John George of Monferrat (20 January 1488 – 30 April 1533) was the last
Marquis of Montferrat
The Marquises and Dukes of Montferrat were the rulers of a territory in Piedmont south of the Po and east of Turin called Montferrat. The March of Montferrat was created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the no ...
of the
Palaeologus-Montferrat
The House of Palaeologus-Montferrat or Palaiologos-Montferrat, or just Palaeologus or Paleologo, was an Italian noble family and a cadet branch of the Palaiologos dynasty, the last ruling family of the Byzantine Empire. The cadet branch was created ...
family.
He was son of
Boniface III, Marquis of Montferrat
Boniface III Palaeologus (10 August 1426 – 1494) was Marquis of Montferrat from 1483 until his death.
Biography
He was the son of marquis John Jacob and Joanna of Savoy. He succeeded his brother William VIII who had got involved in the War of ...
and his third wife
Maria of Serbia, daughter of prince
Stefan Branković
Stefan Branković ( sr-Cyrl, Стефан Бранковић; c. 1417 – 9 October 1476), also known in historiography as Stefan the Blind (Стефан Слепи), was briefly the despot (ruler) of the Serbian Despotate between 1458 and 1459, m ...
of
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
.
Reign
John George was
Bishop of Casale, when his nephew
Boniface IV, Marquis of Montferrat
Boniface IV Paleologo, Marquis of Montferrat (21 December 1512 – 6 June 1530) was an Italian nobleman. He succeeded his father William IX, Marquis of Montferrat from 1518. His mother was Anna d'Alençon
Anna may refer to:
People Surname and ...
unexpectedly died in 1530 without an heir.
As the last of his family and despite his poor health, John George had no option than to become the new Marquis. In a desperate attempt to produce an heir, he married the 41-year-old Julia, daughter of
Frederick IV of Naples
Frederick (April 19, 1452 – November 9, 1504), sometimes called Frederick IV or Frederick of Aragon, was the last King of Naples from the Neapolitan branch of the House of Trastámara, ruling from 1496 to 1501. He was the second son of Ferdinan ...
, on 21 April 1533. He died 9 days later.
After a Spanish occupation of 3 years, Montferrat came under
Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua
Federico II of Gonzaga (17 May 1500 – 28 August 1540) was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua (first as Marquis, later as Duke) from 1519 until his death. He was also Marquis of Montferrat from 1536.
Biography
Federico was son of Francesco ...
, who had married his niece
Margaret Paleologa
Margaret Palaeologa ( it, Margherita Paleologa; 11 August 1510 in Casale Monferrato – 28 December 1566 in Mantua), was the ruling Marquise regnant of Montferrat in her own right between 1533 and 1536. She was also Duchess of Mantua by marri ...
in 1531.
Descendants
John George had an illegitimate son,
Flaminio, from the
Paleologo-Oriundi
The Paleologo-Oriundi are an Italian family which claims descent from Flaminio Paleologo, illegitimate son of John George Palaeologus, Marquis of Montferrat 1530–1533. John George's family, the Palaeologus-Montferrat family descended from Theod ...
line descends and is extant today.
Sources
*
Ancestry
References
1488 births
1533 deaths
16th-century Italian nobility
Palaiologos dynasty
Marquesses of Montferrat
{{Italy-noble-stub