Berengar I was a 9th-century nobleman of East Francia, a son of Gebhard, Count of Lahngau, and younger brother of Udo

Udo of Neustria

Udo was a 9th-century nobleman of East Francia, a son of Gebhard, Count of Lahngau, and older brother of Berengar I of Neustria. He and his brother were afforded their position in the March of Neustria both by kinship to Adalard the Seneschal and the favour of Charles the Bald.With his brothers,...

. He and his brother were created Margraves of Neustria

March of Neustria

The marches of Neustria were creations of the Carolingian king of West Francia covering the ancient Merovingian kingdom of Neustria. Originally, there were two marches, one against the Bretons and one against the Norsemen created by Charles the Bald in 861. These two marches are often called the...

 by Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald

Charles the Bald , Holy Roman Emperor and King of West Francia , was the youngest son of the Emperor Louis the Pious by his second wife Judith.-Struggle against his brothers:He was born on 13 June 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder...

 in 861.

He was possibly a Conradine, a relative for sure of Adalard the Seneschal

Adalard the Seneschal

Adalard, also known as Adalhard or Alard, and called the Seneschal, was a Frankish nobleman of the ninth century. He served as warden of the Norman march from 861 to 865....

, a Girardid. Berengar was probably the namesake of Berengar II of Neustria

Berengar II of Neustria

Berengar II was the Count of Bayeux and Rennes and Margrave of the Breton March from 886 until his death a decade later.Berengar's kin became the first Gallo-speaking lords holding residence within Brittany , as a consequence of the Breton nobility being more or less broken under the Norman...

, who was probably the son of Berengar I's successor, Henry of Franconia

Henry of Franconia

Henry , a son of Count Poppo of Grapfeld, one of the first Babenbergs, was the most important East Frankish general during the reign of Charles the Fat. He was variously titled Count or Margrave of Saxony and Duke of Franconia....

.

With his brothers, Udo and Waldo the Abbot, he took part in the 861 revolt of Carloman of Bavaria

Carloman of Bavaria

Carloman was the eldest son of Louis the German, king of East Francia , and Hemma, daughter of the count Welf...

, possible his cousin-in-law, against Louis the German

Louis the German

Louis the German , also known as Louis II or Louis the Bavarian, was a grandson of Charlemagne and the third son of the succeeding Frankish Emperor Louis the Pious and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye.He received the appellation 'Germanicus' shortly after his death in recognition of the fact...

. The revolt was crushed and the three brothers fled with their relative Adalard to the court of the West Frankish king, Charles the Bald, who granted them wardship of the march against the Vikings while the march against the Bretons was granted to Robert the Strong

Robert the Strong

Robert IV the Strong , also known as Rutpert, was Margrave in Neustria. His family is named after him and called Robertians. He was first nominated by Charles the Bald missus dominicus in 853. Robert was the father of the kings Odo and Robert I of France. Robert was the great-grandfather of Hugh...

.

Charles' patronage of the family provoked the jealousy of the Rorgonids

Rorgonids

The Rorgonids were the first Mayennaise dynasty. Gosfrid of Maine was the first to hold power in the Norman March of Neustria....

, the most powerful family local to Neustria and then controlling the ducatus Cenomannicus (Maine

Maine

Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...

). In 865, they allied with Saloman of Brittany and attacked the brothers. Charles, to attain peace, took the march back and gave it to Gauzfrid

Gauzfrid of Neustria

Gauzfrid of Maine was both Count of Maine and Margrave of the Norman March from 865 until his death. He was a son of Rorgon of Maine by his wife Bichilde....

, a Rorgonid.

A charter of 879 mentions Berengar and his brothers taking part in the foundation of the college of Gemünden

Gemünden

Gemünden may refer to several places in Germany:*Gemünden am Main, a town in Bavaria*Gemünden , a town in Hesse*Gemünden , a municipality in Hesse*Gemünden, Rhein-Hunsrück, a municipality in Rhineland-Palatinate...

. Evidently, the death of Louis the German in 876 had allowed them to return to the court of Carloman.

His daughter Ota

Ota, wife of Arnulf of Carinthia

Ota, also called Oda or Uta was the wife of Arnulf of Carinthia, mother of Louis the Child, and was by marriage Queen of the East Franks and Empress. She was a member of the Conradine Dynasty, the daughter of Berengar, Count of Hesse.Very little is known of Ota...

 became wife of 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:...

.

Sources

• Guillotel, Hubert. "Une autre marche de Neustrie." in Christian Settipani
  Christian Settipani
  Christian Settipani is the Technical Director of an IT company in Paris and a genealogist and historian.He has a Master of Advanced Studies degree from the Paris-Sorbonne University and is currently preparing his doctoral thesis, while he often gives lectures to students undergraduates at the...
  
  and Katharine S. B. Keats-Rohan, Onomastique et Parenté dans l'Occident médiéval. 2000.