Boniface of Montferrat

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Boniface of Montferrat (c. 1150-1207) was Marquess of Montferrat and the leader of the Fourth Crusade. He was the third or fourth son of William III of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg, born after his father's return from the Second Crusade.

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 troubador 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 to Sardinia. Boniface arranged a marriage for her. When Alberto of Malaspina, abducted Saldina de Mar, a daughter of a prominent Genoese family, Boniface rescued her, since one of his sisters was Alberto's wife.

After 1183, with his father and (from 1187) his older brother Conrad in the East, Boniface was master in Montferrat, and engaged in military campaigns on behalf of his cousin Frederick I Barbarossa against the independent city communes of the Lombard League. In 1191, after Frederick's son Henry VI granted him the county of Incisa, a fifteen-year war broke out against the neighbouring communes of Asti and Alessandria. Boniface joined the Cremona League, while the two cities joined the League of Milan. Boniface defeated the cities at Montiglio in June that year, but the war as a whole went badly for the dynasty's interests. At Quarto, 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 tragic death of his brother Conrad, the newly elected King of Jerusalem, the previous year.

In June 1194, Boniface was appointed one of the leaders of Henry VI's expedition to Sicily. At Messina, 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 in Palermo. In October 1197, the truce with Asti ended. Boniface made an alliance with Acqui in June 1198. There were numerous skirmishes and raids, including at Ricaldone and Caranzano, but by 1199 it was clear the war was lost, and Boniface entered into negotiations.

Throughout the 1180s-90s, despite the wars, Boniface had nevertheless presided over one of the most prestigious courts of chivalric culture and troubador song. In 12C, the Piemontèis language (which in the present day reflects more French and Italian influences) was virtually indistinguishable from the Occitan of Southern France and Catalonia. Besides Vaqueiras, visitors included Peire Vidal, Gaucelm Faidit, and Arnaut de Mareuil. Boniface's patronage was celebrated widely. To Faidit, he was Mon Thesaur (My Treasure). Curiously, Vaqueiras addressed him as N'Engles (Lord Englishman), but the in-joke is never explained.

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-established in the east; his oldest brother William was the father of King Baldwin V of Jerusalem, and his brother Conrad had been the brother-in-law of Isaac II Angelus, and then briefly King of Jerusalem in the Third Crusade. His younger brother, Renier, had been a son-in-law of Manuel I Comnenus.

Boniface was a cousin of Philip of Swabia, who was married to Irene, a sister of the deposed Byzantine emperor Isaac II Angelus. After the Crusade was diverted to Zara, Boniface travelled to Swabia to meet with Philip, and while there also met with Alexius Angelus, Isaac II's son, who had escaped from the custody of his uncle Alexius III Angelus. 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. Both Boniface and Alexius travelled separately to Rome to ask for Pope 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. He 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 for Constantinople in 1203.

After the conquest of Constantinople in 1204, Boniface was assumed to be the new emperor, both by the western knights 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 the Kingdom of Thessalonica (where his brother Renier had held territory), and also held territory in Crete, though he later sold Crete to the Venetians.

He was first married around 1170 to Elena del Bosco. She died, leaving one son and 2 daughters:

  • William (Guglielmo), b. ca 1170. Marquess of Montferrat
  • Agnes, m. the Emperor Henry of Flanders in 1204, and died within three years.
  • Beatrice, m. Henry II del Carretto, marquess of Savona, as the second of his three wives; she is the Bel Cavalher (Fair Knight) of Vaqueiras's songs.

Some sources claim that in 1197, Boniface married Eleonora, a daughter of Umberto III, count of Savoie, Aosta and Moriana. If so, she died in 1202, leaving no known children. Usseglio is sceptical of this marriage having taken place: the evidence is thin.

In Constantinople he married a Hungarian princess, Margareta, daughter of Bela III of Hungary, who was the widow of Emperor Isaac II Angelus. They had one child:

  • Demetrius, b. ca, 1205. King of Thessalonica

Boniface was killed in an ambush by the Bulgarians on September 4, 1207, and his head was sent to Bulgarian Tsar Kaloyan. The loyal Vaqueiras, who had followed him to the East, probably died with him: it is significant that he composed no planh (lament) in his memory.

Sources

Preceded by:
Conrad 		Marquess of Montferrat
1192-1207 		Succeeded by:
William IV
Preceded by:
— 		King of Thessalonica
1205-1207 		Succeeded by:
Demetrius
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