Berengario II
Berengario IIBerengario appears in April 918 as comes et missus discurrens in Milan [Hlawitschka (1960), sketch of Adalbert von Ivrea, citing Codex dipl. Lang., 822 (#475) (not seen by me)]. When his father Adalberto died in 922×4, power in Ivrea passed to Adalberto's widow, Berengario's stepmother, Ermengarde. On 1 May 928, Berengario appears as marchio, filius bone memorie Adelberti illustris marchio(nis) [ibid., 894 (#526)]. King Lothario (Lothair) of Italy died on 22 November 950, and on 15 December 950, Berengario was crowned king at Pavia with his son Adalberto as joint king ["Et in viesimo quarto die qui fuit die di dominico 15. die Decembris, inter basilica sancti Michaeli qui dicitur maiore, fuerunt electi et coronati Berengarius et Adalbertus filio eius regibus, et regnaverunt in pace annos 12; et viscerunt se postquam coronam acceperant annis 24 et menses 4 et dies 5." Regum et imperatorum catalogi, MGH SS 3: 217; "Beringarius rex cum Adalberto filio suo primo anni sui regni erant ab incarnatione Domini anni 950. regnavit annos 11.", ibid.; most give 11 years, e.g., Annales breves, MGH SS 3: 188; Regum et imperatorum catalogi, MGH SS 3: 216, 218; "Berengarius quidam princeps Italiae, veneno ut ferunt necato Lothario rege, Hugonis filio, rex efficitur Italiae." Flodoard, Annales, s.a. 950, 128]. However, the German king Otto I invaded Italy and deprived Berengario and Adalberto of their kingdom in 961 ["Octo primus imperator primo anno sui regni erant ab incarnatione Domini anni 961. regnavit annos 11 et mens. 3." Regum et imperatorum catalogi, MGH SS 3: 217; "Tunc Otto rex eiecit eos de regno indic. 4. anno Domini 961" ibid., 218]. Struggling to regain his kingdom, Berengario was captured in 964, and was taken to the castle at Bamberg ["Isto anno Berengarius rex Langobardorum obsessus in monte sancti Leonis, ibique captus et cum vi deductus una cum regina eius cohabitatrice Willa in Baioariam ad castellum Bavenberg, ibique novissimum diem praesentis vitae dimisit." Annales Hildesheimenses, s.a. 964, MGH SS 3: 60; "Illum vero cum filiabus et coniuge captum secum devexit in Sueviam, ubi non multo post in amaritudine animae diem clausit extremum." Arnulf, Gesta archiepp. Mediol., i, 7, MGH SS 8: 8]. He died there in 966 ["Eodem anno Berengarius quondam Italiae rex exul moritur et in Babenberg regio more sepelitur; cuius vidua Willa, antequam sepeliretur, velum sibi sanctimoniale assumpsit." Regino, Chronicon (continuation), s.a. 966, 177].
Date of Birth: probably 900 or earlier.
Since he appears as a missus
in 918, it would be difficult to place his birth any later.
Place of Birth: Unknown.
Date of Death: 4 August 966.
The year appears in Regino's
continuation and in Annales necrologici Fuldenses, and
the date appears in several necrologies ["2. Non. Aug.
ob. Berenger rex." Annales necrologici Fuldenses,
s.a. 966, MGH SS 13: 200 (also Fontes rerum Germ., 3:
154, 157); "II [Non. Aug.] Berengarius rex obiit."
Necrologium Fuldense, Dümmler (1876b), 175; "ii.
[non. aug.] Berengarius rex." Kalendarium
necrologicum Weissenburgense, Fontes rerum Germ.,
4: 312; "ii. [non. aug.] Beringarus rex." Kalendarium
necrologicum beatae Mariae virginis in Monte Fuldensis, Fontes
rerum Germ., 4: 453; "II. Non. [Aug.] ...
Berengariu' rex ob." Calend. Merseb., 119].
Dümmler gave the date as 6 August 966 [Dümmler (1876a), 380],
an error which was followed by others [e.g., Brandenburg (1964),
3; Werner (1967), table; ES 2: 59]. However, the sources cited by
Dümmler clearly give 4 August (ii. Non. Aug.) as the
date [Dümmler (1876a), 381, n. 1].
Place of Death: Bamberg.
[Annales Hildesheimenses,
s.a. 964, MGH SS 3: 60; Regino, Chronicon
(continuation), s.a. 966, 177; see above]
Father: Adalberto, d. 922×4, margrave of Ivrea.
Mother: Gisela, daughter of Berengario I, king of Italy.
["Huius vero tam turpis sceleris auctor Adelbertus
Eporegiae civitatis marchio erat, cui et idem Berengarius filiam
suam, nomine Gislam, coniugio copularat; ex qua et filium
genuerat, cui avi sui vocabulum dederat." Liudprand, Antapodosis,
ii, 33, Dümmler (1877), 40; "... Gisla Berengarii regis
filia, Berengarii scilicet regis huius matre, ..."
ibid., ii, 56, p. 48; "Per id tempus Berengarius atque
Anscarius in Italia fratres clarebant, uno quidem patre,
Adelberto scilicet, Eporegiae civitatis marchione, sed non una
matre progeniti. Berengarium scilicet, uti praefati sumus, Gisla,
Berengarii regis filia, Anscarium autem Hermengarda, Adelberti
Tusciae provinciae marchionis, quam ex Berta, regis Hugonis
habuerat filia, peperit." ibid., v, 4, p. 102]
Spouse: m. before 936, Willa, d.
after 4 August 966, daughter of Boso, margrave of Tuscany.
["Eo tempore Berengarius iste, cuius tyrannide tota nunc
luget Italia, Eporegiae civitatis marchio habebatur. Cui rex Hugo
neptim suam, nomine Willam, quam ex Willa uxore sua Boso Tusciae
provinciae marchio, regis frater, genuerat, coniugem dedit."
Liudprand, Antapodosis, iv, 8, Dümmler (1877), 82]
Children:
["Berengarium ipsum arce quadam robusta
munitum diuturna vallans obsidione subegit, filiis circumquaque
dispersis Widone Adelberto et Conone." Arnulf, Gesta
archiepp. Mediol., i, 7, MGH SS 8: 8; "... filios
Berengarii ... Quorum Widone interfecto, Conone pactione quieto,
Adelbertus ceteris animosior diebus vitae omnibus factus est in
diversa profugus." ibid., i, 8, p. 9]
Adalberto, d. 975?; joint king of Italy, 950-961;
m. Gerberge, daughter of Lambert, count of Chalon.
Guido (Wido),
d. 25 June 965, margrave of Ivrea, 959-965.
["Quos in prima fluminis
egressione Adalbertus insiluit; ubi et frater eius Wido cum aliis
quam pluribus occubuit." Continuatio Reginonis,
s.a. 965, 176; "Purchardus dux Italiam hostiliter
ingressus, bellum cum Adalberto iniit; eoque fugato eiusque
fratre Widone interfecto, ad imperatorem victor rediit."
Annales Einsidlenses, s.a. 965, MGH SS 3: 143; "VII
K. [Iul.] Vuido filius Berengarii reg. ob." Calend.
Merseb., 116]
Conrad (Cona),
d. after 1001, margrave of Ivrea, Spoleto, and Camerino;
m. Ichilde, daughter of Arduin.
["... Adelbertus ... Cona frater
suus ..." Liudprand, Legatio, c. 30, Dümmler
(1877), 149; "Naus Corado qui et Cona marchio filius
bone memorie Berengarius gr. dei rex et Yhilda filia Ardoini item
ipse marchio iugalibus, ..." Dümmler (1876a), 459, n.
3]
Gisela, nun.
["... Berengarii scilicet uxor
Willa, ... duas commendaverunt gnatas, Gislam scilicet atque
Girbergam, ..." Liudprand, Antapodosis, v, 32,
Dümmler (1877), 117]
Gerberga, m. before August 961, Aledram,
margrave of Montferrat.
[Liudprand, Antapodosis, v, 32,
Dümmler (1877), 117 (see above)] Gerberga appears in a document
of August 961 as the wife of Aledram of Montferrat ["Aledramus
marchio filius Guillelmi comitis et Gilberga filia domini
Berengarii regis et Anselmus seu Oddo germani viventes lege
Salica, ipsi namque iugales, ..." Dümmler (1876a),
380, n. 1].
Rozala (Susanna), d. 1003;
m (1) ca. 968, Arnulf
II, d. 30 March 987, count of
Flanders;
m (2) ca. 988, Robert II, d. 20 July 1031, king
of France.
["Arnulfus, filius eius ex priori marito
Balduino, duxit filiam Berengeri regis Langobardorum, Ruzelam
quae et Susanna, ex qua suscepit Balduinum Barbatum." Genealogia
comitum Flandriae Bertiniana, MGH SS 9: 306; "Post
immaturum Arnulfi iunioris marchionis mortem, cuius avus Magnus
exstitit Arnulfus, Balduinus, filius eius, cum matre Rozala
derelictus est parvulus. Hic enim est qui postea Prolixae-barbae
dictus est Balduinus, cuius mater Rozala filia fuit Berengarii
regis Italiae, quae post mortem Arnulfi principis Roberto regi
Francorum nupsit, et Susanna dicta mutato nomine, regina
regnavit." Ex vita Bertulfi Renticensis, c.
33, MGH SS 15, part 2: 638]. Although it cannot be ruled out that
she was baptized under a double name, it seems more likely that
Rozala was her baptismal name and that Susanna was a name adopted
later.
Supposed son (evidence
suspicious):
Dado, count, father of Arduin, king of Italy.
[Pabst (1864); Chaume (1925), 539 (table
#6)] Dado is indicated in a few sources as the name of the father
of Arduin (d. 1015) king of Italy [e.g., "... Ardoinus,
comitis Dadonis filius, apud Ticinum quibusdam Lan gobardorum
sibi faventibus regni coronam usurparet." Johannes, Chronicon
Venetum, MGH SS 7: 35; see also Pabst (1864), 459]. The
record which would place Dado as a son of Berengario II is a
supposed donation of Arduin to the church of Pavia dated 26 March
1011, in which Arduin supposedly refers to his father Dado, patruus
Adalberto, and consobrinus germanus William ["donamus
pro anima patris nostri Daddonis et pro anima patrui nostri
domini Adelberti et ob remedium animarum rogante domino Wilhelmo
carissimo consobrino germano nostro" Pabst (1864), 460,
n. 1]. This Adalberto and William would, it is argued, be Adalberto (d. 975?), king of Italy, and Otte-Guillaume (d. 1026), count of Burgundy. Thus, the information
from this charter, if accurate, would support placing Dado as a
son of Berengario II. However, there is an anachronism which
casts suspicion on the charter and indicates that it is not
contemporary. The document states that the charter was enacted at
the episcopal palace at Bobbio ["Actum Bobil in
episcopali palatio" Pabst (1864), 459, n. 4], but a
statement of Tietmar shows that Bobbio was not promoted from an
abbacy to an episcopate until 1014 [Thietmar, Chronicon,
vii, 3, MGH SS 3: 837].
Brandenburg (1964) = Erich Brandenburg, Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen (Frankfurt, 1964).
Calend. Merseb. = Ludwig Hesse, "Calendrium Merseburgense", Zeitschrift für Archivkunde, Diplomatik und Geschichte 1 (1834): 101-150.
Chaume (1925) = Maurice Chaume, Les origines du duché de Bourgogne, 4 vols. (Dijon, 1925).
Codex dipl. Lang. = Codex diplomaticus Langobardiae (Historiae patriae monumenta, 13, Turin 1873). [I have not seen this work.]
Dümmler (1876a) = Rudolf Köpke & Ernst Dümmler, Kaiser Otto der Große (Leipzig, 1876).
Dümmler (1876b) = Ernst Dümmler, "Aus einer Fuldischen Handschrift", Forschungen zur Deutschen Geschichte 16 (1876): 168-177
Dümmler (1877) = Ernst Dümmler, ed., Liudprandi episcopi Cremonensis opera omnia (MGH SRG, Hannover, 1877).
ES = Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln (neue Folge), (Marburg, 1980-present).
Fontes rerum Germ. = Johann Friedrich Boehmer, Fontes rerum Germanicarum, 4 vols. (Stuttgart & Tübingen, 1843-68).
Hirsch (1862-75) = Siegfried Hirsch, Jahrbücher des Deutschen Reichs unter Heinrich II, 3 vols. (Berlin, 1862-4; Leipzig, 1875).
Hlawitschka (1960) = Eduard Hlawitschka, Franken, Alemannen, Bayern und Burgunder in Oberitalien (774-962) (Freiburg, 1960).
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Pabst (1864) = Hermann Pabst, "Arduins Geschlecht und Familienverbindungen", in Hirsch (1862-75), 2: 458-461 (Excurs IV).
Regino, Chronicon = Friedrich Kurze, ed., Reginonis abbatis Prumiensis Chronicon cum continuatione Treverensi (MGH SRG, Hannover, 1890).
Werner (1967) = Karl Ferdinand Werner, "Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen bis um das Jahr 1000 (1.-8. Generation)", Karl der Große 4 (1967): 403-483.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 20 September 2008.