Boniface del Vasto

Boniface del Vasto (c. 1055 – c. 1125) was the margrave of Savona and Western Liguria from 1084 to c.1130. He was the son and successor of Otto and of Bertha, daughter of Ulric Manfred II of Turin.[1] Boniface was a member of the Aleramici dynasty.

Boniface del Vasto
Margrave of Savona & Western Liguria
Coat of arms of Del Vasto.
Tenure1084–1130
Known forMember of the Aleramici dynasty and maternal grand uncle of Roger II
Bornc.1055
Diedc.1125 (aged around 70)
Loreto Castle, Italy
LocalityLiguria
ParentsOtto del Vasto (son of Anselm II)
Bertha of Turin

Marriages

As his first wife, Boniface intended to marry an unnamed woman who had been betrothed to his brother, Anselm, before his death. In 1079 Pope Gregory VII commissioned the bishops of Turin, Asti and Alba to convince Boniface del Vasto not to marry the woman, because her betrothal to his brother created a relationship of affinity between them.[2]

Boniface is sometimes said to have married Alice of Savoy, the daughter of Peter of Savoy.[3] This is unlikely, however, since Boniface and Alice were first-cousins-once-removed (Boniface's mother Bertha and Alice's grandmother Adelaide were sisters), and thus far too closely related to be permitted to marry according to canon law.

Boniface married a woman named Agnes, who is thought to have been the daughter of Hugh, Count of Vermandois.[4]

Children

Probably with Agnes of Vermandois, Boniface had several children, including:

Boniface was also the guardian of his brother Manfred's children: Henry del Vasto, who married Flandrina, a daughter of Roger I of Sicily, and Adelaide del Vasto, who was Roger's third wife. Following Roger's death, Adelaide married Baldwin I of Jerusalem. Two of Manfred's unnamed daughters married Roger I of Sicily's sons from previous relationships, Jordan, Count of Syracuse, and Geoffrey, Count of Ragusa (who may have died before the marriage actually took place).[5]

References

  • C.W. Previté-Orton, The Early History of the House of Savoy (1000–1233) (Cambridge, 1912), accessible online at: archive.org
  • Malaterra, De rebus gestis Rogerii Calabriæ et Siciliæ comitis et Roberti Guiscardi ducis fratris eius, ed. E. Pontiari, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, nuova ed. v. 5.1 (Bolgna, 1927–1928).
  • R. Bordone, ‘Affermazione personale e sviluppi dinastici del gruppo parentalae aleramico: il marchese Bonifacio ‘del Vasto’,’ in Formazione e strutture dei ceti dominanti nel medioevo (Atti del I convegno di Pisa: 10–11 maggio 1983) (Rome, 1988), pp. 29–44.
  • L. Provero, Dai marchesi del Vasto ai primi marchesi di Saluzzo. Sviluppi signorili entro quadri pubblici (secoli XI-XII) (Turin, 1992).
  • Giuseppe Sorge, Mussomeli dall'origine all'abolizione della feudalità, vol. II, Catania 1916, poi Edizioni Ristampe Siciliane, Palermo 1982.

Notes

  1. Provero, Dai marchesi del Vasto, pp. 38ff.
  2. Bordone, ‘Affermazione,’ pp. 37f.; Previté-Orton, Early History, pp. 188, 210f. and n. 4.
  3. The marriage is attested in one charter: A. Tallone, ed. Regesto dei Marchesi di Saluzzo (1091–1340) (Pinerolo, 1906), no. 3 (21 December 1099), p. 2: Ego Bonifacius marchio filius Theotonisqui marchio…cum Alice cometissa filia qd. d. Petri marchio...
  4. Previté-Orton, Early History, p. 187.
  5. Malaterra, De rebus gestis..., IV.14, p. 93
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