Hugh of Italy
Encyclopedia
Hugh of Arles (before 885 – 10 April 948) was King of Italy
from 924 until his death. He was a Bosonid. During his reign, he empowered his relatives at the expense of the aristocracy and tried to establish a relationship with the Byzantine-Roman Empire
. He had success in defending the realm from external enemies, but his domestic habits and policies, which showed some evidence of culture in an otherwise barbaric century, created many internal foes and he was removed from power before his death.
and Bertha
, illegitimate daughter of Lothair II, King of Lotharingia. By inheritance, he was Count of Arles and Vienne
, which made him one of the most important and influential nobles in the Kingdom of Provence. After the Emperor Louis III, who was also King of Provence, was captured, blinded, and exiled from Italy in 905, Hugh became his chief adviser and regent. By 911, most of the royal prerogatives were exercised by Hugh and Louis ceded him the titles dux of Provence and marchio of the Viennois. He moved the capital to his family's chief seat of Arles
and married Louis's possible half-sister Willa, daughter of Boso of Provence
and an unknown earlier wife.
At an unknown date, a Provençal army led by Hugh, his brother Boso
, and Hugh Taillefer invaded Lombardy with the support of Hugh's mother. On the basis of the account of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, this even has been dated to as late as 923–924, but the account of Liudprand of Cremona dates the event much earlier, between 917 and 920.
About 922, a sizable faction of Italian nobles revolted against the by-then Emperor Berengar
and elected Rudolph II of Burgundy
King of Italy. This started a civil war, which resulted in Berengar's assassination in 924.
. Louis died on 5 June 928 and Hugh returned to Provence to sort out a succession.
For whatever reasons, neither Charles Constantine nor Hugh was elected king, but Hugh annexed the kingdom to Italy de facto, issuing diplomata concerning Provence from his Italian chancery in a royal style. He also took control of the right to grant fiefs in Provence.
Hugh's reign started successfully enough. He somewhat improved the central administration of the kingdom, achieving rather more (though not total) success against the Magyar raids that had been plaguing Italy for several decade.
In September 928, Hugh met with Rudolph of France
and Herbert II of Vermandois in Burgundy. Hugh granted Herbert's son Odo Vienne in opposition to Charles Constantine. He was still in conflict with Rudolph of Burgundy and hoped to ally with the King of France against the Burgundian monarch. By 930, however, Charles was in complete control of Vienne and by 931, Rudolph of France was claiming suzerainty over the Viennois and Lyonnais
. In light of these reverses in his transalpine policy, Hugh turned his attention towards securing his rule in Italy and receiving the imperial crown
. He induced the Italian nobility to recognise his son Lothair
as their next king and crowned him in April 931. That same year, he accused his half-brother Lambert of Tuscany
of conspiring for the crown — perhaps with the support of a faction of nobles — and deposed him, bestowing the March of Tuscany
on his brother Boso. Hugh, however, had other reasons for deposing Lambert, who presented an obstacle to his second marriage to Marozia
. Lambert's supporters called in Rudolph of Burgundy, whom Hugh bribed off with the gift of the Viennois and Lyonnais, which Rudolph successfully occupied. In 933, Rudolph relinquished all his rights to Italy.
In 936, Hugh replaced Boso of Tuscany with his own son Humbert
. He granted Octavion in the Viennois to Hugh Taillefer and patched up his relations with Charles Constantine in a final effort to save influence in Provence.
, senatrix and effective ruler of Rome
and widow first of Alberic I of Spoleto
and then of Hugh's own half-brother Guy of Tuscany
. This last fact, though, meant that the marriage was illegal under canon law
, on grounds of consanguinity
— a matter that Hugh tried to circumvent by disowning and eliminating the descendants of his mother's second marriage and giving Tuscany to a relative on his father's side of the family, Boso. This in turn, however, alarmed Alberic II, Marozia's teenaged son or stepson from her first marriage, who, appealing to Roman distrust of the foreign troops Hugh had brought with him, launched a coup d'état
during the wedding festivities. Hugh managed to flee, but Marozia was imprisoned until her death a few years later.
Hugh's power in Italy was damaged but not destroyed by these events. To strengthen his hand in the affairs of Milan
, he tonsured his younger illegitimate son, Tebald, to groom him for the position of Archbishop of Milan; unfortunately the ancient cleric, Arderic, whom he installed pro tem lived another twenty-two years He continued to organise the fight against the Magyars and the Andalusian
pirates based at Fraxinet
in Provence. Active, if sometimes dubious, diplomacy paid off. He concluded a treaty with Rudolph in 933 by which Rudolf abandoned his claims to Italy in return for being handed Provence over the heads of Louis the Blind's heirs and the marriage of Rudolph's daughter Adelaide
to Hugh's son Lothair. Friendly relations were maintained with the Byzantine Empire
and, in 942, Hugh even came to terms with Alberic, who married one of Hugh's daughters.
Within the kingdom, Hugh intensified his existing habit of giving any available offices or lands to relations, including his numerous legitimate and illegitimate progeny, and a small circle of old and trusted friends. The effect this had on Italian nobles who saw this as threatening themselves eventually resulted in rebellion. In 941, Hugh expelled Berengar of Ivrea from Italy and abolished the March of Ivrea
. In 945, Berengar returned from exile in Germany and defeated Hugh in battle. By a diet Berengar held at Milan, Hugh was deposed, though he managed to come to terms by which he nominally kept the crown and the title rex (king) but returned to Provence, leaving Lothair as nominal king, but with all real power in Berengar's hands.
Hugh retired to Provence, but continued to carry the royal title until 947.
By four wives and at least four mistresses, he left eight children. With Willa, Hugh had no children. Hugh's only legitimate children were both from his second wife, Alda or Hilda, of German origin, whom he married before 924. Her children were Alda, who married Alberic II, and the aforementioned Lothair, Hugh's successor. By his third wife, Marozia, and his fourth, Bertha, daughter of Rudolph II, Hugh had no children. His son Humbert, to whom he gave Tuscany, was his eldest bastard son by a noblewoman named Wandelmoda. By another, low-born mistress named Pezola, and whom the people called Venerem, Hugh had a daughter, Bertha, who married the Byzantine Emperor Romanos II
and took the name Eudokia (Eudocia). She inherited her father's lands in Provence. From the same mistress, Hugh had a son named Boso, who became Bishop of Piacenza and imperial chancellor. Hugh's third mistress was Rotrude or Rosa, called Iunonem by the people. She gave him a daughter, Rotlind or Rolend, who married Bernard, Count of Pavia. Tebald, whom Hugh tried to make Archbishop of Milan, was the product of liaison with a Roman woman named Stephanie, to whom the people gave the nickname Semelen. Hugh's youngest son, Geoffrey, Abbot of Nonantola
, was of an unknown mistress.
A young page educated at Hugh's court at the traditional Lombard capital, Pavia
, grew up to be Liutprand
, Bishop of Cremona
, the liveliest chronicler of the 10th century; his loyalty to the memory of Hugh may have helped fuel some of his partisan bitterness in chronicling Hugh's heirs.
King of Italy
King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...
from 924 until his death. He was a Bosonid. During his reign, he empowered his relatives at the expense of the aristocracy and tried to establish a relationship with the Byzantine-Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
. He had success in defending the realm from external enemies, but his domestic habits and policies, which showed some evidence of culture in an otherwise barbaric century, created many internal foes and he was removed from power before his death.
Early life
He was the son of Theobald of ArlesTheobald of Arles
Theobald, count of Arles, was a Frank from the Bosonid-family. He was son of Hucbert and he married Bertha - an illegitimate daughter of Lothair II, King of Lotharingia - that was renowned for her beauty and spirit. They had two sons Hugh of Italy and Boso of Tuscany. Theobald died in 925....
and Bertha
Bertha, daughter of Lothair II
Bertha was the second illegitimate daughter of Lothair II, King of Lotharingia, by his concubine Waldrada. She was renowned to be beautiful, spirited, and courageous. Ambition, coupled with her influence, involved her husbands in many wars....
, illegitimate daughter of Lothair II, King of Lotharingia. By inheritance, he was Count of Arles and Vienne
Count of Vienne
The Count of Vienne was the ruler of the Viennois, with his seat at Vienne, during the period of the Carolingian Empire and after until 1030, when the county of Vienne was granted to the Archdiocese of Vienne....
, which made him one of the most important and influential nobles in the Kingdom of Provence. After the Emperor Louis III, who was also King of Provence, was captured, blinded, and exiled from Italy in 905, Hugh became his chief adviser and regent. By 911, most of the royal prerogatives were exercised by Hugh and Louis ceded him the titles dux of Provence and marchio of the Viennois. He moved the capital to his family's chief seat of Arles
Arles
Arles is a city and commune in the south of France, in the Bouches-du-Rhône department, of which it is a subprefecture, in the former province of Provence....
and married Louis's possible half-sister Willa, daughter 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 an unknown earlier wife.
At an unknown date, a Provençal army led by Hugh, his brother Boso
Boso of Tuscany
Boso was the count of Arles and Avignon , and margrave of Tuscany . He was the younger son of Theobald of Arles and Bertha, illegitimate daughter of Lothair II of Lotharingia. His elder brother was Hugh, king of Italy.Boso supported his brother's Italian designs...
, and Hugh Taillefer invaded Lombardy with the support of Hugh's mother. On the basis of the account of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, this even has been dated to as late as 923–924, but the account of Liudprand of Cremona dates the event much earlier, between 917 and 920.
About 922, a sizable faction of Italian nobles revolted against the by-then Emperor Berengar
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...
and elected Rudolph II of Burgundy
Rudolph II of Burgundy
Rudolph II was king of Upper Burgundy , Lower Burgundy , and Italy . He was the son of Rudolph I, king of Upper Burgundy, and it is presumed that his mother was his father's known wife, Guilla of Provence...
King of Italy. This started a civil war, which resulted in Berengar's assassination in 924.
King
Rather than accept Rudolph, Berengar's partisans now elected Hugh as king (925). Rudolph was ejected from Italy in 926 and Hugh crossed the Alps to be crowned. In his absence, Louis of Provence transferred his county of Vienne to Charles-ConstantineCharles-Constantine
Charles-Constantine was the Count of Vienne, son of Louis the Blind, King of Provence, and the Holy Roman Emperor.-Name and maternity:...
. Louis died on 5 June 928 and Hugh returned to Provence to sort out a succession.
For whatever reasons, neither Charles Constantine nor Hugh was elected king, but Hugh annexed the kingdom to Italy de facto, issuing diplomata concerning Provence from his Italian chancery in a royal style. He also took control of the right to grant fiefs in Provence.
Hugh's reign started successfully enough. He somewhat improved the central administration of the kingdom, achieving rather more (though not total) success against the Magyar raids that had been plaguing Italy for several decade.
In September 928, Hugh met with Rudolph of France
Rudolph of France
Rudolph was the Duke of Burgundy between 921 and 923 and King of Western Francia from thereafter to his death. Rudolph inherited the duchy of Burgundy from his father, Richard the Justiciar...
and Herbert II of Vermandois in Burgundy. Hugh granted Herbert's son Odo Vienne in opposition to Charles Constantine. He was still in conflict with Rudolph of Burgundy and hoped to ally with the King of France against the Burgundian monarch. By 930, however, Charles was in complete control of Vienne and by 931, Rudolph of France was claiming suzerainty over the Viennois and Lyonnais
Lyonnais
The Lyonnais is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon.The geographical area known as the Lyonnais became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire...
. In light of these reverses in his transalpine policy, Hugh turned his attention towards securing his rule in Italy and receiving the imperial crown
Holy Roman Emperor
The Holy Roman Emperor is a term used by historians to denote a medieval ruler who, as German King, had also received the title of "Emperor of the Romans" from the Pope...
. He induced the Italian nobility to recognise his son Lothair
Lothair II of Italy
Lothair II , often Lothair of Arles, was the King of Italy from 948 to his death. He was of the noble Frankish lineage of the Bosonids, descended from Boso the Elder...
as their next king and crowned him in April 931. That same year, he accused his half-brother Lambert of Tuscany
Lambert of Tuscany
Lambert was the second son of Adalbert II of Tuscany and Bertha, daughter of Lothair II of Lotharingia. He succeeded his elder brother, Guy, as count and duke of Lucca and margrave of Tuscany on his death in 928 or 929 without heirs....
of conspiring for the crown — perhaps with the support of a faction of nobles — and deposed him, bestowing the March of Tuscany
March of Tuscany
The March of Tuscany or Tuscia was a frontier march in central Italy, bordering the Papal States to the south and east, the Ligurian Sea to the west, and the rest of the Kingdom of Italy to the north. It was a Carolingian creation, a successor of the Lombard Duchy of Tuscia...
on his brother Boso. Hugh, however, had other reasons for deposing Lambert, who presented an obstacle to his second marriage to Marozia
Marozia
Marozia, born Maria and also known as Mariuccia or Mariozza , was a Roman noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III and was given the unprecedented titles senatrix and patricia of Rome by Pope John X.Edward Gibbon wrote of her that the "influence of two sister prostitutes,...
. Lambert's supporters called in Rudolph of Burgundy, whom Hugh bribed off with the gift of the Viennois and Lyonnais, which Rudolph successfully occupied. In 933, Rudolph relinquished all his rights to Italy.
In 936, Hugh replaced Boso of Tuscany with his own son Humbert
Hubert of Spoleto
Hubert or Humbert was the illegitimate son of Hugh of Italy and his concubine Wandelmoda. He was made Margrave of Tuscany by his father between 935 and 937, after the deposition of his uncle Boso...
. He granted Octavion in the Viennois to Hugh Taillefer and patched up his relations with Charles Constantine in a final effort to save influence in Provence.
Second marriage
However, Hugh's attempt to strengthen his power further by a second marriage failed disastrously. His bride was MaroziaMarozia
Marozia, born Maria and also known as Mariuccia or Mariozza , was a Roman noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III and was given the unprecedented titles senatrix and patricia of Rome by Pope John X.Edward Gibbon wrote of her that the "influence of two sister prostitutes,...
, senatrix and effective ruler of 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...
and widow first of Alberic I of Spoleto
Alberic I of Spoleto
Alberic I was the Lombard duke of Spoleto from between 896 and 900 until 920, 922, or thereabouts. He first appears as a page to Guy III of Spoleto at the Battle on the Trebbia in 889 He may have later been the count of Fermo or margrave of Camerino, but whatever the case, he succeeded to Spoleto...
and then of Hugh's own half-brother Guy of Tuscany
Guy of Tuscany
Guy was the count and duke of Lucca and margrave of Tuscany from 915, the death of his father Adalbert II, to his own death. He was originally under the regency of his mother Bertha, daughter of Lothair II of Lotharingia, until 916.He kept court at Mantua around the year 920...
. This last fact, though, meant that the marriage was illegal under canon law
Canon law (Catholic Church)
The canon law of the Catholic Church, is a fully developed legal system, with all the necessary elements: courts, lawyers, judges, a fully articulated legal code and principles of legal interpretation. It lacks the necessary binding force present in most modern day legal systems. The academic...
, on grounds of consanguinity
Consanguinity
Consanguinity refers to the property of being from the same kinship as another person. In that respect, consanguinity is the quality of being descended from the same ancestor as another person...
— a matter that Hugh tried to circumvent by disowning and eliminating the descendants of his mother's second marriage and giving Tuscany to a relative on his father's side of the family, Boso. This in turn, however, alarmed Alberic II, Marozia's teenaged son or stepson from her first marriage, who, appealing to Roman distrust of the foreign troops Hugh had brought with him, launched a coup d'état
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
during the wedding festivities. Hugh managed to flee, but Marozia was imprisoned until her death a few years later.
Hugh's power in Italy was damaged but not destroyed by these events. To strengthen his hand in the affairs of 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 ,...
, he tonsured his younger illegitimate son, Tebald, to groom him for the position of Archbishop of Milan; unfortunately the ancient cleric, Arderic, whom he installed pro tem lived another twenty-two years He continued to organise the fight against the Magyars and the Andalusian
Al-Andalus
Al-Andalus was the Arabic name given to a nation and territorial region also commonly referred to as Moorish Iberia. The name describes parts of the Iberian Peninsula and Septimania governed by Muslims , at various times in the period between 711 and 1492, although the territorial boundaries...
pirates based at Fraxinet
Fraxinet
Fraxinet or Fraxinetum was the site of a tenth-century fortress established by Saracen pirates at modern La Garde-Freinet, near Saint-Tropez, in Provence...
in Provence. Active, if sometimes dubious, diplomacy paid off. He concluded a treaty with Rudolph in 933 by which Rudolf abandoned his claims to Italy in return for being handed Provence over the heads of Louis the Blind's heirs and the marriage of Rudolph's daughter Adelaide
Adelaide of Italy
Saint Adelaide of Italy , also called Adelaide of Burgundy, was the second wife of Otto the Great, Holy Roman Emperor...
to Hugh's son Lothair. Friendly relations were maintained with the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
and, in 942, Hugh even came to terms with Alberic, who married one of Hugh's daughters.
Within the kingdom, Hugh intensified his existing habit of giving any available offices or lands to relations, including his numerous legitimate and illegitimate progeny, and a small circle of old and trusted friends. The effect this had on Italian nobles who saw this as threatening themselves eventually resulted in rebellion. In 941, Hugh expelled Berengar of Ivrea from Italy and abolished 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 945, Berengar returned from exile in Germany and defeated Hugh in battle. By a diet Berengar held at Milan, Hugh was deposed, though he managed to come to terms by which he nominally kept the crown and the title rex (king) but returned to Provence, leaving Lothair as nominal king, but with all real power in Berengar's hands.
Hugh retired to Provence, but continued to carry the royal title until 947.
Family
Romanos II
Romanos II was a Byzantine emperor. He succeeded his father Constantine VII in 959 at the age of twenty-one, and died suddenly in 963.-Life:...
and took the name Eudokia (Eudocia). She inherited her father's lands in Provence. From the same mistress, Hugh had a son named Boso, who became Bishop of Piacenza and imperial chancellor. Hugh's third mistress was Rotrude or Rosa, called Iunonem by the people. She gave him a daughter, Rotlind or Rolend, who married Bernard, Count of Pavia. Tebald, whom Hugh tried to make Archbishop of Milan, was the product of liaison with a Roman woman named Stephanie, to whom the people gave the nickname Semelen. Hugh's youngest son, Geoffrey, Abbot of Nonantola
Abbey of Nonantola
Nonantola Abbey, dedicated to Saint Sylvester, is a former a Benedictine monastery and prelature nullius in the commune of Nonantola, c. 10 km north-east of Modena, in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy. The abbey church remains as a basilica.-History:...
, was of an unknown mistress.
A young page educated at Hugh's court at the traditional Lombard capital, 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...
, grew up to be Liutprand
Liutprand of Cremona
Liutprand, also Liudprand, Liuprand, Lioutio, Liucius, Liuzo, and Lioutsios was a Lombard historian and author, and Bishop of Cremona....
, Bishop of Cremona
Cremona
Cremona is a city and comune in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po River in the middle of the Pianura Padana . It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local City and Province governments...
, the liveliest chronicler of the 10th century; his loyalty to the memory of Hugh may have helped fuel some of his partisan bitterness in chronicling Hugh's heirs.