Theodore I, Marquis of Montferrat

Theodore I Palaiologos or Palaeologus (Greek: Θεόδωρος Παλαιολόγος, full name: Theodoros Komnenos Doukas Angelos Palaiologos) (c. 1290 – 24 April 1338) was Marquis of Montferrat from 1306 until his death.

Theodore I, Marquis of Montferrat
Marquis of Montferrat
Reign1306–1338
PredecessorJohn I Aleramici
SuccessorJohn II Palaiologos
Bornc. 1290
Constantinople
(modern-day Istanbul, Turkey)
Died(1338-04-24)24 April 1338
Trino, Italy
Noble familyPalaeologus-Montferrat
Spouse(s)Argentina Spinola
IssueJohn II, Marquis of Montferrat
Yolande Palaeologina of Montferrat
FatherAndronikos II Palaiologos
MotherIrene of Montferrat

Life

He was a son of Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos and Irene of Montferrat.[1] When his uncle John I died in 1305, the male line of the Aleramici Marquises of Montferrat became extinct. The March of Montferrat was passed to Irene's children. Patriarch Athanasius I of Constantinople blocked the candidacy of the elder son John, so Theodore went to Italy instead.

Theodore sailed to Genoa in 1306. In 1307 he married Argentina Spinola,[2] daughter of Genoese magnate Opicino Spinola, Capitano del Popolo (co-ruler) of the Republic of Genoa. Spinola used his wealth to back Theodore's claim to Montferrat.

Theodore was opposed by Manfred IV of Saluzzo. Manfred was a cadet of the House of Savoy, and several Marquises of Montferrat had Savoyard wives.[3] King Charles II of Naples also claimed parts of the March. He gradually overcame these foes and secured the whole March. In 1310 he received the imperial investiture from Emperor Henry VII.

Theodore died in Trino Vercellese in 1338. He was succeeded by his son John II Palaiologos.

Marriage and issue

Theodore and Argentina had:

Writings

Theodore is known to have authored an original military manual, titled Les Enseignemens ou Ordenances pour un Siegneur qui a Guerres et Grans Gouvernemens a Faire, often referred to as Les enseignements. Originally composed in Greek in 1326-1327 while Theodore was in Constantinople, it exists now only in the medieval French translation of Jean de Vignay. The work is one of the most interesting medieval military manuals in that it is not dependent on Vegetius' De Re Militari or any other known classical text. It thus serves as an example of the military thinking of the late Byzantine and Medieval worlds.[5]

Ancestors

The French translation of Les enseignements

References
  1. Nicol, Donald M. (1994). The Byzantine Lady: Ten Portraits, 1250–1500. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 49. ISBN 0-521-45531-6.
  2. C. W. Previté-Orton, The Shorter Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. 2, (Cambridge University Press, 1978), 733.
  3. F. Gabotto, Gli Ultimi principi d'Acaia e la politica subalpina 1883
  4. Valsecchi 2018, p. 458.
  5. John R.E. Bliese, 'Rhetoric Goes to War: The Doctrine of Ancient and Medieval Military Manuals', Rhetoric Society Quarterly, Vol 24, No. 3/4, 1994, p. 116-117.

Sources
  • Valsecchi, Chiara (2018). "Consilia and Dynastic Successions in Modern Europe". In Villata, Maria Gigliola di Renzo (ed.). Succession Law, Practice and Society in Europe across the Centuries. Springer. p. 417-472.


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