Adalbert, King of Italy

Male - Abt 972


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  • Name Adalbert , King of Italy  [1
    Suffix King of Italy 
    Gender Male 
    Died Abt 972  Autun, Saône-et-Loire, Bourgogne, France Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Notes 
    • He married Ermengarda of Tuscany, daughter of Adalbert, County of Tuscany. He succeeded to the title of King Adalbert of Italy in 950. He was deposed as King of Italy in 963.

      Adalbert (ca. 932 - ca. 975) was the king of Italy from 950 to 963. He was the son of the Margrave Berengar of Ivrea and Willa.

      On 15 December 950, both he and his father were crowned kings of Italy after the death of Lothair II. His father tried to force Adelaide, widow of Lothair, to marry Adalbert and cement their claim to the kingship. When she refused and fled, she was tracked down and imprisoned for four months at Como.

      In 951, King Otto I of Germany invaded Italy and rescued Adelaide, marrying her himself. He forced Berengar and Adalbert to do homage to him for their kingdom in 952. In 953, Adalbert began besieging Count Adalbert Azzo of Canossa, in his Canossan castle, where Adelaide had taken refuge two years prior. In 957, Liudolf, Duke of Swabia, invaded Lombardy and caused Berenagar to flee, though Adalbert gathered a large force at Verona. He was defeated, but Liudolf died prematurely and his army left.

      In 960, he joined his father in attacking the pope, John XII. Otto came down at the pope's call and defeated the two co-kings and was crowned Emperor. Adalbert fled to Fraxinet, then under the Saracens. From there he fled to Corsica. When he returned, he tried to take Pavia, the Italian capital, but was defeated by another invading Swabian army, this time under Burchard III. Only the interference of his brothers Conrad and Guy, who died fighting, saved him to fight another day, which he never did. His negotiations with the Byzantine Empire fell through and he retired with his wife Gerberga to Burgundy, where he died at Autun sometime between 971 and 975. His widow married Henry I, Duke of Burgundy, and his son, Otto-William, inherited through his stepfather the county of Burgundy and is thus the forefather of the Free Counts and the Hohenstaufen emperors.
    Person ID I3864  Bosdet Genealogy
    Last Modified 16 May 2013 

    Father Berengar d'Ivrea, King of Italy II,   b. Abt 900,   d. 06 Aug 966  (Age ~ 66 years) 
    Relationship Natural 
    Mother Willa di Toscana,   b. Bef 926,   d. Aft 06 Aug 966  (Age > 40 years) 
    Relationship Natural 
    Married Bef 936 
    Family ID F540  Group Sheet

    Family Gerberga of Mâcon 
    Children 
     1. Otto-William, Count of Burgundy,   b. 962,   d. 21 Sep 1026  (Age 64 years)
    Family ID F1915  Group Sheet

  • Sources 
    1. [S189] Dynasties of the World: a chronological and genealogical handbook, John Morby, (Name: Oxford University Press; Location: Oxford, Oxfordshire, U.K.; Date: 1989;).