Anscar I was the margrave of Ivrea from 888 to his death. From 877 or 879, he was the count of Oscheret

Ouch

Ouch may refer to:* An interjection that denotes pain* : a socket that a precious stone fits in* Organization for Understanding Cluster Headaches, or OUCH...

 in Burgundy. He supported Guy III of Spoleto

Guy III of Spoleto

Guy of Spoleto , sometimes known by the Italian version of his name, Guido, or by the German version, Wido, was the Margrave of Camerino from 880 and then Duke of Spoleto and Camerino from 883. He was crowned King of Italy in 889 and Holy Roman Emperor in 891...

 for the throne of France after the deposition of Charles the Fat

Charles the Fat

Charles the Fat was the King of Alemannia from 876, King of Italy from 879, western Emperor from 881, King of East Francia from 882, and King of West Francia from 884. In 887, he was deposed in East Francia, Lotharingia, and possibly Italy, where the records are not clear...

 in 887, but after Guy's failed attempt and the coronation of Odo, Count of Paris

Odo, Count of Paris

Odo was a King of Western Francia, reigning from 888 to 898. He was a son of Robert the Strong, count of Anjou, whose branch of the family is known as the Robertians....

, he returned with Guy across the Alps

Alps

The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....

, where the duke was elected King of Italy

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 gratitude, he created the March of Ivrea

March of Ivrea

The March of Ivrea was a large frontier county in the northwest of the medieval Italian kingdom from the late 9th to the early 11th century. Its capital was Ivrea in present-day Piedmont, and it was held by a Burgundian family of margraves called the Anscarids...

 in the northeast and invested his Burgundian supporter.
He was a son of the count Amadeus of Oscheret of possible Bavarian origin with landholdings also in Tegernsee

Tegernsee Abbey

Tegernsee Abbey or the Imperial Abbey of Tegernsee is a former Benedictine monastery in the town and district of Tegernsee in Bavaria. Both the abbey and the town that grew up around are named after the Tegernsee, the lake on the shores of which they are located...

.
Anscar was a counsellor of Boso of Provence

Boso of Provence

Boso was a Frankish nobleman from the Bosonid-family, who was related to the Carolingian dynasty, who rose to become King of Provence ....

 and brother of Fulk, Archbishop of Rheims, who strongly supported the Carolingian

Carolingian

The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...

 dynasty in France. With Fulk, he probably invited Guy to France. Anscar fought on behalf of Guy's kingship in Italy. He battled Arnulf of Carinthia

Arnulf of Carinthia

Arnulf of Carinthia was the Carolingian King of East Francia from 887, the disputed King of Italy from 894 and the disputed Holy Roman Emperor from February 22, 896 until his death.-Birth and Illegitimacy:...

 during the latter's invasion of 894 and he supported Guy's son Lambert

Lambert II of Spoleto

Lambert II was the King of Italy from 891, Holy Roman Emperor, co-ruling with his father from 892, and Duke of Spoleto and Camerino from his father's death in 894. He was the son of Guy III of Spoleto and Ageltrude, born in San Rufino...

 after Guy's death that year. In 896, he was one of the few in the north to oppose Arnulf second invasion. After Lambert's death, he supported Berengar of Friuli

Berengar I of Italy

Berengar of Friuli was the Margrave of Friuli from 874 until no earlier than 890 and no later than 896, King of Italy from 887 until his death, and Holy Roman Emperor from 915 until his death.Berengar rose to become one of the most influential laymen in the empire of Charles the Fat before he...

 as king and became his chief counsellor.

Anscar's wife was unknown, but he had only one son, Adalbert

Adalbert I of Ivrea

Adalbert I was the son of Anscar of Ivrea and, from his death in 902, margrave of Ivrea.He rebelled against his father-in-law Berengar I in 905 in support of Louis III. When Louis was defeated, captured, and blinded, Adalbert was exiled to Burgundy, whence his family had originated...

, through whom he was the progenitor of a dynasty, the Anscarids

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...

.

Sources

• Wickham, Chris. Early Medieval Italy: Central Power and Local Society 400-1000. MacMillan Press: 1981.