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Birth:          ABT 1110 France
Death:          1191 

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_V,_Marquess_of_Montferrat
William V of Montferrat (occ./piem. Guilhem, it. Guglielmo) (c. 1115 – 1191) also 
known regnally as William III of Montferrat[1] while also referred to as William the Old 
or William the Elder,[1] in order to distinguish him from his eldest son, William 
Longsword, was marquess of Montferrat from c. 1136 to his death in 1191. William was 
the only son of marquess Renier I and his wife Gisela, a daughter of William I, Count 
of Burgundy and widow of Count Humbert II of Savoy. It seems likely, given that he 
was still fit enough to participate in battle in 1187, that William was one of his parents' 
youngest children.

He was described by Acerbo Morena as of medium height and compact build, with a 
round, somewhat ruddy face and hair so fair as to be almost white. He was eloquent, 
intelligent and good-humoured, generous but not extravagant. Dynastically, he was 
extremely well-connected: a nephew of Pope Callixtus II, a half-brother of Amadeus III 
of Savoy, a brother-in-law of Louis VI of France (through his half-sister Adelasia of 
Moriana), and cousin of Alfonso VII of Castile.
Dynastic marriage[edit]

William married Judith or Ita von Babenberg, daughter of Leopold III of Austria and 
Agnes of Germany, sometime before March 28, 1133. Judith was probably about 15 at 
the time. None of their surviving children seem to have been born before 1140 (there 
may have been older ones who died in infancy), and the youngest son was born in 
1162. She died after 1168. They had five sons, four of whom became prominent in the 
affairs of the Kingdom of Jerusalem and of Byzantium:
William Longsword, Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, father of Baldwin V of Jerusalem
Conrad, King of Jerusalem
Boniface, his successor to Montferrat and founder of the Kingdom of Thessalonica
Frederick, who entered the Church and became Bishop of Alba (dates uncertain).
Renier, married into the Byzantine imperial family

and three daughters:
Agnes, who married Count Guido Guerra III Guidi conte di Modigliana[2] The marriage 
was annulled on grounds of childlessness before 1180, when Guido remarried, and 
Agnes entered the convent of Santa Maria di Rocca delle Donne.
Adelasia or Azalaïs (d. 1232), who married Manfred II, marquess of Saluzzo, c. 1182, 
and was regent for her grandson Manfred III.
An unidentified daughter, who married Albert, marquess of Malaspina.

The vida of the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras claims that there was another 
daughter, Beatrice, who m. Henry I del Carretto, marquess of Savona, and that she is 
the Bel Cavalher (Fair Knight) of Vaqueiras's songs. However, the lyrics of Vaqueiras's 
songs (as opposed to the later vida) describe Beatrice as Boniface's daughter, and 
thus William's granddaughter.

Otto (Oddone of Montferrat, d. 1251), who became Bishop of Porto, and Cardinal in 
1227, has sometimes been identified as a son of William V, and confused with 
Frederick. However, his dates make it more likely that he was a son of William VI of 
Montferrat, whether legitimate or not is uncertain.

William and Judith's powerful dynastic connections created difficulties in finding 
suitable wives for his sons, however: too many potential spouses were related within 
prohibited degrees. In 1167, he unsuccessfully tried to negotiate marriages for his 
eldest sons to daughters of Henry II of England - but the girls were very young at the 
time and were related through Judith's descent from William V of Aquitaine. He then 
applied for sisters of William I of Scotland, who were not related, but were already 
married.

Alliances with the Western and Eastern Empires[edit]

William took part in the Second Crusade, alongside his half-brother Amadeus of Savoy 
(who died during the campaign), his nephew Louis VII of France, his brother-in-law 
Count Guido of Biandrate, and his wife's German and Austrian relatives.

As supporters of the imperial party (later known as the Ghibellines), he and his sons 
fought with the Emperor Frederick Barbarossa (Judith's nephew) in his lengthy struggle 
against the Lombard League. Following Barbarossa's capitulation with the Peace of 
Venice in 1177, William was left to deal with the rebellious towns in the area alone. 
Meanwhile, the Byzantine emperor Manuel I Komnenos sought support for his own 
politics in Italy.

William broke with Barbarossa and formed an alliance with Manuel. His eldest 
surviving son, Conrad, was taken prisoner by Barbarossa's Chancellor, Archbishop 
Christian of Mainz, but then captured the chancellor in battle at Camerino. In 1179 
Manuel suggested a marriage between his daughter Maria, second in line to the 
throne, and one of William's sons. As Conrad and Boniface were already married, the 
youngest son, Renier, was married off to the princess, who was ten years his senior. 
Renier and Maria were later killed during the usurpation of Andronikos, and the family 
rebuilt ties with Barbarossa.

Crusade in Outremer[edit]

In 1183, with the accession of his grandson Baldwin V, a minor, as co-King of 
Jerusalem, William, then probably in his late sixties, left the government of Montferrat 
to Conrad and Boniface, and returned to the east. He was granted the castle of St. 
Elias (present-day Taybeh). He fought in the Battle of Hattin in 1187, where he was 
captured by Saladin's forces. In the meantime, his second son, Conrad, had arrived at 
Tyre from Constantinople. Conrad was given the command of the defences. During the 
siege of Tyre in November that year, he is said to have refused to surrender as much 
as a stone of its walls to liberate his father, even threatening to shoot him with a 
crossbow himself when Saladin had him presented as a hostage. Eventually, Saladin 
withdrew his army from Tyre. In 1188, William was released unharmed at Tortosa, and 
seems to have ended his days in Tyre, with his son. He probably died in the summer of 
1191: Conrad last describes himself as "marchionis Montisferrati filius" in a charter of 
May that year.

Popular culture[edit]

William de Montferrat is an assassination target in the video game Assassin's Creed. In 
the game, de Montferrat is Liege Lord of Acre under King Richard and is portrayed as 
middle aged, rather than in his early eighties.

Parents
____ Rainer (ABT 1065 - May 1135)
DE BOURGOGNE Gisela (ABT 1073 - AFT 1133)

Siblings
DE MONTFERRAT Jeanne (ABT 1104 - )
____ Guillaume VI (IV) (ABT 1110 - 1191)

Marriage To OF BABENBERG Judith (Jutta) (ABT 1117 - AFT 18 Oct 1168)
    m. ABT 1133 

Notes

Parents
____ Leopold III "The Saint" (ABT 1087 - 15 Nov 1136)
OF FRANCONIA Agnes (ABT 1073 - 24 Sep 1143)

Children by OF BABENBERG Judith (Jutta) ABT 1117 - AFT 18 Oct 1168
DE MONTFERRAT Adelasia (Azalais) (Alice) (Adelheid) (ABT 1160 - AFT 22 Jul 1202)

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