Boniface I, Marquess of Montferrat

Boniface inherited Montferrat around 1192, a northwestern Italian march with more ambition than means. By 1201 he'd positioned himself at the head of the Fourth Crusade, ostensibly bound for Egypt and Jerusalem. The expedition famously derailed - financial trouble, Venetian debt, a detour to sack Constantinople in 1204 - and the crusaders dismantled the Byzantine Empire rather than fight the Saracens. In the division of spoils Boniface claimed Thessalonica, proclaiming himself king in 1205. He spent his remaining years defending that turbulent new realm against Bulgarian incursions and Greek resentment. He died in battle on 4 September 1207, three years into a kingship no one had planned.