Berengar I of Italy

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"Berengar I" redirects here. See also Berengar I of Neustria.

Berengar of Friuli
Otto I
Bornc. 845
Cividale, Middle Francia
Died7 April 924
Verona, Kingdom of Italy
SpouseBertila of Spoleto; Anna
IssueBertha, Abbess of Santa Giulia in Brescia
Gisela, Countess of Ivrea
HouseUnruochings
FatherEberhard of Friuli
MotherGisela, daughter of Louis the Pious

Berengar I (

Latin: Berengarius, Perngarius; Italian: Berengario; c. 845 – 7 April 924[1]) was the king of Italy from 887. He was Holy Roman Emperor between 915 and his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friuli from 874 until at least 890, but he had lost control of the region by 896.[2]

Berengar rose to become one of the most influential laymen in the empire of

Otto I
was crowned emperor in 962.

Margrave of Friuli, 874–887

His family was called the

Supponid family.[3] She would later rule alongside him as a consors, a title specifically denoting her informal power and influence, as opposed to a mere coniunx, wife.[4]

cathedral of Monza

When his older brother

Bishop of Belluno.[7]

When, in 875, the

Emperor Louis II, who was also King of Italy, died, having come to terms with Louis the German whereby the German monarch's eldest son, Carloman, would succeed in Italy, Charles the Bald of West Francia invaded the peninsula and had himself crowned king and emperor.[8] Louis the German sent first Charles the Fat, his youngest son, and then Carloman himself, with armies containing Italian magnates led by Berengar, to possess the Italian kingdom.[8][9] This was not successful until the death of Charles the Bald in 877. The proximity of Berengar's march to Bavaria
, which Carloman already ruled under his father, may explain their cooperation.

In 883, the newly succeeded

Nonantula late in May.[10] He returned to the Duchy of Spoleto and made an alliance with the Saracens. The emperor, then Charles the Fat, sent Berengar with an army to deprive him of Spoleto. Berengar was successful before an epidemic ravaged all Italy, affecting the emperor and his entourage as well as Berengar's army, and forced him to retire.[10]

In 886,

Bishop of Vercelli, took Berengar's sister from the nunnery of San Salvatore at Brescia in order to marry her to a relative of his; whether or not by force or by the consent of the convent and Charles the Fat, her relative, is uncertain.[11] Berengar and Liutward had a feud that year, which involved his attack on Vercelli and plundering of the bishop's goods.[12] Berengar's actions are explicable if his sister was abducted by the bishop, but if the bishop's actions were justified, then Berengar appears to have initiated the feud. Whatever the case, bishop and margrave were reconciled shortly before Liutward was dismissed from court in 887.[12]

By his brief war with Liutward, Berengar had lost the favour of his cousin the emperor. Berengar came to the emperor's assembly at

Louis of Provence was adopted as the emperor's son.[14] It is sometimes alleged that Berengar was pining to be declared Charles' heir and that he may in fact have been so named in Italy, where he was acclaimed (or made himself) king immediately after Charles' deposition by the nobles of East Francia in November that year (887).[15] On the other hand, his presence may merely have been necessary to confirm Charles' illegitimate son Bernard as his heir (Waiblingen), a plan which failed when the pope refused to attend, and then to confirm Louis instead (Kirchen).[16]

King of Italy, 887–915

Some coins of Berengar's found in Hungary, possibly from payments made to Magyar raiders or mercenaries
Berengar portrayed as emperor (Berengarius Imperator) in a twelfth-century manuscript

Berengar was the only one of the reguli (petty kings) to crop up in the aftermath of Charles' deposition besides Arnulf of Carinthia, his deposer, who was made king before the emperor's death.[17] Charter evidence begins Berengar's reign at Pavia, in the Basilica of San Michele Maggiore,[18] between 26 December 887 and 2 January 888, though this has been disputed.[19] Berengar was not the undisputed leading magnate in Italy at the time, but he may have made an agreement with his former rival, Guy of Spoleto, whereby Guy would have West Francia and he Italy on the emperor's death.[20] Both Guy and Berengar were related to the Carolingians in the female line. They represented different factions in Italian politics: Berengar the pro-German and Guy the pro-French.

In Summer 888, Guy, who had failed in his bid to take the West Frankish throne, returned to Italy to gather an army from among the Spoletans and Lombards and oppose Berengar. This he did, but the battle they fought near Brescia in the fall was a slight victory for Berengar, though his forces were so diminished that he sued for peace nevertheless.[21] The truce was to last until 6 January 889.[21]

After the truce with Guy was signed, Arnulf of Germany endeavoured to invade Italy through Friuli. Berengar, in order to prevent a war, sent dignitaries (leading men) ahead to meet Arnulf. He himself then had a meeting, sometime between early November and Christmas, at Trent.[21] He was allowed to keep Italy, as Arnulf's vassal, but the curtes of Navus and Sagus were taken from him.[22] Arnulf allowed his army to return to Germany, but he himself celebrated Christmas in Friuli, at Karnberg.[23]

Early in 889, their truce having expired, Guy defeated Berengar at the

Rudolph I of Upper Burgundy.[25]

In 893, Arnulf sent his illegitimate son

Otto I more than half a century later.[28]

Arnulf left Italy in the charge of his young son Ratold, who soon crossed Lake Como to Germany, leaving Italy in the control of Berengar, who made a pact with Lambert, Guy's son and successor.[29] According to the Gesta Berengarii imperatoris, the two kings met at Pavia in October and November and agreed to divide the kingdom, Berengar receiving the eastern half between the Adda and the Po, "as if by hereditary right" according to the Annales Fuldenses. Bergamo was to be shared between them. This was a confirmation of the status quo of 889. It was this partitioning which caused the later chronicler Liutprand of Cremona to remark that the Italians always suffered under two monarchs. As surety for the accord, Lambert pledged to marry Gisela, Berengar's daughter.

The peace did not last long. Berengar advanced on Pavia, but was defeated by Lambert at

Battle of the Brenta (24 September 899).[32]

This defeat handicapped Berengar and caused the nobility to question his ability to protect Italy. As a result, they supported another candidate for the throne, the aforementioned Louis of Provence, another maternal relative of the Carolingians. In 900, Louis marched into Italy and defeated Berengar; the following year he was crowned Emperor by Pope Benedict IV. In 902, however, Berengar struck back and defeated Louis, making him promise never to return to Italy. When he broke this oath by invading the peninsula again in 905, Berengar defeated him at Verona, captured him, and ordered him to be blinded on 21 July.[33] Louis returned to Provence and ruled for another twenty years as Louis the Blind. Berengar thereby cemented his position as king and ruled undisputed, except for a brief spell, until 922. As king, Berengar made his seat at Verona, which he heavily fortified.[34] During the years when Louis posed a threat to Berengar's kingship, his wife, Bertila, who was a niece of the former empress Engelberga, Louis's grandmother, played an important part in the legitimisation of his rule.[4] She later disappeared from the scene, as indicated by her absence in his charters post-905.

In 904, Bergamo was subjected to a long siege by the Magyars. After the siege, Berengar granted the bishop of the city walls and the right to rebuild them with the help of the citizens and the refugees fleeing the Magyars.[35] The bishop attained all the rights of a count in the city.

Emperor, 915–924

Empire ruled by Berengar I in 915 (pink)

In January 915,

Battle of the Garigliano, a victory over the Saracens, John crowned Berengar as Emperor in Rome (December).[36]
Berengar, however, returned swiftly to the north, where Friuli was still threatened by the Magyars.

As emperor, Berengar intervened in an episcopal election in the

Herman I, Archbishop of Cologne, representing the German interests in Lotharingia, tried to impose his choice of the monks of the local cloister, one Hilduin, on the vacant see. The clergy opposed to this interference appealed to Berengar, King Charles III of France and Pope John.[38] In the end, the pope excommunicated Hilduin and another monk, Richer
, was appointed to the see with the support of the emperor.

In his latter years, his wife

Byzantine Emperor.[41] In that case, she would have been betrothed to Berengar while still a child and only become his consors and imperatrix in 923.[41] Her marriage was an attempt by Louis to advance his children while he himself was being marginalised and by Berengar to legitimise his rule by relating himself by marriage to the house of Lothair I
which had ruled Italy by hereditary right since 817.

By 915, Berengar's elder daughter,

Boso, and advanced as far as Pavia, where Berengar starved them into submission, but allowed them to pass out of Italy freely.[44]

Dissatisfied with the emperor, who had ceased his policy of grants and family alliances in favour of paying Magyar mercenaries, several Italian nobles—led by Adalbert and many of the bishops—invited

Battle of Fiorenzuola, near Piacenza.[48] The battle was decisive and Berengar was de facto dethroned and replaced by Rudolf. Berengar was soon after murdered at Verona by one of his own men, possibly at Rudolph's instigation. He left no sons, only two daughters, Bertha and Gisela.[49]

Berengar has been accused of having "faced [the] difficulties [of his reign] with particular incompetence,"

incastellamento of the succeeding decades is hardly disputed.[55]

References

  1. ^ Rosenwein, p. 270.
  2. ^ AF(M), 887 (p. 102 n3). AF(B), 896 (pp 134–135 and nn19&21).
  3. ^ Rosenwein, p. 256.
  4. ^ a b Rosenwein, p. 257.
  5. ^ Annales Fuldenses (Mainz tradition), 887 (p. 102 n3). The Annales are hereafter cited as "AF" with the post-882 tradition, Mainz or Bavarian, indicated by (M) or (B).
  6. ^ MacLean, p. 70 and n116. He was usually called marchio, but once appears as dux in one charter of Charles the Fat. He was one of only three marchiones and six consiliarii who appear in the reign of Charles.
  7. ^ MacLean, p. 71.
  8. ^ a b AF, 875 (p. 77 and n8).
  9. ^ MacLean, p. 70.
  10. ^ a b AF(B), 883 (p. 107 and nn6&7).
  11. ^ AF(M), 887 (p. 102), presents it as an invasion on Liutward's part.
  12. ^ a b AF(B), 886 (p. 112 and n8).
  13. ^ a b AF(B), 887 (p. 113 and nn3&4).
  14. ^ MacLean, p. 113.
  15. Odo, Count of Paris
    , may have had a similar purpose in visiting Charles at Kirchen.
  16. ^ MacLean, pp 167–168.
  17. ^ Reuter, p. 121.
  18. ^ Elliott, Gillian. "Representing Royal Authority at San Michele Maggiore in Pavia". Zeitschrift fur Kunstgeschichte 77 (2014). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  19. ^ AF(B), 888 (p. 115 and n3).
  20. ^ Reuter AF, p. 115 and n3, following Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis.
  21. ^ a b c AF(B), 888 (p. 117 and n12).
  22. ^ AF(B), 888 (p. 117 n13). Navus and sagus perhaps refer to royal rights or taxes, but more likely to as yet unidentified places. Reuter, p. 122, considers Arnulf and Berengar's relationship to be one of suzerain and vassal.
  23. ^ AF(B), 888 (p. 117 n14).
  24. ^ AF(B), 889 (p. 119 and n2).
  25. ^ AF(B), 894 (p. 128 and n12).
  26. ^ a b AF(B), 896 (p. 132 and nn1&2).
  27. ^ AF(B), 896 (p. 134 and n19). MacLean, p. 71. The exact dates of Waltfred's rule in Friuli are unknown. Berengar was last confirmed in Friuli in 890.
  28. ^ Reuter, p. 123.
  29. ^ Reuter, p. 135 and nn20&21.
  30. ^ Reuter, p. 135 n21.
  31. ^ Reuter, p. 128, suggests the former view.
  32. ^ AF(B), 900 (p. 141 and n4), with a loss of 20,000 men and many bishops. Corroborated by Liutprand, Antapodosis.
  33. Constantine Porphyrogenitus' De administrando imperio
    both show Berengar as declaiming responsibility for Louis's blinding.
  34. ^ Previté Orton, p. 337. Rosenwein, p. 259 and n47, which recalls that some historians have accused him of neglecting its defences.
  35. ^ Wickham. p. 175.
  36. ^ Llewellyn, 302.
  37. ^ Rosenwein, p. 277.
  38. ^ Daris, pp. 228–29.
  39. ^ AF(B), 889 (p. 139 and n2). Rosenwein, p. 258 and n46.
  40. ^ a b Rosenwein, p. 258.
  41. ^ a b Previté Orton, p. 336.
  42. ^ Rosenwein, p. 255.
  43. ^ a b c Rosenwein, p. 274 and n140.
  44. ^ Previté Orton, pp 339–340, who also remarks on Berengar's "unrevengeful character."
  45. ^ Rosenwein, pp 262, 274, and passim.
  46. ^ Rosenwein, p. 266. The Magyars were operating, nominally at least, on Berengar's behalf.
  47. ^ Rosenwein, p. 266.
  48. ^ Britannica.
  49. ^ Arnaldi.
  50. ^ Rosenwein, p. 248.
  51. ^ Rosenwein, p. 248, who calls him "a terrible warrior."
  52. ^ Wickham, p. 171. This appears to be flatly contradicted, however, by the other sources. Reuter calls his a victory over Guy at the Trebbia in 888 and his campaign against Spoleto in 883 was initially successful.
  53. ^ Rosenwein, p. 248 and n8.
  54. ^ Rosenwein, passim.
  55. ^ Rosenwein, p. 249.

Sources

Emperor Berengar
 Died: 7 April 924
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Unruoch III
Margrave of Friuli

874–890 		Succeeded by
Waltfred
Preceded by — DISPUTED —
Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy
(922–933) 		Succeeded byas contenders
Preceded by Holy Roman Emperor
915–924 		Vacant
Title next held by
Otto I
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