Casale monferrato, gian giorgio paleologo marchese, oro, 1530-1533

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 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 ...

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 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