[April 24] Theodore I, marquess of Montferrat

Montferrat in relation to the rest of Italy.
(Montferrat is at the top-left in burgundy)

True Name: Theodore Komnenos Doukas Angelos
Parents: Andronikos II, emperor of Constantinople, and Irene of Montferrat

Date of Birth: circa 1291

House: Palaeologos
Spouse: Argentina, daughter of Opicino Spinola of Genoa

Predecessor: John I

Reign: 1305 – 1338

Summary: The early years of Theodore's life are relatively unknown. He was the son of Andronikos II, emperor of the Byzantine Empire, and his wife, Irene. Irene was the daughter of William VII, marquess of Montferrat of the House of Aleramici. When her brother, John I, died in 1305, the claim passed to Irene, who allowed it to pass to her son, Theodore.

Theodore arrived in Montferrat, a small territory in north-western Italy near Genoa and Savoy, in 1306 and fought a short war with Marquess Manfred IV of Saluzzo, King Charles II of Naples, and claimants from the House of Acaja. He was finally recognized in 1310 by Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII and the civil war formally ended. During the war, Theodore married a Genoese woman to form a dynastic alliance between Genoa and Montferrat. Their had two children, John and Yolande. Yolande married Count Aimone of Savoy while John eventually succeeded to Montferrat after his father died in 1338. Little is known about Theodore's reign as marquess.

Date of Death: 24 April 1338

Successor: John II

Other Monarch Deaths:

Antoku, emperor of Japan (1185)

Benedict XII, pope of Rome (1342)