John II Palaeologus (5 February 1321 – 19 March 1372)''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', vol.LVI, Roma 2000, pp. 123-129.
/ref> was the Margrave of Montferrat from 1338.

Career

John was the son of

Theodore I of Montferrat Theodore I Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Θεόδωρος Παλαιολόγος, full name: ''Theodoros Komnenos Doukas Angelos Palaiologos'') ( – 24 April 1338) was Marquis of Montferrat from 1306 until his death. Life Theodore was a son ...

, with whom he was associated in the government from 1336. He had great fortune in extending the boundaries of the margraviate against his neighbours. With the help of his cousin Otto of Brunswick-Grubenhagen, John turned against the Angevins of Naples, who had large possessions in

Piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

and

Savoy Savoy (; )  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 and west and to the Aosta Vall ...

. In 1338 at the age of 17, he succeeded his father as the ruler of Montferrat. In 1343, when

Robert, King of Naples Robert of Anjou (), known as Robert the Wise (; 1276 – 20 January 1343), was King of Naples, titular King of Jerusalem and Count of Provence and Forcalquier from 1309 to 1343, the central figure of Italian politics of his time. He was the thir ...

died and his young granddaughter Joanna I took the crown, John took the opportunity to expand his control in northern Italy. By 1344, he had conquered Alessandria, Asti, Tortona, Bra and Alba. On 22 April 1345, at the

Battle of Gamenario The Battle of Gamenario, fought on 22 April 1345, was a decisive battle of the wars between the Guelphs (represented by the Angevins) and Ghibellines ( Lombard communes). It took place in north-west Italy in what is now part of the commune of ...

, he defeated the Angevine vicar Reforza d'Angoult, who died in the battle. With the tacit support of

Luchino Visconti Luchino Visconti di Modrone, Count of Lonate Pozzolo (; 2 November 1906 – 17 March 1976) was an Italian filmmaker, theatre and opera director, and screenwriter. He was one of the fathers of Italian neorealism, cinematic neorealism, but later ...

, John occupied

Alba ''Alba'' ( , ) is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland. It is also, in English-language historiography, used to refer to the polity of Picts and Scots united in the ninth century as the Kingdom of Alba, until it developed into the Kingd ...

Bra A bra, short for brassiere or brassière (, ; ), is a type of form-fitting underwear that is primarily used to support and cover a woman's breasts. A typical bra consists of a chest band that wraps around the torso, supporting two breast cups ...

Valenza Valenza ( or ''Valensá'') is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Alessandria in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about north of Alessandria, in the extreme Montferrat’s offshoots, in the Lombardy’s ...

and, in 1348,

Cuneo Cuneo (; ; ; ) is a city and in Piedmont, Italy, the capital of the province of Cuneo, the fourth largest of Italy’s provinces by area. It is located at 550 metres (1,804 ft) in the south-west of Piedmont, at the confluence of the ri ...

. His power grew in 1355 when he accompanied the

Emperor Charles IV Charles IV (; ; ; 14 May 1316 – 29 November 1378''Karl IV''. In: (1960): ''Geschichte in Gestalten'' (''History in figures''), vol. 2: ''F–K''. 38, Frankfurt 1963, p. 294), also known as Charles of Luxembourg, born Wenceslaus (, ), was H ...

through

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. At that time he received the cities of

Cherasco Cherasco is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about southeast of Turin and about northeast of Cuneo. As of 1-1-2017, it had a population of 9096 and an area of .All demographics and ot ...

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

and

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

. A year later John was even successful in taking

Asti Asti ( , ; ; ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) of 74,348 inhabitants (1–1–2021) located in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, about east of Turin, in the plain of the Tanaro, Tanaro River. It is the capital of the province of Asti and ...

from the Visconti. By a marriage to the last titular Queen of Majorca, Isabella, he lost the support of the emperor and had to fend off attacks from imperial and Visconti troops. This conflict concluded with restitution of territory around Pavia occupied by John to the Visconti in exchange for Visconti possessions in the area of Asti. John lost many vassals to the Visconti. In his will of 1372, John left the tutelage of his children to Otto of Brunswick and

Amadeus VI of Savoy Amadeus VI (4 January 1334 – 1 March 1383), nicknamed the Green Count () was Count of Savoy from 1343 to 1383. He was the eldest son of Aymon, Count of Savoy, and Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat. Though he began his rule under a regency, ...

. He had four sons, three of whom succeeded him in turn, and a daughter with his wife Isabella ( Secondotto, John III, Theodore II,

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

and William). John died at

Volpiano Volpiano is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Italian region Piedmont. The city is located about 15 km north-east of Turin. Economy It is an industrial (fuel, transportation, electronic, for example ) an ...

near Turin soon after composing his testament and was buried at

Chivasso Chivasso (; ) is a communes of Italy, comune in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Italy, Italian region of Piedmont, located about northeast of Turin. Chivasso has a population of about 27,000. It is situated on the :wikt:left bank, left bank ...

References

Sources

* * * , - {{Authority control 1321 births 1372 deaths 14th-century Italian nobility

John 2 John 2 is the second chapter of the Gospel of John in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It contains the famous stories of the miracle of Jesus turning water into wine and Jesus expelling the money changers from the Temple. The author of ...

Volpiano