Manfred I or Maginfred (died ) was the second
Arduinici
The Arduinici were a nobility, noble Franks, Frankish family that immigrated to Italy in the early tenth century, possibly from Neustria. They were descended from and take their name after one Arduin (Hardouin).
The first of the Arduinici to ente ...
marquis
A marquess (; ) is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German-language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman with the rank of a marquess or the wife (or wido ...
of
Susa
Susa ( ) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh River, Karkheh and Dez River, Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital o ...
from 977 until his death.
Manfred was the eldest son of
Arduin Glaber
Arduin Glaber (,'' Glabrione'', or'' il Glabro'', meaning "the Bald"; died c. 977) was count of Auriate from c. 935, count of Turin from c. 941/942, and Margrave of Turin from c. 950/964. He placed his dynasty, the Arduinici, on a firm foundatio ...
, from whom he inherited the county of
Auriate {{No footnotes, date=June 2020
Auriate was a county in medieval Italy on the eastern slopes of the Western Alps lying between Cuneo and Saluzzo. The county existed from the late ninth century to the middle of the tenth. The name of the county survi ...
and the vast
March of Susa. The march extended from the
Susa Valley
The Susa Valley (; ; ; ; ) is a valley in the Metropolitan City of Turin, Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the south. It is one of the longest valleys of the Italian Alps. ...
by the
Alps
The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia.
...
south across the
Po to the
Ligurian Sea
The Ligurian Sea is an arm of the Mediterranean Sea. It lies between the Italian Riviera ( Liguria) and the island of Corsica. The sea is thought to have been named after the ancient Ligures people.
Geography
The sea borders Italy as far as ...
. Although he ruled for almost twenty-five years, there is little evidence of his activities in surviving sources. Under him,
Pavia
Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086.
The city was a major polit ...
became a mercantile city. He also controlled the road between
Genoa
Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...
and
Marseille
Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...
.
Manfred married
Prangarda, daughter of
Adalbert Atto of Canossa
Adalbert Atto (or Adalberto Azzo) (died 13 February 988) was the first Count of Canossa and founder of that noble house which eventually was to play a determinant role in the political settling of Regnum Italicum and the Investiture Controvers ...
, probably after 962. With Prangarda Manfred had several children, including:
*
Ulric Manfred
*
Alric
*Otto
*Atto
*Hugo
*Wido
Gundulph, father of
St Anselm
Anselm of Canterbury OSB (; 1033/4–1109), also known as (, ) after his birthplace and () after his monastery, was an Italian Benedictine monk, abbot, philosopher, and theologian of the Catholic Church, who served as Archbishop of Canterb ...
, may have been one of his sons or grandsons.
References
Bibliography
* .
*
* .
* .
External links
Manfred I, Markgraf von Turin(in German)
*''
Chronicon Novaliciense''. (''
Chronicon Novaliciense'' at
Wikisource
Wikisource is an online wiki-based digital library of free-content source text, textual sources operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Wikisource is the name of the project as a whole; it is also the name for each instance of that project, one f ...
)
1000s deaths
Marquesses of Turin
Year of birth unknown
Year of death uncertain
{{Europe-noble-stub