William VII, Marquess of Montferrat
William VII the Great ( ital: Guglielmo il Gran Marquis, † February 8, 1292 ) was a Margrave of Montferrat from the family of Aleramiden. He was a son of the Marquis Boniface II of Montferrat († 1253 ) and Margaret, a daughter of Count Amadeus IV of Savoy.
In his first marriage William was married to the nobleman Elena de Bosco, with whom he had no children. His second wife was since 1258 the English noblewoman Isabel de Clare († 1270 ), daughter of Richard de Clare, 5th Earl of Hertford. With her he had a daughter, Margaret († 1286) who was married in 1281 the Castilian Prince John († 1319 ). In his third wife, whom he married in 1271 to Princess Beatrice of Castile († 1280 ), a daughter of the king of Castile and Holy Roman German King Alfonso X the Wise. Their children were:
- Yolande ( Irene ) ( † 1317 ) ∞ 1284 with the Byzantine Emperor Andronikos II Palaiologos
- John I († 1305), Margrave of Montferrat
- Alessina († 1305 ) ∞ with Poncello Orsini
Like his ancestors before Wilhelm was also a strong supporter of the imperial thing ( Ghibellines ) in Italy against the followers of the pope ( Guelphs ), primarily of Charles of Anjou. From his father Alfonso X of Castile, who was also Roman- German king since 1257, he was entrusted with the vicariate in Italy, so the representation of the king. He succeeded the Signora to travel to by choice and conquest in several cities such as Pavia, Vercelli, Alessandria and Turin. Because of the latter, he fell to the Counts of Savoy in conflict. The cause of the Ghibellines was increasingly being pushed in the coming years on the defensive because of the lack of military support from the King Alfonso of Castile. Therefore, the Ghibelline League recognized in 1277 Rudolf I of Habsburg as the rightful king. 1278 was William, who was also called " Capitano di guerra " seize power in Milan itself. In 1290 he came then into captivity of Alessandria, which he spent in an iron cage, in which he died in 1292.