Adalbert I (died after 28 February 929) was the

margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

of Ivrea, the second of the Anscarid dynasty, from the late 890s until his death. In the intermittent civil war which affected

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

from 888 into the 930s, Adalbert initially strove to remain neutral, but from 901 on he sided sequentially with every claimant to the Italian throne. He was a son of Margrave Anscar I, originally from Oscheret in

Upper Burgundy Upper Burgundy (; ) was a historical region in the early medieval Burgundy, and a distinctive realm known as the ''Kingdom of Upper Burgundy'', that existed from 888 to 933, when it was incorporated into the reunited Kingdom of Burgundy, that ...

. He succeeded his father at Ivrea between 896 and 900.Fasoli (1960). He initially refused to take sides after King Louis of Provence invaded Italy in 900, but after Louis's imperial coronation in 901 he recognised his authority. After Louis was defeated by his rival, Berengar I, in 902, Adalbert changed sides. Shortly thereafter, by 903 at the latest, he married Gisela of Friuli, Berengar's daughter, which was possibly the price of his allegiance. Although Adalbert is not recorded as being related to the king in any of Berengar's charters down through 14 August 908 and his marriage is not explicitly referenced before 13 June 910, it must have taken place some fifteen years before he and Gisela's eldest son were granted a county and a '' missaticum'' in 918. With Gisela he had two children: Berengar, who succeeded him as margrave, and Bertha, who became abbess of

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

. Between 913 and 915 Gisela died and Adalbert married Ermengarde of Tuscany (901 – 29 February 931/932), daughter of Margrave

Adalbert II of Tuscany Adalbert II (c. 875 – 915), called the Rich, son of Adalbert I, Margrave of Tuscany and Rothild of Spoleto. Biography He was a grandson of Boniface II, and was concerned with the troubles of Lombardy, at a time when so many princes were con ...

. From this marriage he had a second son, Anscar, later

Duke of Spoleto The Duke of Spoleto was the ruler of Spoleto and most of central Italy outside the Papal States during the Early and High Middle Ages (c. 500 – 1300). The first dukes were appointed by the Lombard king, but they were independent in practice. Th ...

. In 916–917 his primary concern was Saracen raids. In 920–921 he joined those noblemen, many of Burgundian origin like him, who supported the candidature of King Rudolf II of Burgundy for the Italian throne. Adalbert, with Lambert,

Archbishop of Milan The Archdiocese of Milan (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Italy which covers the areas of Milan, Monza, Lecco and Varese. It has long maintained its own Latin liturgical rite usage, the Amb ...

, and Count Gilbert of Bergamo, assembled a force in the mountains outside

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

with the intention of marching on

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

and capturing Berengar there. When the latter got wind of the plan, he sent a troop of Magyar mercenaries to circle the conspirators and attack them from behind. In the midst of defeat, Adalbert swapped clothing with one of his soldiers and paid his own ransom at a low price. By late 921 Rudolf had entered Italy and been recognised as king in the march of Ivrea and the archdiocese of Milan. Although Adalbert made a few appearances at Rudolf's court in the early days, he never frequented it as often as did his wife and his two sons. After his relative

Hugh Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

ascended the Italian throne, Adalbert appearances in the records are sparse. He apparently played no role in Rudolf's deposition and Hugh's acclamation. He was probably gravely ill, since Liutprand of Cremona, writing in 924–25, already thought him dead. His last recorded action, probably shortly before he died, was a donation to the church of Saint Andrew in

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, which was witnessed by King Hugh on 28 February 929.

References

Sources

*Fasoli, Gina, "Adalberto d'Ivrea". ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'', 1. Rome: Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, 1960. * Wickham, Chris. ''Early Medieval Italy: Central Power and Local Society, 400–1000''. London: MacMillan Press, 1981. {{DEFAULTSORT:Adalbert 01 of Ivrea Anscarids Margraves of Ivrea 9th-century births 10th-century deaths Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown