Irene of Montferrat (fl. 1300)

views updated

Irene of Montferrat (fl. 1300)

Byzantine empress. Name variations: Yolande-Irene; Yolande of Montferrat; Violante of Montferat or Violante of Montferrat. Born Violante or Yolande; flourished around 1300; daughter of William V the Great, marquis of Montferrat, and Isabelle of Cornwall ; became second wife of Andronicus II Paleologus (1259–1332), emperor of Nicaea and Byzantine emperor (r. 1282–1328), around 1305; children: John; Teodoro also known as Theodore I (b. 1292), margrave of Montferrat; Demetrius; possibly Irene (who married John II of Thessaly); possibly Simonis (who married Milutin).

Following the death of his young wife Anna of Hungary , Andronicus II Paleologus married the Italian princess Irene of Montferrat, said to be hotheaded. With her marriage, the marquisate of Montferrat in northwest Italy passed to the Paleologi. Though her early married years were happy, Irene became discontented with the fact that Anna of Hungary's son, Michael IX, was heir to the throne while her sons were considered only private citizens. When her husband continued to ignore her pleas to divide imperial territories for each child, Irene turned against him. She eventually left Andronicus and moved to Thessalonica.