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Alice of Montferrat

Alice of Montferrat (French: Alix, Italian: Alasia; died c. 1232) was a Lombard noblewoman who was the queen of Cyprus by marriage to King Henry I from 1229 until her death.

Life[edit]

Alice was the daughter of William VI of Montferrat and Berta of Clavesana, hailing from Piedmont in the Holy Roman Empire. It is not known when she was born.^[1] Her father was one of the most loyal vassals of Emperor Frederick II,^[2] and the House of Montferrat was closely associated with both the Hohenstaufen emperors and the Lusignan kings of Cyprus.^[3]

Marriage & death[edit]

Frederick chose Alice to be the bride of the young King Henry.^[4] Alice's royal match was a sign of the reconciliation of the emperor and her brother, Boniface II of Montferrat.^[3] Alice and Henry were married by proxy in 1229,^[5] and she was escorted to Cyprus by the emperor's supporters.^[4] The emperor regarded himself as the overlord of the Kingdom of Cyprus but was opposed by the nobility headed by the House of Ibelin. The War of the Lombards ensued.^[6] Once in Cyprus, Alice was crowned queen. Henry, then aged 12, was too young for the marriage to be consummated.^[7]

Alice was in Kyrenia with the Lombard faction when the Ibelins laid a 10-month-long siege, while Henry joined the besiegers.^[8] Loyal to Frederick's cause, Alice was in Kyrenia voluntarily. She became ill during the siege and died between 1231 and early 1232.^[9] Fighting was interrupted so that her corpse could be ceremoniously handed over to Henry for royal burial.^[4] She was interred in the Cathedral of Saint Sophia by the archbishop of Nicosia, Eustorgius of Montaigu.^[9] Henry had never seen her living,^[4] and the diplomatic relations between the houses of Montferrat and Lusignan lapsed.^[9]

References[edit]

Sources[edit]

• Edbury, Peter W. (1994). The Kingdom of Cyprus and the Crusades. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-45837-5.
• Haberstumpf, Walter (1995). Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale: i Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII-XV (in Italian). Scriptorium. ISBN 8886231253.
• Runciman, Steven (1989). A History of the Crusades, Volume III: The Kingdom of Acre and the Later Crusades. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-06163-6.