Notes:

Adelaide of Susa (also Adelheid, Adelais, or Adeline; ca. 1014/1020 - 19 December 1091) was the Marchioness of Turin from 1034 to her death. She moved the seat of the march from Turin to Susa and settled the itinerant court there. She was the last of the Arduinici.

Biography

Born in Turin to Ulric Manfred II and Bertha, daughter of Oberto II around 1014/1020, Adelaide's early life is not well known. Her only brother predeceased her father in 1034, though she had two younger sisters, Immilla and Bertha. Thus, on Ulric's death, the great margraviate was divided between his three daughters, though the greatest part by far went to Adelaide. She received the counties of Ivrea, Auriate, Aosta, and Turin. The margravial title, however, had primarily a military purpose at the time and, thus, was not considered suitable for a woman.

Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor, therefore arranged a marriage between Adelaide and Herman IV, Duke of Swabia, to serve as margrave of Turin after Ulric's death (1034). The two were married in January 1037, but Herman died of the plague while fighting at Naples in July 1038.

Adelaide remarried in order to secure her vast march to Henry of Montferrat (1041), but he died in 1045 and left her a widow for the second time. Immediately, a third marriage was undertaken, this time to Otto of Savoy (1046). With Otto she had three sons, Peter I, Amadeus II, and Otto. She also had two daughters, Bertha and Adelaide. Bertha, the countess of Maurienne, married the Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor, while Adelaide married Rudolf of Rheinfeld, who opposed Henry as King of Germany.

After 1060, Adelaide acted as regent for her sons. In 1068, Henry tried to divorce Bertha and consequently drove Adelaide to an intense hatred of him and his family. However, through the intervention of Bertha, Henry received Adelaide's support when he came to Italy to submit to Pope Gregory VII and Matilda of Tuscany at Canossa. Adelaide and Amadeus accompanied the humiliated emperor to Canossa. In gratitude for her mediation, Henry donated Bugey to Adelaide and her family and took back Bertha as his wife, returning to Germany.

Adelaide later played the mediator between her two royal sons-in-law, Henry and the aforementioned Rudolf during the wars of the 1080s in Germany. She was an opponent of the Gregorian reform, though she honoured the papacy, and defender of the autonomy of abbacies.

In 1091, Adelaide died, to the general mourning of her people, and was buried in the parochial church of Canischio (Canisculum), a small village on the Cuorgnè in the Valle dell'Orco, to which she had retired in her later years. In the cathedral of Susa, in a niche in the wall, there is a statue of walnut wood, beneath a bronze veneer, representing Adelaide, genuflecting in prayer. Above it can be read the inscription: Questa è Adelaide, cui l'istessa Roma Cole, e primo d'Ausonia onor la noma.

Personality

Adelaide had passed her childhood amongst the retainers of her father and had even learned the martial arts when young, bearing her own arms and armour. She was reputed to be beautiful and virtuous. She was pious, putting eternal things ahead of temporal. Strong in temperament, she did not hesitate to punish even the bishops and grandees of her realm. She patronised the minstrels and always received them at her court, urging them to compose songs emphasising religious values. She was a founder of cloisters and monasteries that transmitted the history of the region. One failure of Adelaide's career was the loss of the County of Albon.

Family

Adelaide and Herman IV, Duke of Swabia had at least three children:

Gebhard I, Count of Sulzbach
Adalbert I, Count of Windberg
Adelaide, married Hermann von Peugen

Adelaide and Otto of Savoy had five children:

Peter I of Savoy
Amedeus II of Savoy
Otto, Bishop of Asti
Bertha of Savoy, married Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Adelaide (died 1080), married Rudolf von Rheinfeld

Adelaide — Otto, I Count of Savoy. Otto (son of Umberto, I Count of Savoy and Ancilla of Lenzburg) was born Between 1010 and 1020; died Abt 1057. [Group Sheet]

1. Bertha of Savoy was born 21 Sep 1051; died 27 Dec 1087, Mainz, Germany; was buried Rhineland-Palatinate, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.

Notes:

Ulric Manfred II (or Olderico Manfredi II or Manfredo Udalrico; 992 - 29 October 1034) was the Margrave of Turin and Susa in the early 11th century.

Biography

Born in Turin, Ulric Manfred was the son of Manfred I. Ulric Manfred inherited a vast march centred on Turin (1000), which had been created from the lands of Arduin Glaber. By a charter dated 31 July 1001, the Emperor Otto III confirmed his possessions and granted him several privileges. This grant was requested by Hugonis marchionis, probably Hugh the Great, margrave of Tuscany.

Ulric Manfred, immediately upon his succession, began to consolidate his power vis-à-vis Arduin of the March of Ivrea on one hand and the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II on the other. In the fight over the regnum Italicum, he gained a great deal of territory at the expense of the Eporedian march. By the preserved notarial deeds of a priest named Sigifred (1021 and 1031), a precise catalogue of the cities under his control can be known: Turin, Ivrea, Albenga, Ventimiglia, Auriate, Tortona, and Vercelli. In all the wars between Arduin and Henry, Ulric Manfred prudently avoided any confrontation with the two leaders and gradually extended his territories by arms (he was at war with the margrave of Tuscany, Boniface III, in 1016) and by increasing his authority within his proper domains. In 1024, following the death of Henry, he opposed the election of Conrad II and instead invited William V of Aquitaine to take the Italian throne, but to no avail.

Ulric Manfred, though his capital was Turin, rarely resided in that strategic, but small city. He lived an itinerant life typical for an early eleventh century feudal lord, moving from castle to castle in order to maintain his control and to effect the administration of his dominions. His daughter Adelaide abandoned Turin as a capital and the itinerant baronial lifestyle for setting up house in Susa.

Ulric Manfred restored the old church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Susa and Novalesa Abbey. He also founded, in 1029, a new Benedictine abbey in Susa, for the relics of Saint Justus of Novalesa (Italian: San Giusto) and also dedicated to him. The church of the Abbey of San Giusto is now Susa Cathedral. He fortified the villages of Exilles and Bardonecchia. He died at Turin and was buried there in the cathedral.

Family

Ulric Manfred married Bertha (born 997) of the Obertenghi, daughter of Oberto II, in 1014. That year, the Emperor Henry confirmed their joint donation to the abbey of Fruttuaria. On 29 December 1037, the Emperor Conrad confirmed a donation to San Giusto expressly without her. She must therefore have died in the meanwhile. Other than his aforementioned heir, Adelaide, Ulric Manfred had two other daughters:

Irmgard (also Emilia or Immula; died 28 January 1078), married Otto III, Duke of Swabia
Bertha (died after 1050), inherited Vasto and Busco, married Otto, Marquis of Liguria (a great-grandson of Aleram) and was the mother of Boniface del Vasto

Ulric married Bertha, of the Obertenghi 1014. Bertha (daughter of Otbert, II Margrave of Milan) was born 997; died Bef 29 Dec 1037. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Manfred I or Maginfred (died 1000) was the second Margrave of Turin from 977. He inherited the county of Auriate and the vast marca Arduinica in the Susa Valley from his father Arduin Glaber. In his reign, the marca extended from the Alps to the Ligurian Sea and the Po Valley. Under him, Pavia became a mercantile city. He also controlled the road between Genoa and Marseilles.

Manfred married Prangarda, daughter of Adalbert Atto of Canossa. He was succeeded by his eldest son Ulric Manfred. His second son Adalric became bishop of Asti and he left another son named Odo with fiefdoms in Candia Canavese and Arneis del Roero.

Manfred — Prangarda. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Otbert (Latin Otbertus, Italian Oberto; died after 1014) was margrave of Milan. A member of the Obertenghi family, he followed his father, Otbert I, as margrave after his father's death in 975, together with his brother Adalbert. He was also count of Milan, Genoa, and Bobbio. In 1002, he joined Arduin's revolt against Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor.

Notes:

Arduin Glaber (Italian: Arduino Glabrio, Glabrione, or il Glabro, meaning "the Bald"; died c. 977) was the Count of Auriate from c. 935 and Margrave of Turin from c. 950. He placed his family, the Arduinici, on a firm foundation and established the march of Turin through conquests and royal concessions. The Chronicon Novaliciense, the chronicle of the abbey of Novalesa, is the primary source for his life.

Arduin was the eldest son of Roger, Count of Auriate, a Frankish nobleman who immigrated to Italy in the early tenth century. Auriate comprised the region bounded by the Alps, the Po River, and the Stura, today the regions of the Saluzzese and Cuneese. Arduin succeeded his father sometime around 935.

Count Arduin (Ardoino comes) is first documented on 13 April 945, when he sat in judgement at a conference (placitum) of count Lanfranc at Pavia in the presence of King Lothair II. It was probably earlier, between 940 and 942, that he had acquired Turin and the Susa Valley, bring Novalesa back under Christian control. In 941 King Hugh exiled Berengar of Ivrea and abolished the March of Ivrea. Since Berengar's family, the Anscarids, had thitherto held Turin, it is probably that Hugh bestowed it on Arduin at this time. By the spring of 942 Berengar had arrived at the court of Otto I of Germany.

Berengar returned on Hugh's death, he dominated the younger Lothair II and his mother Adelaide. He appears as summus consiliarius (highest counsellor) in March-April 945 and consors regni (royal consort) in June 948. Arduin moved closer to Berengar during this period and probably benefited from Berengar's coronation on 15 December 950. On 13 November 950 he was given the administration of the abbey of Novalesa, legally by Lothair, but probably through Berengar. At that time Turin was Arduin's principal residence. Though he is not recorded with the title of marchio (margrave) until 20 June 967, it was probably during the reorganisation of the marches on Berengar's succession that he received the title and the marca Arduinica. The march consisted of the counties of Auriate, Turin, Asti, Albenga, and probably Bredula, Alba, and Ventimiglia.

The early twelfth-century Vita Mathildis, biography of Matilda of Canossa, by Domnizo places Arduin at the siege of Canossa by Berengar in 951, after Adelaide, the former queen mother, had sought the protection of Adalbert Atto of Canossa. This story is probably false, since Arduin was cultivating a marital alliance with Adalbert Atto, whose daughter Prangarda eventually married his son and successor, Manfred I.

From an early date Arduin was certainly occupied with the Saracens who had occupied the Susa Valley and established a base at Fraxinetum in neighbouring Provence. He may have expelled them from the valley in 940-41. To this he probably added Albenga, Alba, and Ventimiglia by conquest. He definitely took part in the wars of William I and Rotbold II of Provence against the Saracens of Fraxinetum. According to Liutprand of Cremona in his Antapodosis, in 972 or 973 Arduin and Rotbold led the successful assault on Fraxinetum itself. William meanwhile attacked the abductors of Abbot Maieul of Cluny. According to a later comital document of 1041, he took the cities of Tenda, Briga, and Saorgio from them and granted them concessions. Arduin was last recorded alive on 4 April 976. Despite the fact that he repatriated their land from the Saracens, the monks of Novalesa-who had fled Saracen incursions in 906 and were still in Turin as late as 929-accused him of disrespecting their rights: Ardoinus vir potens ... nobis tulit [vallem Segusinam] tantum ... erat plenus viciis ... superbia tumidus ... in adquirendis rebus alienis avaricie faucibus succensus.

Arduin married a woman named Vmille in the Necrologio Sanctæ Andreæ Taurinensis, probably Emilia or Immula. They had two daughters: Alsinda, who married Giselbert II of Bergamo, and Richilda, who married Conrad of Ivrea. Arduin was succeeded by his eldest son Manfred. He had two younger sons named Arduin and Otto.

Arduin — Emilia. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Named Vmille in the Necrologio Sanctæ Andreæ Taurinensis, probably Emilia or Immula.

Notes:

Adalbert Atto (or Adalberto Azzo) (died 13 February 988) was the first Count of Canossa and founder of that noble house which eventually was to play a determinant rôle in the political settling of Italy and the Investiture Controversy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

Adalbert first appears in sources as a son of Sigifred, who is called de comitatu Lucensi, signifying that he hailed from Lucca. He was originally a vassal of King Lothair II and a miles of Adelard, Bishop of Reggio. He rose to prominence rapidly by sheltering Queen Adelaide in his castle at Canossa after she fled from the castle of Garda (951), where Berengar II had imprisoned her.

In 958, he was made a count sine re, by Adelaide. He did not appear again as a count in documents until December 961, during Berengar's ascendancy. On 20 April 962, he appeared as count of Reggio and Modena (comes Regensis sive Mutinensis). These appointments were probably a further product of his support for Adelaide and her new husband, Otto I of Germany. With the queen, he negotiated a division of power with the bishop of Reggio whereby the bishop was confirmed as comes civitatis, count of the city, and Adalbert as comes comitatus, count of the county, where the county was said to begin three or four miles outside the city walls. He appears with a similar title, comes comitatus Mantuanensis, in Mantua in a letter of the abbess of Santa Giulia dated 10 June 977.

In 984, Adalbert appears as a margrave. When Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, was acclaimed as king that year, he united Parma, Piacenza, Bergamo, Cremona, and Brescia to Adalbert's territories. However, Henry's usurpation of the throne was brief.

Adalbert Atto built a monastery at Canossa in 961, dedicated to S. Apollonio in 971. He also built a monastery at Brescello. He and his family were all buried in S. Apollonio.

Adalbert married the Supponid Hildegard (Ildegarda) and had three sons: Geoffrey and Tedald, who became respectively bishop (970) and count (1001) of Brescia, and Rudolph, who predeceased him. He had a daughter Prangarda who married Manfred I of Susa.

Adalbert — Hildegard. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Oberto I Obizzo (also Otbert) (died 15 October 975) was an Italian count palatine and margrave and the oldest known member of the Obertenghi family. He was, by heredity, Count of Milan from 951. Otbert's father was Margrave Adalbert, about whom nothing is known other than his name and title.

Soon after assuming the Italian throne, Berengar II reorganised his territories south of the Po River, dividing them into three new marches (frontier districts) named after their respective margraves: the marca Aleramica of Aleram of Montferrat, the marca Arduinica of Arduin Glaber, and the marca Obertenga of Oberto. This last division consisted of eastern Liguria and was also known as the marca Januensis or March of Genoa. It consisted of Tuscany with the cities of Genoa, Luni, Tortona, Parma, and Piacenza.

In 960, he had to take refuge in Germany. The next year, Pope John XII asked Otto I of Germany to intervene in Italy to protect him from Berengar. When Otto took control of Italy, Oberto was able to return to his lands, with the title of count palatine confirmed by Otto.

He was succeeded as Count of Milan by his sons Adalberto II of Milan and later Oberto II. His great-grandson Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan founded the House of Este; this makes Otbert the top ancestor of the House of Este as well as of its branches, the House of Welf and the House of Hanover.