Bonifacio IV inherited Montferrat in 1518 under French protection, and the marquisate's billon coinage of this period reflects the fiscal strain of a small north Italian state caught between French and Habsburg competition for control of the peninsula. The rolabasso — a denomination peculiar to Montferrat — circulated as a workhorse coin in local trade while the marquis navigated shifting political allegiances that would ultimately define whether the territory survived intact.
Bonifacio died in 1530 without a male heir, triggering the succession crisis that eventually brought Montferrat under Gonzaga rule in 1536.
Bonifacio IV inherited Montferrat in 1518 under French protection, and the marquisate's billon coinage of this period reflects the fiscal strain of a small north Italian state caught between French and Habsburg competition for control of the peninsula. The rolabasso — a denomination peculiar to Montferrat — circulated as a workhorse coin in local trade while the marquis navigated shifting political allegiances that would ultimately define whether the territory survived intact.
Bonifacio died in 1530 without a male heir, triggering the succession crisis that eventually brought Montferrat under Gonzaga rule in 1536.