Agnes of Montferrat ( 1187 – 1207/1208) was the first Empress consort of

Henry of Flanders Henry (c.1178 – 11 June 1216) was Latin emperor of Constantinople from 1205 until his death in 1216. He was one of the leaders of the Fourth Crusade in which the Byzantine Empire was conquered and Latin Empire formed. Life Henry was born i ...

Latin Emperor The Latin Emperor was the ruler of the Latin Empire, the historiographical convention for the Crusader realm, established in Constantinople after the Fourth Crusade (1204) and lasting until the city was recovered by the Byzantine Greeks in 126 ...

Constantinople la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه , alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya (Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis (" ...

Family

She was a daughter of

Boniface I, Marquess 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 ( ...

, founder of the

Kingdom of Thessalonica The Kingdom of Thessalonica () was a short-lived Crusader State founded after the Fourth Crusade over conquered Byzantine lands in Macedonia and Thessaly. History Background After the fall of Constantinople to the crusaders in 1204, Bonif ...

, and his first wife Helena del Bosco. Her maternal grandfather was Anselmo, Marquess of Bosco. She was a sister of

William VI, Marquess of Montferrat William VI (c. 1173 – 17 September 1225) was the tenth Marquis of Montferrat from 1203 and titular King of Thessalonica from 1207. Biography Youth Boniface I's eldest son, and his only son by his first wife, Helena del Bosco, William stood o ...

and Beatrice of Montferrat, wife of Henry II del Carretto, Marquess of Savona. She was also an older, paternal half-sister of

Demetrius of Montferrat Demetrius or Demetrios of Montferrat ( it, Demetrio di Monferrato; el, Δημήτριος Μομφερρατικός, ''Dēmētrios Momferratikos''; 1205–1230) was King of Thessalonica from 1207 to 1224. Life Demetrius was the son of Marqu ...

, King of Thessalonica.

Empress consort

According to Geoffrey of Villehardouin, Agnes was residing in

Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , ...

until her father summoned her to

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

in 1206. Boniface proceeded to send Otto de la Roche, or grand seignior of

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates a ...

, as his envoy to Henry, proposing a marriage between her and the emperor. Henry agreed to the offer.Geoffrey de Villehardouin, "Memoirs or Chronicle of The Fourth Crusade and The Conquest of Constantinople "
/ref> Boniface sent Agnes to

Abydos, Hellespont Abydos ( grc, Ἄβυδος, la, Abydus) was an ancient city and bishopric in Mysia. It was located at the Nara Burnu promontory on the Asian coast of the Hellespont (the straits of Dardanelles), opposite the ancient city of Sestos, and near th ...

Mysia Mysia (UK , US or ; el, Μυσία; lat, Mysia; tr, Misya) was a region in the northwest of ancient Asia Minor (Anatolia, Asian part of modern Turkey). It was located on the south coast of the Sea of Marmara. It was bounded by Bithynia on th ...

through a

galley A galley is a type of ship that is propelled mainly by oars. The galley is characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft, and low freeboard (clearance between sea and gunwale). Virtually all types of galleys had sails that could be u ...

. His messengers then reached Henry with information to her location. Geoffrey Villehardouin himself and Miles of Brabant were assigned to escort her. Villehardouin describes Agnes as "very good and fair". Agnes was escorted to Constantinople with no mentioned incident. On 4 February 1207, Agness married Henry of Flanders. According to Villehardouin, the marriage took place in

Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia ( 'Holy Wisdom'; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque ( tr, Ayasofya-i Kebir Cami-i Şerifi), is a mosque and major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The cathedral was originally built as a Greek Ortho ...

, Constantinople on the Sunday following Candemass. The wedding feast took place in

Boukoleon Palace The Palace of Boukoleon ( el, Βουκολέων) or Bucoleon was one of the Byzantine palaces in Constantinople (present-day Istanbul in Turkey.) The palace is located on the shore of the Sea of Marmara, to the south of the Hippodrome and ea ...

. According to the ''Dictionnaire historique et Généalogique des grandes familles de Grèce, d'Albanie et de Constantinople'' (1983) by Mihail-Dimitri Sturdza, the marriage was part of a new alliance between Boniface and Henry against

Kaloyan of Bulgaria Kaloyan or Kalojan, also known as Ioannitsa or Johannitsa ( bg, Калоян, Йоаница; 1170 – October 1207), was emperor or tsar of Bulgaria from 1196 to 1207. He was the younger brother of Theodor and Asen, who led the anti-Byzanti ...

. Villehardouin records that in about September, 1207, Henry informed his father-in-law of Agnes being pregnant. A source or rejoicing for both allies. The chronicle ends with the death of Boniface on 4 September 1207 and thus does not report of the conclusion of the pregnancy. As there seems to be no further mention of Agnes, the empress is considered to have died in childbirth, probably along with her child. In 1208, there is mention by Henri de Valenciennes of a daughter of Henry marrying Alexander, a nephew of

Peter IV of Bulgaria Peter II,), because they take into consideration two previous leaders of anti-Byzantine rebellions, Peter Delyan (who assumed the imperial title in 1040) and Constantine Bodin (who took the name Peter in 1072)., group=note born Theodor, also kn ...

Ivan Asen I of Bulgaria Ivan Asen I, also known as Asen I or John Asen I ( bg, Иван Асен I; died in 1196), was emperor or tsar of Bulgaria from 1187/1188 to 1196 as co-ruler with his elder brother, Peter II. Hailing from the Byzantine theme of Paristrion, his ...

and

. However, as a daughter of Agnes, said daughter would be a newborn, an unlikely age for marriage. She is therefore considered to have been an illegitimate child of Henry by a mistress.

References

External links

*
A genealogical profile of her
{{DEFAULTSORT:Agnes of Montferrat 1180s births 1200s deaths Deaths in childbirth Latin Empresses of Constantinople Aleramici House of Hainaut 12th-century Italian women 13th-century Italian women