William of Montferrat (early 1140s-1177), also called William Longsword (modern Italian Guglielmo Lungaspada, originally Occitan Guilhem Longa-Espia), was the Count of Jaffa and Ascalon, the eldest son of William V, Marquess of Montferrat and Judith of Babenberg. He was the older brother of Conrad, Boniface, and Renier, and a cousin of both Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor and Louis VII of France. Events Henry Jasomirgott was made count palatine of the Rhine. ... Events November 25 - Baldwin IV of Jerusalem and Raynald of Chatillon defeat Saladin at the Battle of Montgisard. ... Occitan, or lenga dòc, or languedoc, is a Romance language (or group of languages), spoken mainly in the Languedoc or Occitania region in southern France. ... The double County of Jaffa and Ascalon was one of the four major seigneuries of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin. ... William V of Montferrat (occ. ... Montferrat was a marquisate in Lombardy during the Middle Ages. ... Judith of Babenberg (c. ... Conrad of Montferrat (c. ... Boniface of Montferrat (c. ... Renier of Montferrat (1162–1183) was the fifth son of William III of Montferrat. ... Frederick Barbarossa in a 13th century Chronicle. ... Louis VII of France. ...

The earliest surviving mention of William's epithet, Longsword, said to refer to his military abilities, and differentiating him from his father, known as "William the Elder", is in the song En abril, quan vei verdeyar, composed in late 1176-early 1177 by the troubadour Peire Bremon lo Tort: A troubadour was a composer and performer of songs during the Middle Ages in Europe. ...

Chanzos, tu.t n'iras outra mar,
e, per Deu, vai a midons dir
qu'en gran dolor et en cossir
me fai la nuoit e.l jorn estar.
di.m a'n Guilhelm Longa-Espia,
bona chanzos, qu'el li.t dia
e que i an per lieis confortar.

It was rendered into Latin as "Longaspata" by William of Tyre in his Historia rerum in partibus transmarinis gestarum (written in the early 1180s), whence it has been taken up by historians. William of Tyre (c. ...

Despite his eligibility as the eldest son of one of the greatest magnates in northern Italy, with many royal and imperial connections and the fair good looks of his family, he did not marry until he was well into his thirties. In 1167, his father had tried to arrange marriages for him and Conrad to daughters of Henry II of England or sisters of William I of Scotland - but these failed, the English match probably because of consanguinity (the boys' mother Judith was related to Eleanor of Aquitaine), the Scottish match because the princesses were already married. Events Taira no Kiyomori becomes the first samurai to be appointed Daijo Daijin, chief minister of the government of Japan Peter of Blois becomes the tutor of William II of Sicily Absalon, archbishop of Denmark, leads the first Danish synod at Lund Absalon fortifies Copenhagen William Marshal, the greatest knight... Henry II of England (5 March 1133 – 6 July 1189) ruled as Count of Anjou, Duke of Normandy, and as King of England (1154–1189) and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland, eastern Ireland, and western France. ... William I the Lion ( known in Gaelic as Uilliam Garm1 or William the Rough), (1142/1143 - December 4, 1214) reigned as King of Scots from 1165 to 1214. ... Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122[1] – March 31, 1204) was one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in Europe during the High Middle Ages. ...

In 1176 William was chosen by Raymond III, count of Tripoli, and Baldwin IV, king of Jerusalem, to marry Baldwin's sister Sibylla. William also gained the County of Jaffa and Ascalon in the marriage. William of Tyre describes him as tall, blond, and handsome; brave, frank and unpretentious, but inclined to eat and drink copiously, though not to the impairment of his judgement. Events May 22 - Murder attempt by the Hashshashin on Saladin near Aleppo Raynald of Chatillon released from prison in Aleppo May 29 - Frederick Barbarossa is defeated in the Battle of Legnano by the Lombard League leading to the pactum Anagninum (the Agreement of Anagni) September 17 - Seljuk Turks defeat Manuel... Raymond III of Tripoli (1140–1187) was Count of Tripoli from 1152 to 1187 and Prince of Galilee and Tiberias in right of his wife Eschiva. ... Armenian Cilicia and Crusader States The County of Tripoli was the last of the four major Crusader states in the Levant to be created. ... Baldwin IV (1161 – 1185), called the Leper or the Leprous, the son of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his first wife Agnes of Courtenay, was king of Jerusalem from 1174 to 1185. ... Official language Latin, French, Italian, and other western languages; Greek and Arabic also widely spoken Capital Jerusalem, later Acre Constitution Various laws, so-called Assizes of Jerusalem The Kingdom of Jerusalem was a Christian kingdom established in the Levant in 1099 by the First Crusade. ... Top: Baldwin IV betrothes Sibylla to Guy; Bottom: Sibylla and Guy are married. ... The double County of Jaffa and Ascalon was one of the four major seigneuries of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, according to 13th-century commentator John of Ibelin. ...

With the King's consent, William and Reynald of Châtillon gave a grant of land to the new Castilian military order, the Order of Montjoie, commanded by Count Rodrigo Alvarez de Sarria. However, William's activities in Outremer were cut short. He fell ill, probably from malaria, at Ascalon in April 1177, and died there in June, leaving Sibylla pregnant with the future king Baldwin V. His body was taken to Jerusalem and buried at the Hospital of St John. Raynald of Châtillon (also Reynald or Reginald of Chastillon) (c. ... A former kingdom of Spain, Castile comprises the two regions of Old Castile in north-western Spain, and New Castile in the centre of the country. ... A military order is a Christian order of knighthood that is founded for crusading, i. ... The period of the Crusades, when so many Christians were in danger of falling into the hands of infidels, witnessed the rise of religious orders vowed exclusively to this pious work. ... Ashkelon or Ashqelon (Hebrew אשקלון; Arabic عسقلان ʿAsqalān; Latin Ascalon) was an ancient Philistine seaport on the east coast of the Mediterranian sea just north of Gaza. ... Top: Baldwin IV on his sickbed; Bottom: Baldwin V crowned. ...

Sources

• Haberstumpf, Walter. Dinastie europee nel Mediterraneo orientale. I Monferrato e i Savoia nei secoli XII–XV, 1995 (external link to downloadable text).
• Hamilton, Bernard. The Leper King and His Heirs: Baldwin IV and the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, 2000 ISBN 139780521017473
• Peire Bremon lo Tort, En abril, quan vei verdeyar, with translation by James H. Donalson (external link)
• Runciman, Steven. A History of the Crusades, 1951-54, vol. 2
• Usseglio, Leopoldo. I Marchesi di Monferrato in Italia ed in Oriente durante i secoli XII e XIII, 1926