The Piedmontese marquesses who won crowns in the crusading world — Jerusalem, Thessalonica, and beyond.
The marquesses of Montferrat were one of the great feudal houses of north-western Italy, descended from the Aleramici and closely tied to the Holy Roman Empire. In the late twelfth century a generation of Montferrat brothers won fame and thrones across the crusading world.
Their imperial connections and military reputation made them natural leaders in the wars of the Latin East and the politics of Byzantium.
Conrad of Montferrat arrived in the Holy Land just after Hattin and organised the successful defence of Tyre, the last major city the Crusaders held. Marrying Isabella, heiress of Jerusalem, he was elected king during the Third Crusade — but was assassinated in 1192, days after his election, by the Nizari "Assassins".
His daughter Maria inherited the claim and, as queen, carried the crown of Jerusalem into her marriage with John of Brienne.
Conrad’s brother Boniface was chosen to lead the Fourth Crusade in 1202. When the crusade was diverted to sack Constantinople in 1204, Boniface carved out the Kingdom of Thessalonica in northern Greece, becoming one of the chief Latin rulers of the dismembered Byzantine Empire.
He was killed by the Bulgarians in 1207, but the Montferrat name remained entangled with the thrones of Greece and Jerusalem for generations.