The 1300s heralded the arrival and eventual spread of the Islamic religion in the Philippine archipelago.

In 1380, Karim ul' Makdum and Shari'ful Hashem Syed Abu Bakr, an Arab trader born in Johore, arrives in Sulu from Malacca and establishes the Sultanate of Sulu by converting Sulu's Rajah and marrying his daughter.

[ Also, at the end of the 15th century, Shariff Mohammed Kabungsuwan of Johor introduces Islam in the island of Mindanao and he subsequently marries Paramisuli, an Iranun Princess from Mindanao, and establishes the Sultanate of Maguindanao.

The sultanate system even extends itself further and the Confederation of sultanates in Lanao is a logical extension of this.

Eventually, Islam begins to spread out from the southern Philippines into the north.

Even Manila itself is nominally Islamized since the reign of Sultan Bolkiah in 1485 to 1521, wherein, the Sultanate of Brunei subjugates Tondo by installing the Muslim, Rajah Suleiman to the throne.

The rivalries between the disparate Datus, Rajahs, Sultans and Lakans together with their respective states competing over the limited territory and people of the islands eventually simplifies Spanish colonization by allowing its conquistadors to effectively employ a strategy of divide and conquer for rapid conquest.The Marquises and Dukes of Montferrat are the rulers of a territory in Piedmont south of the Po and east of Turin called Montferrat.

The March of Montferrat is created by Berengar II of Italy in 950 during a redistribution of power in the northwest of his kingdom.

It is originally named after and held by the Aleramici.

In 1574, Montferrat is raised to a Duchy by Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor.