Ratold was a

king of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...

who reigned for a month or so in 896. He was an illegitimate son of King Arnulf of East Francia. He and his half-brother

Zwentibold Zwentibold (''Zventibold'', ''Zwentibald'', ''Swentiboldo'', ''Sventibaldo'', ''Sanderbald''; – 13 August 900), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was the illegitimate son of Emperor Arnulf.Collins 1999, p. 360 In 895, his father granted h ...

are described by the '' Annals of Fulda'' as being born "by concubines" (''ex concubinis''). Their mothers are not named, and it is possible that their status was only downgraded to that of concubinage after Arnulf's marriage to Uota in 888. They may have originally been in ''Friedelehen'', "consent-based marriages", a kind of common-law marriage. His birth date is unknown; he may have been a "mature man" by the time he was appointed to rule Italy. In 889, Arnulf persuaded the East Frankish nobility to recognise Zwentibold and Ratold as his heirs if no legitimate son was born to the queen. One historian suggests that it was Arnulf's plan all along to secure sub-kingdoms for his illegitimate sons (

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

for Zwentibold and Italy for Ratold) while reserving East Francia itself for his legitimate issue. After Arnulf was crowned

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

in Rome in 896, he fell ill and quickly returned to Germany by May, leaving, in the words of the ''Annals of Fulda'', "his little son called Ratold, who had been born to him by a concubine, at

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

to receive the fidelity of the Italian people." The somewhat elliptical passage leaves open whether Ratold was merely his father's "deputy" or a full-fledged "sub-king" in Italy. Soon after Arnulf left, his rival, Duke

Lambert II of Spoleto Lambert (c. 880 – 15 October 898) was the King of Italy from 891, Holy Roman Emperor, co-ruling with his father from 892, and Duke of Spoleto and Camerino (as Lambert II) from his father's death in 894. He was the son of Guy III of Spoleto an ...

, took control of Italy and nothing more is heard of Ratold. Arnulf's legitimate son,

Louis the Child Louis the Child (893 – 20/24 September 911), sometimes called Louis III or Louis IV, was the king of East Francia from 899 until his death and was also recognized as king of Lotharingia after 900. He was the last East Frankish ruler of the Car ...

, was recognised as his heir by the nobility in 897.

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References

* * * * * * {{Carolingians footer 9th-century kings of Italy Sons of emperors