Albert Atto I (died 1029) was the son of Oberto II and Railend, widow of Sigfred, Count of Seprio. He was a member of the Obertenghi

Obertenghi

The Obertenghi were a family of Italian nobility descended from Count Obert I of Luni, the first margrave of Milan and Eastern Liguria, a march called the marca Januensis, marca Obertenga or march of Genoa....

 (or Adalbertini) family.

Albert first appears in the historical record in 1011. On 10 May 1013, he was acting as a missus

Missus

Missus may signify*The spoken pronunciation of Mrs., often jocular or in dialect*Missus dominicus, an "envoy of the lord" in Frankish court culture....

in Italy. In 1014, he inherited the counties of Luni

Luni

Luni can refer to:* Luni, Italy, a town in Liguria* Luni, Pakistan, village in Pakistan* Luni, Rajasthan, village in Rajasthan, India* Luni River, in Rajasthan, India* Luni Coleone, a rapper from California...

, Tortona

Tortona

Tortona is a comune of Piemonte, in the Province of Alessandria, Italy. Tortona is sited on the right bank of the Scrivia between the plain of Marengo and the foothills of the Ligurian Apennines.-History:...

, Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, and Milan

Milan

Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

 on his father's death. His holdings were extensive and both feudal and allodial. Albert and his brothers Hugh, Adalbert (IV), and Obizzo all carried the title margrave

Margrave

A margrave or margravine was a medieval hereditary nobleman with military responsibilities in a border province of a kingdom. Border provinces usually had more exposure to military incursions from the outside, compared to interior provinces, and thus a margrave usually had larger and more active...

. Their sister Bertha married Arduin of Italy

Arduin of Italy

Arduin of Ivrea was Margrave of Ivrea and King of Italy. He was the son of Dado, Count of Pombia. Arduin succeeded to the northern Italian Margraviate of Ivrea in 990 on dubious grounds. He was excommunicated for the murder of the Bishop of Vercelli in 997.He was made King of Italy after the death...

 to ally the Anscarid

Anscarids

The Anscarids or Anscarii or the House of Ivrea were a medieval Frankish dynasty of Burgundian origin which rose to prominence in Italy in the tenth century, even briefly holding the Italian throne. They also ruled the County of Burgundy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and it was one of their...

 and Obertenga families. Another sister named Bertha married Ulric Manfred II of Turin

Ulric Manfred II of Turin

Ulric Manfred II was the Margrave of Turin and Susa in the early 11th century.- Biography:...

. Albert himself married Adelaide, a Salian and relative of Lanfranc, Count of Aucia.

At first, Albert and his brothers supported their brother-in-law Arduin against the Emperor Henry II in the war for the Italian throne

King of Italy

King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...

. In 1014, he did not oppose Henry's imperial coronation, but after Henry left in May, he sought to aid Arduin. After July, he confiscated Solingen

Solingen

Solingen is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the northern edge of the region called Bergisches Land, south of the Ruhr area, and with a 2009 population of 161,366 is the second largest city in the Bergisches Land...

, robbed the church, and assaulted Pavia

Pavia

Pavia , the ancient Ticinum, is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 km south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It is the capital of the province of Pavia. It has a population of c. 71,000...

, Vercelli

Vercelli

Vercelli is a city and comune of about 47,000 inhabitants in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, around the year 600 BC.The city is situated on the river Sesia in the plain of the river...

, and Novara

Novara

Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With c. 105,000 inhabitants, it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin...

. In 1019, he reconciled with Henry, but in 1022, all four brothers were captured by Henry's forces and Albert submitted, receiving the iudiciaria (right of justice) in Monselice

Monselice

Monselice is a town and municipality located in northeastern Italy, in the Veneto region, in the province of Padua.It is about 20 km southeast of the city of Padua, at the southern edge of the Euganean Hills .-History:...

. In Spring 1026, Albert joined Ulric Manfred in defending Pavia from Conrad II

Conrad II, Holy Roman Emperor

Conrad II was Holy Roman Emperor from 1027 until his death.The son of a mid-level nobleman in Franconia, Count Henry of Speyer and Adelaide of Alsace, he inherited the titles of count of Speyer and of Worms as an infant when Henry died at age twenty...

.

Albert left one son: Albert Azzo II

Albert Azzo II, Margrave of Milan

Alberto Azzo II , Margrave of Milan, and Liguria, Count of Gavello and Padua, Rovigo, Lunigiana, Monselice, and Montagnana, aka, Albertezzo II, was a powerful nobleman in the Holy Roman Empire...

.

Sources

• Foundation for Medieval Genealogy: Modena and Ferrara.
• Ferrabino, Aldo (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: I Aaron – Albertucci. Rome
  Rome
  Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
  
  , 1960.