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Marquisate of Monferrato

Margraviate of Montferrat
Marchesato del Monferrato
March of the Kingdom of Italy
State of the Holy Roman Empire
961 – 1574
Flag of Montferrat Coat of arms
The March of Montferrat (blue) in 1494
Capital Casale Monferrato
45°08′N 08°27′E / 45.133°N 8.450°E / 45.133; 8.450Coordinates: 45°08′N 08°27′E / 45.133°N 8.450°E / 45.133; 8.450
(from 1305)
Languages Italian
Government Monarchy
Marquess
 •  961-967 Aleramo (first)
 •  1550-1574 William X (last)
History
 •  Established 961
 •  End of Aleramici rule 1305
 •  Inherited by the
    House of Gonzaga
1536
 •  Raised to
    Duchy of Montferrat
1574
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Piedmont
Duchy of Montferrat

The March (also margraviate or marquisate) of Montferrat was a frontier march of the Kingdom of Italy during the Middle Ages and a state of the Holy Roman Empire. The margraviate was raised to become the Duchy of Montferrat in 1574.

Originally part of the March of Western Liguria (Marca Liguriae Occidentalis) established by King Berengar II about 950, the area of Montferrat was constituted as the marca Aleramica ("Aleramic march") for his son-in-law Aleramo. The earliest secure documentation of Aleramo and his immediate family is derived from the founding charter of the Abbey of Grazzano in 961. occasioned by the recent death of Aleramo's son Gugliemo.

After King Otto I of Germany had invaded Italy in 961 and displaced Berengar II, he began, in a manner much like his predecessors Berengar and Hugh of Arles, to redefine the great fiefs of Italy. He reorganised the northwest into three great marches. Western Liguria he restored to Aleramo, Eastern Liguria or the marca Januensis he gave to Oberto I, and Turin he made a march for Arduin Glaber.

Aleram's descendants were relatively obscure until the time of Marquess Rainier in the early twelfth century. About 1133 Rainier's son Marquess William V married Judith of Babenberg, a half-sister of King Conrad III of Germany, and so greatly increased his family's prestige. He entered into the Italian policies of Conrad and the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos, setting a Ghibelline precedent for his successors, and with his sons became involved in the Crusades.


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Wikipedia

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