Lambert I of Spoleto
Encyclopedia
Lambert I was the duke and margrave (dux et marchio) of Spoleto
on two occasions, first from 859 to 871 and then from 876 to his death.
Lambert was the eldest son of Guy I of Spoleto
and Itta, daughter of Sico of Benevento
. He married Judith, daughter of Eberhard of Friuli
.
In his first year of rule, he joined Gerard, count of the Marsi
; Maielpoto, gastald
of Telese
; and Wandelbert, gastald of Boiano, to prevent Sawdan, the Saracen
emir of Bari, from reentering his city after a campaign against Capua
and the Lavorno
. Despite a bloody battle, he successfully entered Bari
.
In April 860, Lambert joined with Hildebert, count of Camerino
, in rebelling against the Emperor Louis II. Chased by an imperial army into the Marsi, from there they fled to Benevento
and took refuge under Prince Adelchis
. Louis surrounded the city and pardoned both Lambert and his protector in return for their loyalty. Hildebert, however, fled further to Bari.
In 866, Louis unsuccessfully besieged Landulf II
, the count-bishop of Capua. He even granted Lambert the county of Capua to continue the siege. At that moment, the duchy of Spoleto had reached its greatest extent.
Lambert left the siege of Capua and went Rome
after the election of Adrian II
on 13 November 867. On 13 December, Lambert plundered Rome during the papal coronation ceremony. He was promptly excommunicated and, as the emperor supported Adrian's pontificate, lost the patronage of Louis. It was three years before he rebelled a second time, though. In 871, after the emperor greatly increased his power and prestige by taking Bari, Lambert allied with Guaifer of Salerno
, Sergius II of Naples
, and Adelchis of Benevento and entered into open revolt against the emperor. The Saracens, however, landed new forces and attacked Salerno
. Adelchis, who had imprisoned the emperor while Lambert was staying in Benevento, released his captive to lead the forces against the infidels. The free emperor immediately deposed Lambert from his imperial position and replaced him with Suppo III
, a cousin of his wife Engelberga
.
Louis returned to the Mezzogiorno
in 873, the pope having absolved him from the oaths he had sworn to Adelchis in return for liberty. He besieged Benevento, but failed to take Lambert. After his death, he was replaced as emperor by his uncle Charles the Bald
, who reappointed Lambert to his old post in Spoleto (February or June 876). He also appointed Lambert's younger brother Guy
as margrave of Camerino
with the job of protecting the pope. On 16 July, at Ponthion
, Charles confirmed the donation of a large part of Spoletan territory to the papacy, but Lambert was still the most powerful lord in the central peninsula and a practically independent prince.
In 877, Charles died and Lambert supported Carloman of Bavaria
over Charles' heir, Louis the Stammerer
, for the kingship of Italy
and the emperorship
. Lambert himself entered Rome with the intent of making himself king, but was dissuaded by Pope John VIII
. In March 878, Lambert and Adalbert I of Tuscany
forced the populace to acknowledge Carloman as king. The two then besieged the pope in the Leonine City
for thirty days and John fled Rome for Troyes
. At Troyes, he held a synod in which he offered to crown Louis the Stammerer emperor, adopted Boso of Arles
as his son, and excommunicated his Italian enemies (Lambert and Adalbert). The pope even accused Lambert of desiring the imperial crown for himself, which is probable considering the subsequent history of his dynasty.
Lambert returned his sights to Capua after this Roman episode. He died besieging that city in 880. He was succeeded by his son Guy II
. His brother Guy became king and emperor, as did his nephew and namesake Lambert II
. The Archbishop of Rheims Fulk the Venerable, cautioned Lambert II against following his eponymous uncle's example.
Duchy of Spoleto
The independent Duchy of Spoleto was a Lombard territory founded about 570 in central Italy by the Lombard dux Faroald.- Lombards :The Lombards, a Germanic people, had invaded Italy in 568 and conquered much of it, establishing a Kingdom divided between several dukes dependent on the King, who had...
on two occasions, first from 859 to 871 and then from 876 to his death.
Lambert was the eldest son of Guy I of Spoleto
Guy I of Spoleto
Guy I was the Duke of Spoleto from 842. He was the son of Lambert I of Nantes and Adelaide of Lombardy, the eldest daughter of Pepin of Italy. He travelled with his father in 834 in the entourage of Lothair I. He was given the abbey of Mettlach in Lotharingia in 840, when the Emperor Louis the...
and Itta, daughter of Sico of Benevento
Sico of Benevento
Sico was the Lombard Prince of Benevento from the 817 to his own death.-Life:Before becoming the Prince of Benevento, he had been the gastald of Acerenza. On the assassination of Grimoald IV, Sico succeeded to the princely throne...
. He married Judith, daughter of Eberhard of Friuli
Eberhard of Friuli
Eberhard was the Frankish Duke of Friuli from 846. His name is alternatively spelled Everard, Evrard, Erhard, Eberhard, or Eberard, or in Latinized fashion Everardus, Eberardus, or Eberhardus. He wrote his own name "Evvrardus"...
.
In his first year of rule, he joined Gerard, count of the Marsi
Marsi
Marsi is the Latin exonym for a people of ancient Italy, whose chief centre was Marruvium, on the eastern shore of Lake Fucinus, drained for agricultural land in the late 19th century. The area in which they lived is now called Marsica. During the Roman Republic the people of the region spoke a...
; Maielpoto, gastald
Gastald
A gastald was a Lombard official in charge of some portion of the royal demesne with civil, martial, and judicial powers. By the Edictum Rothari of 643, the gastalds were given the civil authority in the cities and the reeves the like authority in the countryside...
of Telese
Telese
Telese Terme, called simply Telese until 1991, is a city and comune in the Province of Benevento, in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is located in the valley of the Calore, well known for its hot sulfur springs.-History Telesia:...
; and Wandelbert, gastald of Boiano, to prevent Sawdan, the Saracen
Saracen
Saracen was a term used by the ancient Romans to refer to a people who lived in desert areas in and around the Roman province of Arabia, and who were distinguished from Arabs. In Europe during the Middle Ages the term was expanded to include Arabs, and then all who professed the religion of Islam...
emir of Bari, from reentering his city after a campaign against Capua
Capua
Capua is a city and comune in the province of Caserta, Campania, southern Italy, situated 25 km north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. Ancient Capua was situated where Santa Maria Capua Vetere is now...
and the Lavorno
Terra di Lavoro
Terra di Lavoro is the name of a historical region of southern Italy. It corresponds roughy to the modern southern Lazio and northern Campania regions of Italy....
. Despite a bloody battle, he successfully entered Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
.
In April 860, Lambert joined with Hildebert, count of Camerino
Camerino
Camerino is a small town of 7.135 inhabitants in the Marches , in the province of Macerata, Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about 40 miles from Ancona....
, in rebelling against the Emperor Louis II. Chased by an imperial army into the Marsi, from there they fled to Benevento
Benevento
Benevento is a town and comune of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, 50 km northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill 130 m above sea-level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino and Sabato...
and took refuge under Prince Adelchis
Adelchis of Benevento
Adelchis was the son of Radelchis I, Prince of Benevento, and successor of his brother Radelgar in 854.It was given to Adelchis to preserve the ancient principality and its independence in the face of repeated assaults by the Saracens from the south, the Emperor Louis II from the north, and...
. Louis surrounded the city and pardoned both Lambert and his protector in return for their loyalty. Hildebert, however, fled further to Bari.
In 866, Louis unsuccessfully besieged Landulf II
Landulf II of Capua
Landulf II was Bishop and Count of Capua. He was the youngest of four sons of Landulf I, gastald of Capua. As a young man, he entered the church. When his father died, his eldest brother, Lando, succeeded him....
, the count-bishop of Capua. He even granted Lambert the county of Capua to continue the siege. At that moment, the duchy of Spoleto had reached its greatest extent.
Lambert left the siege of Capua and went 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...
after the election of Adrian II
Pope Adrian II
Pope Adrian II , , pope from December 14, 867 to December 14, 872, was a member of a noble Roman family, and became pope in 867, at an advanced age....
on 13 November 867. On 13 December, Lambert plundered Rome during the papal coronation ceremony. He was promptly excommunicated and, as the emperor supported Adrian's pontificate, lost the patronage of Louis. It was three years before he rebelled a second time, though. In 871, after the emperor greatly increased his power and prestige by taking Bari, Lambert allied with Guaifer of Salerno
Guaifer of Salerno
Guaifer was the Prince of Salerno from 861. The son of Daufer the Mute and grandson of Daufer the Prophet, he was the first of the Dauferidi to sit on the Salernitan throne which his family dominated unobstructed until 977.Guaifer's sister, Adelchisa, married Sicard of Benevento and when Sicard...
, Sergius II of Naples
Sergius II of Naples
Sergius II was Duke of Naples from 870 to 877.He continued the policies of his father, Gregory III, and grandfather, Sergius I. He maintained good relations with the Franks or the Byzantines only as it suited Neapolitan interests....
, and Adelchis of Benevento and entered into open revolt against the emperor. The Saracens, however, landed new forces and attacked Salerno
Salerno
Salerno is a city and comune in Campania and is the capital of the province of the same name. It is located on the Gulf of Salerno on the Tyrrhenian Sea....
. Adelchis, who had imprisoned the emperor while Lambert was staying in Benevento, released his captive to lead the forces against the infidels. The free emperor immediately deposed Lambert from his imperial position and replaced him with Suppo III
Suppo II of Spoleto
Suppo II was the Duke of Spoleto from 871 until his death. He was the archiminister and consiliarius of the Emperor Louis II...
, a cousin of his wife Engelberga
Engelberga
Engelberga was the wife of Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor, from 5 October 851 to his death on 12 August 875. As empress, she exerted a powerful influence over her husband. Her family, the Supponids, prospered during Louis's reign...
.
Louis returned to the Mezzogiorno
Mezzogiorno
The Midday is a wide definition, without any administrative usage, used to indicate the southern half of the Italian state, encompassing the southern section of the continental Italian Peninsula and the two major islands of Sicily and Sardinia, in addition to a large number of minor islands...
in 873, the pope having absolved him from the oaths he had sworn to Adelchis in return for liberty. He besieged Benevento, but failed to take Lambert. After his death, he was replaced as emperor by his uncle 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...
, who reappointed Lambert to his old post in Spoleto (February or June 876). He also appointed Lambert's younger brother Guy
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...
as margrave of Camerino
Camerino
Camerino is a small town of 7.135 inhabitants in the Marches , in the province of Macerata, Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about 40 miles from Ancona....
with the job of protecting the pope. On 16 July, at Ponthion
Ponthion
Ponthion is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France.It is located southeast of Châlons-en-Champagne.-History:It was a royal pfalz under both the Merovingian and the Carolingian dynasties. In appears repeatedly in the Frankish royal and ecclesiastical history.In 753 Pope Stephen...
, Charles confirmed the donation of a large part of Spoletan territory to the papacy, but Lambert was still the most powerful lord in the central peninsula and a practically independent prince.
In 877, Charles died and Lambert supported 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...
over Charles' heir, Louis the Stammerer
Louis the Stammerer
Louis the Stammerer was the King of Aquitaine and later King of West Francia. He was the eldest son of Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans. He succeeded his younger brother in Aquitaine in 866 and his father in West Francia in 877, though he was never crowned Emperor...
, for the kingship 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...
and the emperorship
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...
. Lambert himself entered Rome with the intent of making himself king, but was dissuaded by Pope John VIII
Pope John VIII
Pope John VIII was pope from December 13, 872 to December 16, 882. He is often considered one of the ablest pontiffs of the ninth century and the last bright spot on the papacy until Leo IX two centuries later....
. In March 878, Lambert and Adalbert I of Tuscany
Adalbert I of Tuscany
Adalbert I was the margrave of Tuscany from about 847.He was the son of Margrave Boniface II, who had been despoiled of his fiefs by the Emperor Lothair I, and successor of his elder brother Aganus...
forced the populace to acknowledge Carloman as king. The two then besieged the pope in the Leonine City
Leonine City
The Leonine City is that part of the city of Rome around which the ninth-century Pope Leo IV commissioned the construction of the Leonine Wall. It is on the opposite side of the Tiber from the seven hills of Rome and was not enclosed within the ancient city's Aurelian Walls, built between 271 and...
for thirty days and John fled Rome for Troyes
Troyes
Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...
. At Troyes, he held a synod in which he offered to crown Louis the Stammerer emperor, adopted Boso of Arles
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 ....
as his son, and excommunicated his Italian enemies (Lambert and Adalbert). The pope even accused Lambert of desiring the imperial crown for himself, which is probable considering the subsequent history of his dynasty.
Lambert returned his sights to Capua after this Roman episode. He died besieging that city in 880. He was succeeded by his son Guy II
Guy II of Spoleto
Guy II was the eldest son and successor of Lambert I as Duke of Spoleto and Margrave of Camerino. He was elected to succeed to these titles on his father's death in 880. He had an ambitious plan of expansion to the south and to the west that conflicted with the Papacy.He received a papal letter...
. His brother Guy became king and emperor, as did his nephew and namesake Lambert II
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...
. The Archbishop of Rheims Fulk the Venerable, cautioned Lambert II against following his eponymous uncle's example.
Sources
- Caravale, Mario (ed). Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani: LXIII Labroca – Laterza. RomeRomeRome 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...
, 2004.