Azalaïs of Montferrat (also Adelasia or Alasia) (1150–1232) was marchioness consort of

Saluzzo Saluzzo (; pms, Salusse ) is a town and former principality in the province of Cuneo, in the Piedmont region, Italy. The city of Saluzzo is built on a hill overlooking a vast, well-cultivated plain. Iron, lead, silver, marble, slate etc. are fo ...

, and regent for her grandson, Manfred III from 1212 to 1218.

Biography

Azalaïs was one of at least three daughters of

William V of Montferrat William V of Montferrat (occ./piem. ''Guilhem'', it. ''Guglielmo'') ( 1115 – 1191) also known regnally as William III of Montferrat while also referred to as William the Old or William the Elder, in order to distinguish him from his eldest s ...

and his wife

Judith of Babenberg Judith (or Jutta, sometimes called ''Julitta'' or ''Ita'' in Latin sources; c. 1115/1120 – after 1168), a member of the House of Babenberg, was Marchioness of Montferrat from 1135 until her death, by her marriage with Marquess William V. ...

. Her brothers included

William of Montferrat, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon William of Montferrat (early 1140s – 1177), also called William Longsword (modern Italian ''Guglielmo Lungaspada''; original Occitan ''Guilhem Longa-Espia''), was the Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, the eldest son of William V, Marquess of Montferr ...

, Conrad I of Jerusalem, and

Boniface of Montferrat Boniface I, usually known as Boniface of Montferrat ( it, Bonifacio del Monferrato, link=no; el, Βονιφάτιος Μομφερρατικός, ''Vonifatios Momferratikos'') (c. 1150 – 4 September 1207), was the ninth Marquis of Montferrat ( ...

. She married Marquis

Manfred II of Saluzzo Manfred II (1140–1215) was the second marquess of Saluzzo from his father's death in 1175 to his own. He was the son of Manfred I and Eleanor. He placed the capital of the margravate definitively in Saluzzo. He married Azalaïs of Montferrat be ...

before 1182, in which year she received lands in Saluzzo, Racconigi, Villa, Centallo and Quaranta, in case her marriage (like that of her sister Agnes) should need to be annulled for reasons of sterility. Like her brother Boniface, Azalaïs was a patron of

troubadours A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female troubadour is usually called a ''trobairit ...

. She is mentione