recorded on the Greek island of Cephalonia until the 17th century, though the relations of these Montferrato-Paleologo to the branch ruling in Montferrat are unclear.[22] According to Mallat (2007), descendants of this family survived on Cephalonia until modern times.[23] A family of Paleologo in Taranto, relatives of the Paleologo in Cephalonia, also survived into the 17th century.[23]
Though the Palaeologus-Montferrat family went extinct with the death of Margaret Paleologa, claims of male-line descent have been forwarded in modern times, particularly claims of descent from Flaminio, an illegitimate son of John George.[24] According to some genealogies, Flaminio left extensive lineages of descendants, such as the Paleologo-Oriundi family, which claims descent from Teodoro, son of Flaminio.[24][25][26][27] The veracity of such lines of descent is disputed.[28] Even if descent was proven, descendants of Flaminio would not be considered true members of the Palaeologus-Montferrat family, or the Palaiologos dynasty itself, on account of descent through an illegitimate son.[25]
Family tree
In order to conserve space, the family tree only displays people of male-line descent who survived until adulthood. Marquises are indicated with bold text and women are indicated with italics. Dotted lines indicate illegitimate children. The illegitimate children of William VIII and their descendants follow Mallat (2007).[29]
Palaiologos dynasty | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Theodore I c. 1290–1338 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Yolande 1318–1342 | John II 1321–1372 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Secondotto 1358/61–1378 | John III c. 1362–1381 | Theodore II 1364–1418 | William ?–1400 | Margaret 1364–1420 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John Jacob 1395–1445 | Sophia ?–1434 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
John IV 1413–1464 | Amadea 1418–1440 | Isabella c. 1419–1475 | William VIII 1422–1483 | Boniface III 1424–1494 | Theodoro 1425–1481 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Elena Margherita 1459–1496 | Sara 1462–1503 | Scipione 1463–1485 | Blanche 1472–1519 | Giovanna 1473–1490 | Lucrezia ?–1519 | Annibale ?–1523 | William IX 1486–1518 | Francesca ?–1561 | John George 1488–1533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Alessandro | Cesare ?–after 1563 | Maria 1509–1530 | Margaret 1510–1566 | Boniface IV 1512–1530 | Flaminio 1518–1571 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fabrizio | Pantasileia | Camilla | Angela | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The family tree below displays the lineage of the Paleologo in Taranto and the Montferrato-Paleologo in Cephalonia (Nicolo and his descendants), per Mallat (2007),[23] their relations to the main branch above are unclear.[22][23]
Giorgio fl. 1573 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cristoforo | Nicolo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fulvio 1577–? | Adriano 1578–? | Antonio 1579–? | Silvio 1581–? | Raffaele 1584–? | Giovanni Maria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Beatrice 1618–? | Ercole Agostino 1620–? | Francesco Antonio 1624–? | Matteo 1570–? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(Descendants) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
References
- ^ Laiou 1968, p. 387.
- ^ Laiou 1968, pp. 387–388.
- ^ a b Laiou 1968, p. 390.
- ^ Laiou 1968, p. 391.
- ^ Laiou 1968, p. 392.
- ^ Laiou 1968, p. 393.
- ^ a b Laiou 1968, p. 395.
- ^ a b c d Barker 2017, p. 167.
- ^ Laiou 1968, p. 386.
- ^ Laiou 1968, p. 400.
- ^ a b Laiou 1968, p. 402.
- ^ a b Dąbrowska 1996, p. 180.
- ^ Laiou 1968, p. 403.
- ^ Barker 2017, p. 168.
- ^ Dąbrowska 1996, p. 181.
- ^ Dąbrowska 1996, p. 182.
- ^ Barker 2017, p. 172.
- ^ Dąbrowska 1996, pp. 189–190.
- ^ Barker 2017, p. 175.
- ^ a b Barker 2017, p. 176.
- ^ Fenlon 1980, p. 48.
- ^ a b Nicol 1992, p. 118.
- ^ a b c d Mallat 2007, p. 8–9.
- ^ a b Cassano 2017, pp. 3–9.
- ^ a b Mallat 1990, p. 60.
- ^ Hernández de la Fuente 2019, p. 252.
- ^ Mallat 2007, p. 5.
- ^ Bierbrier 1988, p. 76.
- ^ Mallat 2007, p. 7–8.
Cited bibliography
- Barker, John W. (2017). "Crusading and Matrimony in the Dynastic Policies of Montferrat and Savoy" (PDF). Byzantion Nea Hellás. 36 (36): 157–183. .
- Bierbrier, M. L. (1988). "The Paleologus Family: Fact and Fiction". The Genealogist: 74–77.
- Cassano, Gian Paolo (July 2017). "Organo di informazione del Circolo Culturale "I Marchesi del Monferrato" "in attesa di registrazione in Tribunale"" (PDF). Bollettino del Marchesato. 3 (16). Cassa di Risparmio di Alessandria: 3–9.
- Dąbrowska, Malgorzata (1996). "Sophia of Montferrat, or The History of One Face" (PDF). Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. 56: 177–194.
- Fenlon, Iain (1980). Music and Patronage in Sixteenth-Century Mantua. Vol. 1. Cambridge University Press. OCLC 5832030.
- Hernández de la Fuente, David (2019). "El fin de Constantinopla y las supuestas herencias nobiliarias bizantinas". In Barrios, F.; Alvarado, J. (eds.). Aires de grandeza: Hidalgos presuntos y Nobles de fantasía (in Spanish). Madrid: Dykinson. pp. 245–262. ISBN 978-84-1324-092-3.
- JSTOR 44169311.
- Mallat, Peter (1990). "The Palaiologos Family After 1453: The Destiny of an Imperial Family". Macedonian Studies. 7: 55–64.
- Mallat, Peter (2007). "I Paleologi di Monferrato dopo il 1533" (PDF). Bollettino del Marchesato. 3/4 (16): 4–9.
- ISBN 978-0-511-58369-8.