John George Palaeologus ruled Montferrat as the last male of that dynastic line — a branch of the Byzantine imperial family that had held the marquisate since 1305. His reign coincided almost exactly with the Italian Wars at their most destructive phase, including the catastrophic Sack of Rome in 1527 and the subsequent Habsburg consolidation of northern Italy. Montferrat itself was a persistent flashpoint between French Valois and Spanish Habsburg ambitions, making gold coinage as much a diplomatic instrument as a commercial one.
John George died in 1533 without a male heir, extinguishing the Palaeologan line in the West. The marquisate passed through female succession, eventually absorbed into the Gonzaga orbit.
John George Palaeologus ruled Montferrat as the last male of that dynastic line — a branch of the Byzantine imperial family that had held the marquisate since 1305. His reign coincided almost exactly with the Italian Wars at their most destructive phase, including the catastrophic Sack of Rome in 1527 and the subsequent Habsburg consolidation of northern Italy. Montferrat itself was a persistent flashpoint between French Valois and Spanish Habsburg ambitions, making gold coinage as much a diplomatic instrument as a commercial one.
John George died in 1533 without a male heir, extinguishing the Palaeologan line in the West. The marquisate passed through female succession, eventually absorbed into the Gonzaga orbit.