The dynasty of the Paleologists followed in the Monferrato to that of the Aleramici, extinct in 1305 with the death of John I. A sister of the late Marquis, Iolanda (Irene, as empress of the East), consort of the emperor Andronico Paleologo, called to the succession, he sent his second son Teodoro I to Italy (1305-38), who had to defend his state with arms against the pretensions of the al- mamic Manfredo IV of Saluzzo.
The recognition and investiture which Theodore obtained from Henry VII (1310) ended the question. John II (1338-1372), bold and ambitious, took an active part in the local struggles, fighting in turn against Acaia, Angiò, Savoia, Visconti; and he assured Asti of his house, taking it away from the Visconti. But his son Secondotto (1372-78) allowed himself to resume the precious conquest by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, compromised with his inept politics the fate of the state, he alienated the soul of the subjects for his violent and bloody instincts, and ended up murdered. The very young his brother, John III (1378-81), fell fighting alongside the guardian Otto of Brunswick, husband of Jeanne I of Anjou, against Charles of Durazzo in Naples; and left the marquisate to the third brother, Theodore II (1381-1418), who waged for a long time to defend himself from the savagery of the Savoy, almost always keeping close to the Visconti, and had for some years (1409-13) the lordship of Genoa, as well the imperial vicariate of Lombardy (1414).
Under the rule of the lousy and misplaced Giangiacomo (1418-45), a good part of the Monferrato fell under the guilt of Amedeo VIII in the hands of the Savoy. Not even his successors, the shy John IV (1445-64), the proud and valiant William VIII (1464-83), Boniface III (1483-94), old and tired, never managed to free themselves from the Savoy sabauda, and could avoid the worst just looking for protection and defense in the dukes of Milan, treacherous friends, in the empire, in France.
The weakness of the marquisate and the believed extinction of the Paleologi aroused at the end of the century. XV cupidigies of neighboring states (Savoia, Milan, Saluzzo). But Boniface III had two boys in late age: William IX (1494-1518), to whom his son Boniface IV (1518-30) succeeded, and Giangiorgio (1530-33), who assumed power when his nephew succumbed to a fall from horse.
With Giangiorgio ended the dynasty, and the marquisate passed, following a sentence of Charles V, to Federico Gonzaga of Mantua, who had married Margherita, sister of Giangiorgio.