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 River, Po and east of Turin. The March of Montferrat was created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the northwest o ...

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, Palaiologos dynasty, the last ruling family of the Byzantine Empire. The cadet bran ...

family. He was a son of Boniface III, Marquis of Montferrat and his third wife Maria of Serbia, daughter of

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. ...

, Despot of

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

and Angelina Arianiti, an Albanian princess.

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 in 1518. His mother was Anna d'Alençon (1492–1562). Boniface never married a ...

unexpectedly died in 1530 without an heir. As the last of his family and despite his poor health, John George had no option but 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 (19 April 1452 – 9 November 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 Ferdina ...

, 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 Frances ...

, who had married his niece

Margaret Paleologa Margaret Palaeologa (; 11 August 1510 – 28 December 1566), was the ruling Marquise regnant of Montferrat in her own right between 1533 and 1536. She was also Duchess of Mantua by marriage to Federico II, Duke of Mantua. Margaret acted as t ...

in 1531.

Descendants

John George had an illegitimate son, Flaminio, from whom the

Paleologo-Oriundi The Paleologo-Oriundi are an Italian family which dubiously claims descent from Flaminio Paleologo, an illegitimate son of John George, Marquis of Montferrat, John George Palaeologus, Marquis of Montferrat 1530–1533. John George's family, the Pal ...

line allegedly descends and is extant today.

Sources

Ancestry

References

1488 births 1533 deaths 16th-century Italian nobility Palaeologus-Montferrat dynasty Arianiti family Marquesses of Montferrat {{Italy-noble-stub