William VIII Palaiologos (Italian: ''Guglielmo VIII Paleologo''; 19 July 1420 – 27 February 1483) was the

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 ...

from 1464 until his death. He was the second son of Marquis John Jacob, and inherited the Marquisate after the death of his elder brother John IV. He obtained, by Emperor Frederick III, the territories lost to

Savoy Savoy (; frp, Savouè ; french: Savoie ) is a cultural-historical region in the Western Alps. Situated on the cultural boundary between Occitania and Piedmont, the area extends from Lake Geneva in the north to the Dauphiné in the south. Savo ...

from 1435. William served as

condottiero ''Condottieri'' (; singular ''condottiero'' or ''condottiere'') were Italian captains in command of mercenary companies during the Middle Ages and of multinational armies during the early modern period. They notably served popes and other Europe ...

for

Francesco I Sforza Francesco I Sforza (; 23 July 1401 – 8 March 1466) was an Italian condottiero who founded the Sforza dynasty in the duchy of Milan, ruling as its (fourth) duke from 1450 until his death. In the 1420s, he participated in the War of L' ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and was later the

tutor TUTOR, also known as PLATO Author Language, is a programming language developed for use on the PLATO system at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign beginning in roughly 1965. TUTOR was initially designed by Paul Tenczar for use in co ...

of the latter's son, Galeazzo Maria. When the latter was assassinated, William acted as moderator in the

Duchy of Milan The Duchy of Milan ( it, Ducato di Milano; lmo, Ducaa de Milan) was a state in northern Italy, created in 1395 by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, then the lord of Milan, and a member of the important Visconti family, which had been ruling the city sin ...

. William married firstly, on 19 January 1465, Marie de Foix (d.1467), daughter of

Gaston IV, Count of Foix Gaston IV (27 November 1422 – 25 or 28 July 1472) was the sovereign Viscount of Béarn and the Count of Foix and Bigorre in France from 1436 to 1472. He also held the viscounties of Marsan, Castelbon, Nébouzan, Villemeur and Lautrec and was, b ...

; and secondly on 18 July 1469, Elizabetta Sforza (1456–1473), daughter of Francesco I Duke of Milan; and finally, on 6 January 1474, Bernarde de Brosse (d.17 February 1485). He had no legitimate son. By his second marriage, he had daughters: * Giovanna, married to Ludovico II del Vasto, Marquis of Saluzzo *

Blanche of Montferrat Blanche of Montferrat ( it, Bianca di Monferrato; 1472 – 30 March 1519) was Duchess of Savoy as the wife of Charles I of Savoy.Bianca di Monferrato, in Dizionario biografico degli italiani, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana. She acted as rege ...

, married to

Charles I Charles I may refer to: Kings and emperors * Charlemagne (742–814), numbered Charles I in the lists of Holy Roman Emperors and French kings * Charles I of Anjou (1226–1285), also king of Albania, Jerusalem, Naples and Sicily * Charles I of ...

, Duke of Savoy When William died in

Casale Monferrato Casale Monferrato () is a town in the Piedmont region of Italy, in the province of Alessandria. It is situated about east of Turin on the right bank of the Po, where the river runs at the foot of the Montferrat hills. Beyond the river lies the v ...

, he was succeeded by his brother

Boniface III Pope Boniface III ( la, Bonifatius III; died 12 November 607) was the bishop of Rome from 19 February 607 to his death. Despite his short pontificate, he made a significant contribution to the Catholic Church. Early career The son of John Cataa ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:William Viii, Marquis Of Montferrat 1420 births 1483 deaths 15th-century condottieri Palaiologos dynasty Marquesses of Montferrat