Italian History - timeline

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA


December, 872 Death of Pope Adrian II. Election of the elderly Pope John VIII.

- Pope John VIII

873

Byzantine Benevento The besieged Adelchis of Benevento immediately appeals to the new Pope John VIII for assistance against Emperor Louis II. When that fails to materialize, Adelchis abandons his fealty to the Frankish Emperor Louis II and offers his allegiance to the Byzantine Emperor Basil I.

874

Death of Hunroch III of Friuli. He is succeeded by his brother, who ascends as Marquis Berengar of Friuli (future King of Italy and emperor).

Emperor Louis II returns to Pavia, taking with him the grandson of Bishop Landulf II of Capua and the son of Gauifer of Salerno as hostages to secure the good behavior of those two vassals.

Vikings overrun Brittany.

875

April, 875 Tuscany + Spoleto Marquis Adalbert I of Tuscany marries Rothilde, sister of Lambert I of Spoleto. With this marriage, the houses of Tuscany and Spoleto are united, creating an effective stranglehold on the Papal States.

August 875 Crisis of Imperial Succession. Death of Emperor Louis II in Brescia, the last of the senior Carolingian branch and king of Lombardy and Burgundy. Asked before his death whom he wanted to succeed him, Emperor Louis II designated his cousin, Carloman, eldest son of Louis the German. But the 817 Ordinatio had stipulated that if the senior branch died out, a general assembly of the Franks should decide upon the next emperor. Thus, his uncle, Charles the Bald of west Francia makes his bid.

At an Assembly of Pavia, the Lombard nobles are unable to decide and offer the crown of Lombardy to both Charles the Bald and Louis the German.

In the meantime, a mixed laical and clerical assembly in Rome debates the imperial crown. Pope John VIII pushes for the west Frankish ruler Charles the Bald, but the party led by Bishop Formosus of Porto pushes for the east Frankish candidate Carloman. But at length, the pope prevails and assembly offers the imperial crown only to Charles the Bald.

September, 875 On his way to his Roman coronation, Charles the Bald enters Italy. But Louis the German dispatches two of his sons -- Carloman and Charles the Fat -- to block his path. Charles the Bald defeats and sees off Charles the Fat. On being told that the fatty had left Italy, Carloman decides he doesn't have enough men to challenge Charles the Bald on his own and turns back too.

Fall, 875 Profiting from the death of Emperor Louis II, an Arab fleet from Taranto sails up the Adriatic and sacks Commacchio, putting it to flame. Then goes up to sack Grado (bishopric of the Venetian republic), but is repelled by a Venetian force.

December, 875 Charles the Bald arrives in Rome and is crowned as Emperor Charles II ("the Bald") by Pope John VIII on Christmas day.

- Emperor Charles II 'the Bald'

876

February, 876 With the imperial coronation under his belt and Carloman nowhere in sight, the Lombard nobility relents. Charles the Bald is acclaimed and crowned as King Charles II ("the Bald") of Lombardia in Pavia by Archbishop Anspert of Milan.

In one of his first acts, Charles II the Bald deposes Emperor Louis II's relative Suppo of Spoleto and restores Lambert I as Duke of Spoleto. Lambert's brother is invested as Marquis Guido of Camerino. Charles the Bald then invests his old pal and brother-in-law, Boso of Vienne (Ct. of Vienne, Lyons & Berry) as "Duke Boso ("Vienne") of Provence and Lombardia" (Charles's vice-regent in these domains).

March, 876 Charles the Bald leaves Italy. But his regent Boso is immediately approached by the Marquis Berengar of Friuli (a German partisan) and the dowager-Empress Engelberga (Emperor Louis II's widow), who offers her only daughter Irmengarda to Boso in return for supporting Carloman's claim.

March, 876 Formosan Crisis Getting wind that Pope John VIII hopes to use the new Emperor Charles II to get rid of the unsavory clique that had grown under Adrian II, the nomenclator Gregory, his son-in-law George of Aventino and Bishop Formosus of Porto flee Rome and take refuge with Lambert of Spoleto. A Synod is assembled at the Pantheon in Rome to pass judgment on the Formosan party. The accused don't show up.

876 Synod of Ponthion in France convened by Emperor Charles II the Bald in response to Pope John VIII's plea for military assistance against the resurgent Arabs. Bedeviled by his own chaos, Charles the Bald is unable to offer effective help and instead makes sweeping concessions to Pope John VIII. He reiterates the absolute supremacy of the Bishop of Rome, withdraws the imperial missus from Rome, he recognizes the old claims of Papal overlordship over Capua, cedes the revenues of the imperial monasteries of Farfa, Rieti and Mt. Sorate to the pope. In terms of concrete military assistance, Charles the Bald assigns Marquis Lambert I of Spoleto as "defender" of the Papal States ("Defensor Patrimonii Petri").

876 To ensure succession, Lambert I of Spoleto associates his son Guido II as co-ruler of Spoleto.

876 Holy League Not receiving Frankish assistance and not trusting the Marquises of Spoleto, Pope John VIII decides to take matters into his own hands and attempts to construct a league among the southern Italian states against the encroaching Arabs of the south. Taking a Roman army into Campania, John VIII secures the adherence of Landulf II of Capua and Guaifer of Salerno. But Amalfi, Naples and Gaeta refuse.

August, 876 Partition of Germany Death of Louis the German in Frankfurt. The Kingdom of the Eastern Franks is divided among his three sons: His second-born, Louis the Younger (III of Franks, II of Germany) receives the north German bulk (Franks of Franconia & east Lorraine + Saxons + Thuringians). But two kingdoms are set aside for his other brothers: the eldest, Carloman, receives the Bavarians (plus the Slavic subjects of Carinthia, Pannonia and Moravia) while the third-born, Charles the Fat, receives the Swabians in the southwest.


purple = Emperor Charles the Bald
olive = Louis the Younger of Germany
orange = Charles the Fat of Swabia
pink = Carloman of Bavaria
light blue = tributary states.

September, 876 Seeking to recover the remainder of Lorraine, Charles the Bald immediately invades German Lorraine, part of the territories of Louis the Younger. But Louis the Younger crosses the Rhine and defeats the invading army of Charles the Bald at the Battle of Coblenz (Battle of Andernach?)

876 The Tarantine sultan Othman defeats Adelchis of Benevento in three encounters, extracting from him a very favorable peace.

876 BYZANTINE INVASION OF ITALY At Beneventine invitation, the newly-restored Byzantine fleet under the stratego Gregory appears in the waters off Otranto. Informed that the citizens of Bari are being threatened by Taranto, Gregory sails up the Adriatic and disembarks in Bari, but rather than hold it for his "ally" Adelchis of Benevento, he seizes Bari in the name of the Byzantine Emperor Basil I. The Byzantines make it the capital of the new Byzantine Theme of Langobardia.

- Byzantines

877

After five years of successive governors in Sicily, the Aghlabids appoint Ja'far ibn Muhammad as governor of Sicily. He immediately restarts the campaign against the eastern still-Byzantine part of the island. He lays siege to Syracuse. A Byzantine relief fleet is destroyed by the Aghlabid navy. Towards the end of the year, with Syracuse well-blockaded from land and sea, Jafar returns to Palermo, leaving the siege in place.

June, 877 Assembly at Quierzy. Despite the crisis in France and over the opposition of his nobles, Charles the Bald fears for the wavering Boso of Vienne and announces his intention to lead an expedition to Italy to assist the Pope John VIII against the Arabs.

It is here that Charles the Bald issues the famous Edict of Quierzy making large feudal fiefs and beneficies hereditary in Frankish domains, thus introducing the concept of hereditary dukes and counts into feudalism.

June, 877 Conference in Taetto between the leaders of southern states. Pope John VIII manages to assemble Landulf II of Capua, Gauifier of Salerno, Docibilis of Gaeta, Sergius II of Naples and Puleari of Amalfi. Negotiations begin on the terms of their adherence to an anti-Arab Holy League. Large concessions are given to get adherence:
- Guaifer of Salerno adheres to the league, when John VIII agrees to drop claims on the papal benefices in that principality.
- The Republic of Amalfi agrees to adhere to the League for a payment of 10,000 mancusi. As soon as the Pope agrees, the Amalfitans as for another 12,000.
- Sergius II of Naples refuses to adhere outright -- and even begins conjurations with the Arabs and the Marquises of Spoleto.
- Republic of Gaeta adheres to the league when Pope John VIII enfeoffs the ruler, Duke John I of Gaeta with the patrimonies of Traetto and Fondi, adding the whole area running between Terracina to Gaeta. With this enfeoffment, Gaeta greatly increases in size and formally breaks off any remaining ties to the Duchy of Naples.

July, 877 Synod of Ravenna assembled to discuss the alienation of Church property by the magnates and the continuing Arab colonization in southern Italy. The council decides to prohibit enfeoffments of Church lands by bishops on laymen -- with the exception that the Pope himself may do so to people who have proven themselves exceptionally useful to the Roman Church (as has just happened with Gaeta).

September, 877 Carloman's invasion Leaving his son Louis the Stammerer of Aquitaine as regent, Charles the Bald departs on his journey to Italy, at the head of a small army. Pope John VIII, hearing of his arrival while in Ravenna, proceeds to Vercelli to meet him and then escorts him to Pavia and then on to Tortona, the presumed location of the Lombard mayfield. But the Lombard nobility isn't there. Through the influence of Berengar of Friuli and dowager Ermengarda, the Lombard regent Boso of Vienne and the bulk of the Lombard nobility are already in league with Carloman of Bavaria, who is at this moment bringing his own army over the Alps to seize the kingdom.

September, 877 News of a revolt back in France against Louis the Stammerer forces Charles the Bald to leave Tortona and rush to France quickly, abandoning Lombardia to Carloman's party. Pope John VIII scurries back to Rome.

An angry Charles summons Boso of Vienne to France to explain himself. Boso appoints his brother Richard the Justicar as his regent in Provence and Lombardia during his absence.

October, 877 Death of Emperor Charles II (the Bald) in the Maurienne, on his way back from Italy to France. His eldest son, Louis the Stammerer of Aquitaine, ascends as King Louis II ("The Stammerer") of the West Franks (Franks of Neustria & West Lorraine + Burgundians + Aquitaine). But Lombardia goes to their cousin Carloman of Bavaria, who arrives in Pavia and acclaimed by the Frankish lords as King Carloman ('Bavaria') of the Lombards.

- Carloman of Bavaria, King of the Lombards.

Louis II the Stammerer, King of the West Franks.



purple = Louis II the Stammerer
olive = Louis the Younger
orange = Charles the Fat
pink = Carloman of Bavaria

The imperial throne remains temporarily vacant as Pope John VIII negotiates with both parties.

October, 877 With Papal encouragement, Sergius II of Naples is deposed, blinded and dispatched to Rome by his brother Bishop Athanasius of Naples, who duly ascends as Duke Athanasius II of Naples.

November, 877 Carloman falls sick and returns to Bavaria.

877 Death of St. Ignatius, Patriarch of Constaninople. The former schismatic Patriarch Photius I is restored as Patriarch of Constantinople. Seeking a rapprochement with the Byzantines (the only ones with a chance to reimpose order in increasingly anarchic southern Italy and break the Spoletan noose), a desperate Pope John VIII decides to turn back the policy of his predecessors and recognize the rehabilitation of Photius.

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA


878

In Rome, things don't look good. The Formosan exiles have turned the powerful Spoletan clan (Lambert of Spoleto, Guido of Camerino and Adalbert of Tuscany) decidedly against this pope. The promises of riches from papal lands whets their appetites. They use Pope John's non-endorsement of Carloman as a cover for action.

March, 878 Spoleto seizes Rome Taking matters into their own hands, the marquises Lambert I of Spoleto and Guido of Camerino arrive in Rome at the head of a large army, accompanied by the Formosan party. The gates are opened by their party and they quickly take hold of the city, besieging the Pope John VIII in the Leonine city. In the meantime, the Spoletans force the clergy and people of Rome to swear fealty to Carloman of Bavaria and order the restoration of the property of the Formosan exiles. The Pope excommunicates Lambert and Guido and orders uprisings against them.

April, 878 After thirty days of siege, hiding the Papal treasure in the Lateran palace and paying off the Arabs with 25,000 mancusi for a truce, the elderly Pope John VIII escapes from Rome, heads down the Tiber on a galley provided by Athanasius II of Naples and sails up to Genoa, and then into Francia to seek refuge with Louis II the Stammerer.

Spring, 878 Sicilian governor Ja'far dispatches his lieutenant Abu Isa with reinforcements to take charge of the siege of Syracuse. He begins an energetic series of assaults and manages to create a breach in the defenses. Syracusans attempt a desperate defense of the breach, but are swiftly overwhelmed by Arab forces. In May, Syracuse falls to the Aghlabids. The city is thoroughly sacked and its fortifications dismantled. A few Byzantine outposts remain (notably Taormina), but, with the fall of Syracuse, Byzantium effectively surrenders any hope of regaining the island.

- Fall of Syracuse (Skylitzes cron.)

- Aghlabid Emirate of Ifriqiya
permanent (red), loosely-held/temporary (orange)

August, 878 Council of Troyes With the presence of the exiled Pope John VIII, King Louis II the Stammerer of the West Franks convenes a council to discuss the barons' revolt in southern France, the sudden appearance of a new pretender (Lothair II's bastard Hugh of Lorraine) and the situation in Italy. Louis II is consecrated again by Pope John VIII, but the process does not proceed to its logical conclusion of a Lombard and Imperial coronation as Louis decides not to get involved with either the quarrel with Spoleto or against the Arabs. The Pope decides to go to Italy and try his luck with the unreliable but ambitious Boso of Vienne.

Fall, 878 Assembly at Pavia of Lombard lords convened by Boso of Vienne on behalf of Pope John VIII. But the pope has no better luck there. Boso of Vienne is keen, but the Italian bishops and nobles refuse. His hopes defeated, John VII returns to Rome and the gangster-like "protection" of the Marquises of Spoleto.

878 Death of Adelchis of Benevento, the rebellious ruler that has (since 873) sworn allegiance to Byzantium. He is succeeded by Prince Gaideric of Benevento.

878 Sicilian governor and conqueror of Syracuse, Ja'far ibn Muhammad, is assassinated by a relative. After a brief rule by Aghlab ibn Muhammad, he is replaced by an old Sicilian governor, Hussein ibn Ribbah.

878 Partition of England. After another series of battles, Alfred and the Danish Vikings agree to the Peace of Wedmore, dividing England diagonally between Wessex (under Alfred) in the southwest and Danelaw (under York Vikings) in the northeast.

878 Vikings sack Ghent.

878 Count Wilfred 'the Hairy' of Barcelona declares himself independent of Frankish monarchy. The County of Barcelona will continue on as an independent state.

November, 878 Conference at Fouron between Louis II the Stammerer of the West Franks and Louis II the Younger of East Franks settles the borders between their kingdoms.

- Louis II the Stammerer of West Franks with Louis the Younger of the East Franks.

878 Death of Archbishop John X of Ravenna. He is succeeded by Archbishop Romanus of Ravenna. Resuming earlier independence, Romanus treats the papal representatives with hostility and admits agents from Spoleto into Ravenna. He also fails (or encourages?) encroachments on papal territory, notably by the Lambert of Spoleto on the Pentapoli and Berengar of Friuli and the Republic of Venice on the Po delta.

879

879 Kievan Rus Death of the Varangian Prince Rurik of Novgorod. Having expanded the Varangian principality southwards along trade routes, Rurik's successor, Grand Prince Oleg will transplant the capital of the Varangian state to Kiev (Ukraine) in 882, thereby inaugurating the 'Kievan Rus'. Varangian expansion southwards will continue along the Volkhov and Dnieper rivers, towards the Black Sea, absorbing the eastern Slavs along the way and drawing lands away from the Khazars.

- Kiev
Prinec Oleg
Map of Kievan Rus

March, 879 War of Capuan Succession. Death of the mystic Bishop and Duke Landulf II of Capua. Capua is partitioned into little bits among his nephews. Pandenulf (son of Duke Pando) is restored to the title of Duke of Capua (he had been deposed by his uncle back in 861) and receives, as fiefs, Caserta and Teano. The sons of Landenulf (a brother who had never been Duke) are also invested: Atenolf receives Calvo and Lando receives Calinio and Caiazzo. Finally, a grand-nephew Lando (son of Duke Lando II) receives Stessa and Berolais. It's a perfect recipe for disaster. The cousins rebel and appeal to their neighbors for support.

Seeing an opportunity, Pope John VIII offers Pandenulf assistance against his cousins; in return, Pandenulf accepts to make Capua a vassal state of the Holy See once again. Both Naples and Amalfi cry foul and break with the Pope, resuming their old alliance with the Arabs. Mercenary Arab companies are raised and paid by the maritime states to venture into the Capuan bog.

Pope John VIII offers Amalfi a greater bribe to desist, but they not only refuse it, they also refuse to return the money already paid. The Pope excommunicates Amalfi, but they remain defiant. When the Neapolitan Bishop Athanasius refuses to dissolve his Arab companies, the Pope induces a Byzantine fleet to attack Naples (it fails).

April 879 Death of King Louis II the Stammerer of the West Franks. His eldest but illegitimate teenage son ascends as King Louis III of the West Franks receives the northern bulk of it (Neustria and Lorraine), while his brother is acclaimed as co-king Carloman II takes the south (Aquitaine and Upper Burgundy). A third (and only legitimate) son, Charles the Simple, is an infant and receives nothing. Both of the bastard kings are immediately challenged by Louis the Younger of Germany, who claims the French throne for himself.

Louis III of Neustria and Carloman II of Aquitaine - the bastard co-kings of the West Franks. (19th C. portrait)

October, 879 KINGDOM OF LOWER BURGUNDY. At Motaille, Count Boso of Vienne -- Italian regent and Duke of Provence and Count of Arles, Vienne, Lyons, Macon, Chalon, Autun, Berry, etc., son-in-law of Emperor Louis II, proclaims himself the independent King Boso ("Vienne") of Lower Burgundy ('Cisjurane Burgundy' or 'Provence'). The kingdom encompasses not only the vast realms of Boso (Lyonnais, Viennois, Berry, Arles, Macon, Chalon & Autun), but also all the neithboring bishoprics, from Chalons to Geneva, which elected him protector. He installs his capital at Vienne and appoints the Archbishop of Lyons his chancellor. He proceeds to mint money, appoint counts, etc.

- Boso of Vienne, Duke of Lombardia, King of Lower Burgundy

Bosonid House of Arles - One of Boso's appointees, the new Count Theobald of Arles, marries the ambitious Bertha of Lorraine, an illegitimate daughter of Lothair II of Lotharingia and his concubine Valdrada. Bertha will have a large role to play in future Italian history.

- Arles

October, 879 The sickly Carloman of Bavaria cedes Lombardia to his brother, Charles the Fat of Swabia. Charles the Fat immediately takes an army over the Alps into Italy.

October, 879 Pope John VIII proceeds to Ravenna to meet the new Italian king Charles the Fat, but it doesn't go well. Even the promise of an imperial coronation does not persuade Charles to come south to Rome or give assistance against the Arabs. Charles insists on referring the Pope to the appointed "protectors" of the Papal States, the hated Lambert I of Spoleto and his brother-in-law, Adalbert I of Tuscany.

879 Death of Lambert I of Spoleto. His son, co-ruler since 876, rules on alone as Margrave Guido II of Spoleto. His uncle continues as Guido of Camerino.

879 The Great Viking Armada, exiting from England, lands in northern France and proceeds to plunder Flanders, Artois and Picardie.



Viking settlements in Normandy

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA


880

January, 880 Assembly at Ravenna. Charles the Fat arrives in Ravenna, where he is acclaimed by Lombard barons as King Charles III ("the Fat") of the Lombards.

- Charles III ('the Fat') of Swabia, King of the Lombards.

February, 880 Louis III of France defeats the Viking armada at the Battle of Charleroi.

March, 880 Death of Carloman of Bavaria. His Bavarian domains are inherited by his younger brother, Louis II the Younger, King of the East Franks. But provision is made for Carloman's bastard son, who is recognized as Marquis Arnulf of Carinthia. Another younger brother Charles the Fat of Swabia is already in possession of Lombardy.

June, 880 Conference at Gondreville between the four Frankish kings, Louis III of West Franks, Carloman of Aquitaine, Charles III the Fat of Swabia-Lombardia and a representative of Louis II the Younger of Germany, all in league against Boso of Vienne, usurper in Lower Burgundy. They have the blessing of Pope John VIII for the enterprise.

The Carolingians invade Provence. Boso rushes to wall himself up in the fortress of Vienne. During the siege of Vienne, the Carolingians proceed to re-allocate Bosonid lands among various local lords (most notably, granting Autun to Richard the Justicar, future duke of Burgundy)). But unable to seize Vienne itself, they gradually peel away from the siege. Boso survives the assault.

Charles the Fat quits the siege of Vienne in November and returns to Italy, heading down to Rome to get an imperial coronation. Pope John VIII forbids him from crossing the border into the Papal States until an agreement is reached on the terms of his coronation (specifically, Pope wants confirmation of earlier Papal-Imperial pacts, the reduction of Spoleto and assistance against the Arabs).

880 Treaty of Ribemont between the Frankish kings. The young French monarch, Louis III, is reduced to merely Neustria. Western Lorraine is given to Louis the Younger of Germany (and thus Lorraine reunited as part of the German kingdom).



light purple = Louis III of Neustria
dark purple = Carloman II of Aquitaine + Duchy of Burgundy
olive = Louis the Younger of East Franks + Bavaria + Lorraine
orange = Boso of Provence (Lower Burgundy)
pink = Charles the Fat of Swabia + Lombardia + Upper Burgundy

More significantly, Burgundy is partitioned in three:
(1) French Burgundy (Duchy of Burgundy & Lyonnais) goes to Carloman II of Aquitaine;
(2) Upper Burgundy (Franche-Comte & Switzerland) go to Charles III the Fat of Swabia-Lombardy;
(3) Lower Burgundy (Provence, Dauphine) is confirmed to Boso of Arles as a separate kingdom.

880 Byzantine offensive - Hoping to avenge the fall of Syracuse and check the strength of the Aghlabid navy (then continuing their depredations throughout the east Mediterranean), the Byzantine emperor dispatches a fleet under Nasar, who destroy the Aghlabid navy at the bloody naval Battle of Modone off the coast of Greece.

Byzantine-Arab naval battle

The sea cleared, Nasar proceeds to Palermo and lands an expeditionary force to sack its suburbs before heading back. He leaves a squadron in the waters off the island. Nasar then goes to Calabria, joins up with the local captains Procopius and Leo Apostippi and conquers most of Calabria from the Arabs.
Nasar then defeats yet another Aghlabid fleet sent against him at the naval Battle of Cape Stilo, before returning to Constantinople.

- Arab-Byzantine battle (Procopius is in the middle) (Skylitzes cron.)

Fall of Taranto - With Nasar gone, the Byzantine advance in Calabria is slowed down by the rivalry between Procopius and Leo. However, they soon get their act together and, after forty years, the Arab citadel of Taranto falls to Leo's forces. With Bari and Taranto lost, streams of Arab refugees from Apulia proceed towards the west coast.

- Taranto falls (Byzantines in, Saracens out) (Skylitzes cron.)

Bishop-Duke Athansius II of Naples, still miffed by the Papal-Byzantine attack in the previous year, invites the fleeing Arabs from the Greek onslaught in Calabria and Apulia to settle in Naples, between the city walls and Sebeto. He deploys the arriving Arabs to harass Capua. In one such raid, Athanasius of Naples, joined by the Arabs and the militia of Gaeta, proceeds against castrum Pilense, a fortified village near Capua.

But the Arabs go further on their own, sacking Teano, Caserto and all the way up into the Roman Campagna. Others go south and establish an advance base inland at Cetara (between Salerno and Amalfi), where they secure the agreement from the Prince Gauimar I of Salerno, but subsequently break it, raid the principality and even lay siege to Salerno. Another advanced Arab base is established at Sepiano (between Boiano and Telese), where after some fierce fighting, they extract a peace from Guido II of Spoleto, who allows them to stay.

Byzantine Salerno Reeling from the Arab assault from Cetara, Guaimar I of Salerno makes contact with the Greek forces in Calabria and offers to switch Salerno's nominal allegiance from the Lombard kingdom to the Byzantine Emperor in return for money and men. He will later go to Constantinople and receive the title of 'patricius' from Emperor Basil.

880 Guido II of Spoleto appoints his uncle Guido III of Camerino (brother of Lambert I and future Holy Roman Emperor) as co-ruler of Spoleto.

880 Death of Guaifer of Salerno. His son and co-ruler ascends as Prince Guaimar I of Salerno.

881

February, 881 Ignoring the pope's demands, Charles the Fat of Swabia-Lombardy proceeds to Rome and is crowned as Emperor Charles III ("the Fat") by the Pope John VIII. He immediately returns back to northern Italy, leaving the Pope at the mercy of his "protectors", the Marquises of Spoleto, and the encroaching Arabs from Naples.

881 Pope John VIII proceeds to Capua and invests Landulf (brother of Pandenulf) as Bishop of Capua. Again, the Neapolitans cry foul. Athanasius of Naples goes on the offensive and seizes Pilense from the Capuans.

881 Sicilian governor Hussein ibn Rabbah is succeeded by Hassan ibn Abbas. Hassan puts down a revolt near Catania and defeats and kills the captain of the Byzantine garrison at Taormina.

881 Synod of Rome assembled to address the issue of Church property and the Arab refugees in the Campania. Condemnation of Archbishop Romanus of Ravenna for his misgovernment and connivance with Spoletan encroachments on Papal land. Also condemned and excommunicated is the Bishop-Duke Athansius of Naples, for his continued sponsorship of the Arabs in the Campania region.

In response to his condemnation at the Synod, Athanasius of Naples invites a large Arab contingent from Sicily, under the command of a certain "Sichaimo", who proceed to settle on the eastern face of the Mt. Vesuvius. But the raids of the new Sicilian colony prove themselves even more uncontrollable than those of the Apulian refugees. They go on a pillaging spree in the Volturno valley, sacking the Benedictine monastery of St. Vincenzo- in-Volturno, and then raiding the lands of the lords of Venafra and Boiano and threaten Benevento itself.

In the chaos, Gaideric of Benevento is deposed by his nephew, who ascends as Prince Radelchis II of Benevento. Gaideric flees to exile in Constantinople. He will eventually return to Italy, but not to his principality. The Emperor Basil will dispatch Gaideric as his protospatario to govern the city of Oria in Apulia.

882

January, 882 German inheritance Death of the King Louis the Younger of the East Franks-Bavaria-Lorraine. All his domains pass on to his younger brother, Emperor Charles III the Fat.

February, 882 Assembly at Ravenna convened by Charles the Fat at the urging of John VIII. The Margraves of Spoleto and Camerino agree to restore Papal territories in the Pentapolis. But before anything happens, the assembly breaks up with the news of the death of Louis the Younger and Charles the Fat's hurried departure back to Germany in April.

Spring, 882 Hassan is killed in an ambush near Caltavultro. Aghlabid forces, under the command of the new Sicilian governor Muhammad ibn Fahdl, resume their campaign and ravage the suburbs around Catania and Taormina.

April, 882 Diet of Worms of East Frankish nobles convened by Charles the Fat to deal with the Viking threat, who are in control of the Rhine and happily installed at Cologne, Bonn, Aachen and Trier. A large army is to be raised to dislodge them.

Treaty of Esloo - The Frankish army encounters the Viking colonists at Esloo. Realizing their numerical inferiority, the Danish chieftan Gottfried cuts a deal: in return for their conversion to Christianity and withdrawl from the upper Rhine, the Charles the Fat grants him the title of Duke of Friesland (long occupied, but formalized) and all the privileges that go with it.

Fall, 882 Saracen Agropolis Regretting having invited these powerful Sicilian guests, Athansaius of Naples makes a secret deal with the Capuans and Gauimar of Salerno to destroy the powerful Sicilian colony by the Vesuvius. Combining their forces (to which a Byzantine contingent is added), the Christians expel the Sicilians from the bay of Naples. But the Sicilians proceed south to form a new colony at Agropolis (on the Salerno-Calabrian border), where they are entrench themselves quite well.

882 Death/deposition of Guido II of Spoleto. His uncle and co-ruler, Guido of Camerino, ascends alone as Margrave Guido III of Spoleto.

August, 882 Death of Louis III of Neustria in a riding accident His brother and co-ruler, Carloman II of Aquitaine-Burgundy becomes sole ruler of the Western Franks.

August, 882 Richard the Jusiticar of Autun besieges Vienne. Boso of Provence submits to Carolingian overlordship.

December, 882 Death of the energetic but failed Pope John VIII, poisoned by "familiars". Election of Pope Marinus I without imperial consent He immediately renews the condemnation of Patriarch Photius I of Constantinople and reinstates Formosus, Bishop of Porto

- Pope Marinus I

883

April, 883 Charles the Fat goes to Italy to inquire into the election of the new Pope Marinus. After an assembly with Frankish lords at Verona, he proceeds to Mantua to meet with an embassy of Doge Giovanni Participazio II of Venice. A new treaty is signed, with Venetian status & privileges are confirmed. An extradition clause is inserted into the treaty.

883 Charles the Fat proceeds to the monastery of Nonantola, where he meets Pope Marinus I. Marinus delivers the usual litany of complaints against the official "protector" of Rome, Guido III of Spoleto-Camerino - everything from exprorpiating papal and imperial property, threating the monastery of Farfa and intrigues with the Byzantine Emperor. After listening to Pope's complaints, Charles the Fat orders Guido III of Spoleto-Camerino to appear before a tribunal.

Spoleto Revolt Guido III of Spoleto-Camerino refuses to appear before an imperial tribunal and goes into revolt, seizing imperial assets and assembling an army packed with Arab auxiliaries. Charles the Fat dispatches the Marquis Berengar of Friuli against him. After a few successful encounters, Berengar's armies are hit by an epidemic and forced to retire.

883 Saracen Garigliano At the invitation of Docibilis of Gaeta, the powerful Sicilian Arabs of Agropolis transplant themselves to the area of Garigliano (between Miturnae and the mouth of the Garigliano river). Joined by other Arab refugees, the area quickly becomes an Arab stronghold. Raids in the Campania are resumed. Raiders and colonists from Garigliano proceed to set up bases and settlements in the Roman countryside as far north as Orte.

Fall, 883 Sack of Monte Cassino In two raids (September & November), the Arabs of Garigliano sack of the flagship Abbey of Monte Cassino. The bulk of the monastic community flee to Teano, where they will remain until 949 (Monte Cassino itself will continue to be tended by Benedictine caretakers, but the abbey will remain largely abandoned.)

November, 883 Charles the Fat returns to Germany, intending to raise a larger army for the campaign against Spoleto next year.

884

884 Under the leadership of their king Svatopluk, the Moravians invade the Frankish march of Pannonia. Unable to handle so many things at once, Charles the Fat makes a swift agreement with the Moravians.

Map of Great Moravia, c. 890

May, 884 Death of Pope Marinus I, possibly by poisoning. Election of Pope Adrian III. He reverses course, going against the Formosan party and even has George of Aventino blinded.

884 Carloman II of France gives the Vikings some 1200 pounds of silver, raised by extraordinary taxes and the plundering of Frankish monasteries, to make them go away.

884 Muhammad ibn Fahdl is replaced by Hussein ibn Ahmed as Aghlabid governor of Sicily. He continues his campaigns against Byzantine Taormina.

884 Deposition of Radelchis II of Benevento by his brother, who ascends as Prince Aione II of Benevento. He will fight against Byzantine hegemony, even capturing Bari, but will eventually come to terms with the Byzantine Emperor and restore Bari.

Fall, 884 Charles the Fat takes his army to Italy (via Carinthia) to put Spoleto in order.

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA

December, 884 Reunification of Carolingian Empire. Death of the eighteen-year-old Carloman II of the Western Franks in a hunting accident. With France so threatened, the Frankish lords decide to pass over his younger brother, the five-year-old Charles the Simple, and, instead, offer the domains held by the Western Frankish crown (Neustria, Aquitaine & Burgundy) to Emperor Charles III the Fat of Germany & Lombardy. For the first time since Charlemagne, the Carolingian empire is once again, in the hands of one man.

- Empire of Charles III the Fat.

884 Death of Adalbert I of Tuscany, brother-in-law of the Margraves of Spoleto. His son succeeds him as Margrave Adalbert II ('the Rich') of Tuscany.

885

Viking lord Gottfried of Friesland rips up his treaty of Esloo with Charles the Fat and resumes his incursions down the Rhine. He makes common cause with his brother-in-law, the pretender Hugh of Lorraine, a bastard son of Lothair II, who hopes to recover his inheritance. But the fortuitious action of north Frankish counts puts an end to the the Friesan incursion. Gottfried of Friesland is killed and Hugo of Lorraine is captured and forced to submit, his eyes poked out and dispatched to the monastery of Saint-Gall.

However, Gottfried's successor, Siegfried, receiving reinforcements from Scandinavia, renews the incursion, and seizes Amiens. From there, he proceeds into Lorraine and seizes Louvain.

January, 885 Prior to any clash of arms, Guido III of Spoleto and his partisans present themselves at Pavia and submit to Charles the Fat, restoring all appropriated property.

May, 885 Receiving news of the West Frankish offer and the renewed Norman incursion, Charles the Fat leaves Italy and proceeds to Francia. His attempts to dislodge Siegfried from Louvain meet with failure.

885 With hardly a victory to his name, Emperor Basil I recalls the ltalian govenor Stephen Massenzio from Italy, and sends Nicephoros Phocas to take charge of the Byzantine campaign in Italy. Nicephoros takes Amantea, S. Severin and Tropea, and then takes much of the rest of Calabria and Apulia for the Byzantine Empire.

885 Charles the Fat designates his bastard son, Bernard, as his heir, ignoring the claims of his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia (bastard son of Carloman of Bavaria) and Charles the Simple (youngest son of Louis II the Stammerer of France). The Frankish bishops protest, so Charles summons Pope Adrian III to come to Worms to resolve the issue. Adrian III leaves Rome in the hands of Bishop John of Pavia and heads to Germany.

November, 885 Siege of Paris. Vikings led by Rolf (Rollo) proceed to capture Rouen, Pontoise and lay siege to Paris. The young count Eudes of Paris rallies the Parisian defenses.

- Eudes at Paris

885 Death of Sicilian governor Hussein ibn Ahmed. He is replaced by Sawdan ibn Muhammad as Aghlabid governor of Sicily. Facing growing tensions between recently-arrived Arabs and older Berbers, he negotiates a truce with the Byzantine garrison of Taormina.

September, 885 Death of Pope Adrian III, after setting out to join Charles the Fat on the succession issue. Election of Pope Stephen V . But a confusion ensues. Right after the election, Charles the Fat's chancellor, Liutuard arrives in Rome with instructions to depose the Pope. Pope Stephen V protests that the election and consecration was made in the presence of the imperial missi, and dispatches his own legates to Regensburg inviting Charles the Fat to Rome personally inquire into the validity of the election. Amazingly, given the Northmen pressures, Charles the Fat accepts the invitation -- although probably with the intention of curbing Byzantine inroads on the peninsula.

- Pope Stephen V.

885 Pope Stephen V enfeoffs Bishop John of Pavia with the Papal duchy of Commacchio.

886

February, 886 Despite the Viking assault on northern France, Emperor Charles III the Fat proceeds to Italy, ostensibly to inquire into the election of Pope Stephen V and his intrigues with Guido III of Spoleto. He only gets so far as Pavia, when he receives urgent news of the imminent fall of Paris and rushes back.

November, 886 At long last, a large Frankish army under Emperor Charles III the Fat arrives in the outskirts of Paris. But rather than engage the Vikings in a decisive battle, Charles pays them some 700 pounds of silver to lift their siege and winter unmolested in Burgundy (that is, pillage it). Frankish noblemen are outraged at the cessions, contrasting the bravery of Eudes and the people of Paris against the cowardice of Charles the Fat.

886 Kingdom of England Alfred I of Wessex re-captures London (Essex) from the Danes and is recognized as the "King of All England"

886 Death of Emperor Basil I "the Macedon". His son Leo (or rather, probably stepson; as Basil I had married Eugenia Ingerina, mistress of former Amorian Emperor Michael III, who fathered Leo illegitimately) ascends of Emperor Leo VI ("the Wise") of Byzantium.

- Byzantine Emperor Leo VI 'the Wise'.

Fall, 886 Palermo Uprising breaks out from the tensions between newly-arrived Ifriqiyans and older settled Arabs and Berbers. The Sicilian governor Sawdan ibn Muhammad is captured and sent back to Ifriqiya. The Sicilians elect a local hero, Abu al-Abbas ibn Ali.

887

Disintegration of Provence. Death of Boso of Vienne, putative King of Lower Burgundy (Provence), leaving a son, Louis ('the Blind'). But he is unable to assert himself over his powerful vassals, the break-away kingdom of Provence begins to disintegrate into feudal anarchy, under the Count Theobald of Arles, and other counts of Savoy, Viennois-Dauphine, Orange, etc.

Spring, 887 The exiled Ifriqiyan governor returns to Sicily, rebel governor Abu al-Abbas ibn Ali voluntarily surrenders his power. The Sicilian uprising has been brief, but it gives the remaining Byzantine forces at Taormina a breather.

887 Capuan Peace Death/deposition of Landone III the Parricide. Atenulf (son of Landenulf) manages to impose himself and ascend as the sole Count Atenulf I of Capua, putting an end to the Capuan civil war.

887 Byzantine-Benevento conflict Guaimar I of Salerno invites a Byzantine army against the Arabs near Vesuvius. The Byzantines take several Lombard towns along the way. In retaliation, the angry Prince Aio of Benevento takes Bari. But seeing an opportunity, Athanasius II of Naples invades Benevento, then unprotected. Aio rushes back to Benevento and ravages the Terra di Lavoro.

887 Annoyed at his ineffectiveness against Dalmatian piracy, the Venetian people demand that Doge Giovanni Participazio II effectively abdicate the throne by appointing Pietro Candiano I as associate doge of Venice. But Pietro Candiano is killed later that year in an expedition against the pirates -- the first doge to die in battle. Giovanni Participazio II resumes the sole dogeship while the Venetians scour for a successor.

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA

887

November, 887 KINGDOM OF GERMANY - Diet of Tribur. At an assembly near Frankfurt, East Frankish noblemen depose Emperor Charles III ("the Fat") and elect Margrave Arnulf of Carinthia (illegitimate son of Carloman of Bavaria) as King Arnulf ("Carinthia") of the East Franks. He makes it known he intends to procure the imperial crown.



December, 887 KINGDOM OF ITALY - Assembly of Pavia.the lords of Lombardia elect the Marquis Berengar of Friuli, a grandson of Louis I the Pious (through his daughter Gisela), as King Berengar I ("Friuli") of the Lombards. Berengar's candidacy was carried on the support of the 'pro-German' Lombard nobility (i.e. those who had earlier supported Carloman of Bavaria), notably the powerful Supponid clan which held Brescia, Parma, Piacenza, Modena and other places in th north. But the 'pro-French' nobility (i.e. those who had been partisans of Charles the Bald), more the southerly Tuscan and Spoletan lords, are disinclined.



888

January, 888 Death of Emperor Charles III, having already lost his German and Lombard crowns.

January, 888 KINGDOM OF UPPER BURGUNDY - Assembly of St. Moritz. The barons of upper Burgundy (Transjurane Burgundy) acclaim Duke Rudolf of Auxerre, grandnephew of Empress Judith (second wife of Louis the Pious) has himself acclaimed as King Rudolf I ('Auxerre') of Upper Burgundy.



February, 888 KINGDOM OF FRANCE - Assembly of Compiègne. Most of the barons of West Francia (France) elect the valiant Count Eudes of Paris as King Eudes of France.




888 Aquitaine's Rebellion Unwilling to recognize a non-Carolingian king, Duke Rainulf II of Poitou-Aquitaine, guardian of Charles the Simple, goes into rebellion and takes up the title of "King of Aquitaine" over his domains.

March, 888 Spoleto's Ambition Encouraged by his French relative, the Archbishop Foulques of Rheims, Duke Guido III of Spoleto crosses the Alps into Burgundy, on his way to claim the West Frankish throne for himself and is, indeed, crowned King of the West Franks at Langres by the Bishop Geilone of Langres. But learning of the acclamation of Eudes at Compiegne a fortnight earlier, Guido III of Spoleto abandons France and decides to go seize Berengar's crown instead.

Guido is pushed on by his ambitious wife Angeltrude (daughter of the notorious Adelchis of Benevento) and confident in the support of his nephew, Adalbert II of Tuscany. He has the support of his relatives in Burgundy and the anti-Formosan party in Rome (headed by Pope Stephen V himself). Guido recruits the support of the counts Maginfred of Milan and Siegfried of Piacenza and, combining those with his own forces from Spoleto and Camerino, Guido II of Spoleto takes the field against the Lombard King Berengar of Friuli (then at Verona)

June, 888 Eudes of France goes to Worms to do homage to Arnulf of Germany, thus formally recognizing the German king's claim of overlordship over all.

888 Giovanni Participazio II steps down. Election of Doge Pietro Tribuno of Venice (of the Tradonico clan). Pietro immediately signs a treaty with Berengar of Friuli. Henceforth, any Venetian anywhere in Italy will remain under the jurisdiction of Venetian laws rather than imperial ones.

www.doge.it/immagini/dogi/17.jpg]Pietro Tribuno[/img]

October, 888 Lombard king Berengar I of Friuli defeats challenger Duke Guido III of Spoleto at the Battle of Brescia. A truce is called between the two.

October, 888 Rudolf I of Upper Burgundy goes to Regensburg and does homage to Arnulf of Germany as imperial overlord.

Winter, 888-89 First Expedition of Arnulf Having acquired the recognition of overlordship over France and Burgundy, and now hoping to acquire the same from Lombardia for himself, Arnulf of Germany descends with his army over the Brenner pass and into Italy. Arnulf meets Berengar of Friuli proceeds to meet him at a conference at Trent. Berengar grants Arnulf two counties in the Val d'Adige and does homage to Arnulf as overlord. In turn, Arnulf confirms Berengar as King of Lombardia and returns to Germany -- but not before dallying in Friuli, and picking up a few armies, alas so desperately needed by Berengar in his fight against Guido of Spoleto.

888 Byzantines recover Bari from Prince Aione of Benevento.

888 Upper Burgundy + Arles: Rudolph I of Upper Burgundy marries Willa of Vienne, daughter of the late Boso of Lower Burgundy.

888 The Aghlabid Sicilian navy, relatively quiet since the disaster at Modone in 880, springs into action and launches itself against the Calabrian coast. Emperor Leo VI dispatches a Byzantine navy, but now it is their turn to be destroyed in battle off the Ionian coast. But the Aghlabids do not follow up this victory due to internal tensions in Sicily.

889

February, 889 The truce expires, Duke Guido III of Spoleto defeats the Lombard King Berengar I of Friuli at the Battle of River Trebia. Berengar is forced to retire to Verona.

Duke Guido III of Spoleto is acclaimed as King Guido ("Spoleto") of Lombardia at an assembly in Pavia and, after confirming some privileges to the Church, is crowned king. Guido does not pursue Berengar, then holed up in Verona, as he fears that venturing into Friuli will bring down the wrath of Arnulf of Germany.

- Guido III of Spoleto, King of the Lombards

May, 889 Assembly at Forchheim. Arnulf of Germany has his illegitimate son (from a concubine), Zwentibold, recognized as his heir.

889 Pushed on by his wife Angeltrude, the new Lombard king Guido of Spoleto does not shy away from defying Arnulf's ambitions and lobbying the papacy for the imperial crown for himself. Pope Stephen V, hitherto a erstwhile ally of Spoleto, balks at the idea, preferring a balance of power in Italy, and calls on Arnulf to come to Italy and claim the imperial dignity itself. But Arnulf, busy with a Swabian revolt and fending off the Vikings and contenting with the newly-arriving Magyars, is too busy.

[Khalid ibn Walid]

FEUDAL LOMBARDIA

[Khalid ibn Walid]

ASIDE: THE LOMBARD FAMILIES


As the Carolingian empire broke down, hereditary feudalism took root. The politics of this era of Italian history is dominated by the story of a few great families vying against each other, several of which were led by interestingly powerful women.

Unable to to counter the increasing Saracen and Magyar raids, the last Carolingian kings had gradually abandoned Charlemagne's policies and allowed several great marches to be set up - notably Friuli, Ivrea, Tuscany and Spoleto (the Lombard duchy of Benevento had spun out of control a long while ago). When the Carolingian empire finally collapsed in 888, these great march lords were as strong, if not stronger, than the putative king himself.

The immediate rivalries in this period were inherited from the struggle for Lombardia between Carloman of Bavaria ('the German party') and Charles the Bald of the West Franks ('the French party') that had divided the Italian nobility from the 870s. The arrival of Bertha of Lorraine (herself a Carolingian) to Tuscany in the 890s brought a third party into the fray ('the Burgundian party').

Roughly speaking, c.900:

The German party (led by Berengar I of Friuli) = Hunrochids of Friuli, Supponids of Brescia, the Formosan (clerical) party in Rome

The French party (led by Guido of Spoleto) = Guideschi of Nantes (Spoleto), Lombard princes of Benevento & Salerno, Theophylact (noble) party in Rome, Anscarids of Ivrea.

The Burgundian party (led by Bertha of Lorraine) = Bosonids of Arles, Bonifaci of Lucca, Hubaldi of Bologna

This is not perfectly correct since several parties - notably the Bonifaci, the Anscarids and the Theophylact of Rome - overlapped & jumped parties several times.

MAJOR FAMILIES

The Hunrochids of Friuli - Led by Marquis Berengar of Friuli, ruled over the oldest of the marches, the northeastern March of Friuli. It was Berengar who moved the capital of the vast march from Cividale to Verona.

Although backed by the German princes, Berengar had a very hard time trying to be king. His family (the 'Hunrochids', descended from Hunroch of Ternois, an old Frankish count) was not large, so he had trouble forging alliances and installing trustworthy kin. His first wife's family, the Supponids of Brescia, filled his initial appointments, but that went sour after his divorce. The marriage of his only daughter (he had no male heir) to the Anscarids of Ivrea failed to win those powerful lords over to his side.

So, by and large, to get anything done in Italy, Berengar had to rely on the German king, foreign mercenaries (Magyars) and the high clergy (bought through his generous donations of royal property to bishops and abbeys).

After Berengar's murder in 926, the great March of Friuli fragmented into three pieces (Verona, Friuli, Istria), all of which were eventually annexed into Bavaria in 952.

The Guideschi of Spoleto, junior line of the Frankish Counts of Nantes, brought into Italy and appointed to the March of Spoleto by Louis II in 842 to push back the Saracen advance and impose the Emperor's writ on Rome.

As the fight over Italy between the French and German branches of the Carolingians heated up, the Guideschi's French roots began to show. When 888 rolled around, Guido of Spoleto made a bid for the French throne before settling on the Italian one and the imperial title.

The Duchy of Spoleto, strategically poised on the hills of central Italy, exerted a dominance over neighboring lands. As the natural and official feudal 'protector' of Rome, Spoleto had a great natural and political advantage over all the other marches - certainly more than the 'faraway' march of Friuli.

To keep their hold on Spoleto, the Guideschi "went native", wading into the bog of Roman politics and Beneventan intrigues. Guido himself was the common link between the rival Lombard houses of Benevento and Salerno. He was married into the Bonifaci of Tuscany and vigorously sponsored the lay Roman nobility. Italy south of the Po was Guido's playground.

Berengar and his German friends had little or no hope of breaking the Guideschi's hold. It took two more ingredients - Bertha of Lorraine and Pope Formosus, who simultaneously stole Tuscany and Rome away and left the Guideschi exposed.

[Note: the grand old Lombard duchy of Spoleto was formally divided in 858 into two parts, the inland 'Duchy of Spoleto' and the coastal 'March of Camerino' (or 'March of Fermo'), but they were de facto rejoined again after 882.]

The Bosonids. Of Burgundian origin, the greatest of families in the post-Carolingian age. Stemming from a bastard Carolingian line, there were several branches of it:

(1) Bosonids of Vienne - Ill-fated house centered on Boso of Vienne and his son Louis the Blind. Connected by marriage to both the Rudolfings of Upper Burgundy and the Bosonids of Arles, it eventually dissipated to (relatively minor) Counts of Provence.

(2) Bosonids of Autun - Scions of the Duchy of Burgundy, they would catapult themselves to become Kings of France for a while.

(3) Bosonids of Arles - Led by the indomitable Bertha of Lorraine, illegitimate daughter of Lothair II. She married twice. Her first marriage produced three children and three lines:

(3a) Hugonids of Italy Bertha's son, Hugh of Provence, would become King of Italy. Despite Hugh's high horizontal productivity - among his conquests were two Upper Burgundian queens, the pornocrat senatrix of Rome and the countess of Bergamo - it didn't survive very long. His legitimate line died out with his unlucky son, Lothair II. His illegitimate line (through Hubert of Tuscany) lingered on only a little longer.

(3b) Bosonids of Tuscany Another of Bertha's sons, Boso of Arles, became Marquis of Tuscany at his brother Hugh's request, to replace the Bonifaci of Lucca. But he was himself given the boot soon after in favor of his nephew, Hubert. Boso's daughter moved back to Arles and served her uncle's interests there, but it would never return to Italy. This line continued in Toulouse.

(3c) Warnerids of Troyes Bertha's daughter Teutberga married to a Champagne count, Warner of Troyes. Teutberga produced a family of bishops and prelates, most famously Manasses of Arles and Theobald of Vienne, two prelates that would play a large role in Italy.

Anscarids of Ivrea descended from Anscar of Ocheret, a Frankish lord put in charge of the vast March of Ivrea, to confront the Saracen threat in Fraxinet. Initially playing the Hunrochids, Guideschi and Bosonids (they married into all), the Anscarids eventually took the Italian crown for themselves - only to lose it to Otto's invasion. The Marquises of Ivrea were the main pretenders to the German control of the Italian throne. After repeated failed rebellions, the March of Ivrea was broken up, and the Anscarids reduced to a rump state around Ivrea, the rest of the great march going the to the Arduinici of Turin, the Alerami of Montferrat and the Obertenghi of Luni. The Anscarid rump would itself eventually disintegrate into smaller lordships of the Canavese, Biandrate, Lomello, Pombia, etc. Curiously, the Anscarids also gave rise to the Free Counts of Burgundy and thus, via that, also became kings of Portugal and Galicia.

Theophylact of Rome Leading house of the Roman nobility, dominated by women and producing/connected to most 10th & 11th C. popes, which led to the characterization of the papacy as a 'pornocracy' ('rule of whores'). At their root is the nucleus of Senatrix Theodora and her daughters, Marozia and Theodora II. Four branches can be identified:
(1) House of Marozia/Alberici of Spoleto centered on Marozia, her first husband Alberic of Spoleto and her son, Alberic II, Prince of Rome and grandson Octavian (Pope John XII) that dominated Rome up to 960s.
(2) Crescenzi of Terracina - nationalist (anti-German) house stemming from Theodora II and her sons, dominated Rome from until 1010s, after which it went into the opposition, its positions later carried on by the so-called 'Stefanian' and 'Octavian' branches.
(3) House of Tusculum - house stemming from Gregory of Tusculum (exact origin uncertain; either a son of Marozia I or a grandson of Theodora II) that were the prime rivals of the Crescenzi branch and dominated Rome after 1012 until the 'reform papacy' of the 1050s.
(4) Stefanian Counts of Sabina a sister branch of the Crescenzi, descended from Stefania, daughter of Theodora II, never quite dominated the city of Rome, but strong in the outskirts (Sabina) and connected to the Duchy of Naples.


MINOR FAMILIES

The Supponids of Brescia - Frankish or Lombard lords (most named "Suppo") installed during the 820s. They were steadfast allies of the Germans (Ermengarda of Brescia was Emperor Louis II's wife) and, afterwards, of Carloman of Bavaria and then Berengar of Friuli. The Supponid family were based in Brescia and had a strong presence in Emilian cities of Modena, Parma and Piacenza. They held the great Duchy of Spoleto in two spells, btw. 822 and 842 and then again briefly in the 870s. Their remaining holdings eventually fell into the lap of the House of Canossa.

The Bonifaci of Lucca - Frankish imports who became Marquises of Tuscany early on. They were early married and allied into the Guisdeschi of Spoleto, until their scion, Adalbert II 'the Rich' of Tuscany, married the Carolingian princess Bertha of Lorraine. Thereby uniting the Bosonids of Arles with the Bonifaci of Lucca. Her output here was the famed Guido of Tuscany (smitten husband of Marozia of Rome) and Ermengarda of Lucca (who married into and took control of the Anscarids of Ivrea).

Hubaldi of Bologna - they were Counts of Bologna and the big boys of the Romagna, frequently allied to the Bosonids.

Giselbertenghi of Bergamo - originally Lombards, they never carved a large domain for themselves, but instead banked on their strategic power as high royal officers, count-palatines and royal judges of Italy.

Obertenghi of Luni - descended from Oberto I Obizzo, a count-palatine of Italy, ended up ruling the eastern parts of the March of Ivrea (Lunigiana and Emilia) and served for a time as Marquises of Milan under Otto. The four scions of the Obertenghi marquises led the opposition to new German emperors after the death of Otto III. Their march eventually fragmented, giving rise to the marquises of Pelavicini, Malaspina and Este.

Alerami of Montferrat - profited from the central bit after the break up of the March of Ivrea, covering Liguria and the Montferrat hills. Their descendents were the Marquises of Montferrat, who rose to be rules of half of Lombardia and kings of Jerusalem and Thessalonica at one point, and a whole gaggle Ligurian marquises (Busca, Savona, Saluzzo).

Arduinici of Turin - descended from lowly Frankish-Norman knights who lucked into a fief in Auriate and proceeded to carve out a large marquisate in western Piedmont for themselves at the expense of the Anscarids of Ivrea. The Arduinic march was eventually inherited by the House of Savoy.

House of Canossa - Originally minor Tuscan lords, they lucked into inheriting much of the Supponid dominions and, by assisting the Saxon emperors, grew to become one of the most powerful families in Italy, controlling much of central Italy, from which they played a role as 'popemakers'. Connected by marriage with the Dukes of Lower Lorraine, they became an immense threat to the Hohenstaufen Emperors. Reached their apogee under 'the Great Countess' Mathilda of Canossa in the 11th C.

Landulfings of Capua - descended from a Lombard Gastald of Capua, the Landulfings fell into a bittler family quarrel in the late 800s which brought in all the neighboring states. But, as loyalists of the Emperor, they profited from the Byzantine-Lombard duel in southern Italy, and began seizing their domains. They reached their apogee under Pandulf 'Ironhead', who ruled Capua, Benevento, Salerno and Spoleto. They were displaced by the Normans.

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA

[Khalid ibn Walid]

FEUDAL LOMBARDIA

Italian marches c.900

[Khalid ibn Walid]

CAROLINGIAN LOMBARDIA