Irene of Montferrat

Irene of Montferrat
Byzantine Empress consort
Born	c. 1274 Casale
Died	1317 (aged 42–43) Constantinople
Spouse	Andronikos II Palaiologos
House	House of Aleramici (by birth) House of Palaiologos (by marriage)
Father	William VII, Marquess of Montferrat
Mother	Beatrice of Castile

Yolande of Montferrat (c. 1274 – 1317 in Constantinople) (also known as Violante, then Empress Irene) was the second Empress-Consort of Andronikos II Palaiologos, the ruler of Constantinople and the entire Byzantine Empire, and heiress of the Margraviate of Montferrat.

Born in Casale, she was daughter of William VII, Marquess of Montferrat and his second wife Beatrice of Castile. Her maternal grandparents were King Alfonso X of Castile and his wife Violante of Aragon. Yolande (variation of Violante) was named after her grandmother.

In 1284, Andronikos II, a widower by his first marriage with Anna of Hungary, married Yolanda (who was renamed Eirene as Empress). She and Andronikos II were fifth or fourth cousins once removed both being descendants Andronikos Doukas Angelos, the father of Emperor Isaac II Angelos, Eirene's great-great-great-great grandfather, and Emperor Alexios III Angelos, Andronikos II's great-great-great grandfather. With her, Eirene brought the Montferrat rights to the kingdom of Thessalonica, a dominion that, despite having been conquered half-a-century before Eirene's birth by the Byzantine state of Epirus, was still claimed by its short-lived (1204–1224) Montferrat royal dynasty.

It was later proven that the Italian Montferrat had no living male heirs of the Aleramici dynasty, and Eirene's sons were entitled to inherit it upon the 1305 death of Eirene's brother John I, Marquess of Montferrat.

The marriage produced the following children:

• John Palaiologos (c. 1286–1308), despotes.
• Bartholomaios Palaiologos (born 1289), died young.
• Theodore I, Marquis of Montferrat (1291–1338).
• Simonis Palaiologina (1294–after 1336), who married King Stefan Milutin of Serbia.
• Theodora Palaiologina (born 1295), died young.
• Demetrios Palaiologos (1297–1343), despotēs. Father of Irene Palaiologina.
• Isaakios Palaiologos (born 1299), died young.

Eirene's stepson, Michael IX Palaiologos was intended to succeed her husband as emperor, but ultimately it was Michael's son Andronikos III Palaiologos who became the successor instead of Michael. This was largely due to the work Eirene did to ensure some power and property to her own offspring.

Eirene left Constantinople in 1303 and settled in Thessaloniki. She set her own court in the city and controlled her own finances and foreign policy until her death fourteen years later. Nicephorus Gregoras portrayed her as an ambitious and arrogant leader in his historical writings.

Ancestry

Family of Irene of Montferrat

16. Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat               8. William VI, Marquess of Montferrat                       17. Helena del Bosco               4. Boniface II, Marquess of Montferrat                             18. Bonifacio di Clavesana, Count of Cortemiglia               9. Berta of Clavesana                       2. William VII, Marquess of Montferrat                                   20. Thomas I, Count of Savoy               10. Amadeus IV, Count of Savoy                       21. Margaret of Geneva               5. Margaret of Savoy                             22. Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy               11. Marguerite of Burgundy                       23. Béatrice of Albon               1. Irene of Montferrat                                         24. Alfonso IX of León               12. Ferdinand III of Castile and León                       25. Berenguela of Castile               6. Alfonso X of Castile and León                             26. Philip of Swabia               13. Elisabeth of Hohenstaufen                       27. Irene Angelina               3. Beatrice of Castile                                   28. Peter II of Aragon               14. James I of Aragon                       29. Marie of Montpellier               7. Violant of Aragon                             30. Andrew II of Hungary               15. Violant of Hungary                       31. Yolanda de Courtenay

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Irene of Montferrat House of Aleramici Born: c. 1274 Died: 1317
Royal titles
Preceded by Theodora Doukaina Vatatzina	Byzantine Empress consort 1284–1317 with Rita of Armenia (1294–1317)	Succeeded by Rita of Armenia