The Battle of Firenzuola was fought on 29 July 923 between the forces of

Rudolph II Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Hous ...

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

and Adalbert I of

Ivrea Ivrea (; pms, Ivrèja ; ; lat, Eporedia) is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley (part of the medieval Via Francigena), it stradd ...

on one side and Berengar I of

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on the other. The battle was a defeat for Berengar, who was thus ''de facto'' dethroned and replaced by Rudolf as

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader, ...

. His own grandson and namesake,

Berengar II Berengar II ( 900 – 4 August 966) was the King of Italy from 950 until his deposition in 961. He was a scion of the Anscarid and Unruoching dynasties, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Berengar I. He succeeded his father as Marg ...

, who would later be king of Italy as well, fought on the winning side against him.

Background

Berengar was supported principally by the German faction in Italy. He was defeated by Guido of Spoleto in 889. He re-emerged as sole king in Italy in 898 after the death of

Lambert of Spoleto Lambert (c. 880 – 15 October 898) was the King of Italy from 891, Holy Roman Emperor, co-ruling with his father from 892, and Duke of Spoleto and Camerino (as Lambert II) from his father's death in 894. He was the son of Guy III of Spoleto and ...

Louis of Provence Louis the Blind ( 880 – 5 June 928) was the king of Provence from 11 January 887, King of Italy from 12 October 900, and briefly Holy Roman Emperor, as Louis III, between 901 and 905. His father was a Bosonid and his mother was a Carolingian ...

was elected as king of Italy in 900, with support particularly from

Anscar I of Ivrea Anscar I ( la, Anscarius; 860 - March 902) was the margrave of Ivrea from 888Wickham, 178. to his death. From 877 or 879, he was the count of Oscheret in Burgundy. He supported Guy III of Spoleto for the throne of France after the deposition of ...

. Berengario defeated Louis twice, the second time conclusively in 905 when he had his rival blinded. He was crowned

Emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

at Rome in 916.

Prelude

He allied himself with the

Magyars Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...

to defeat King

Rudolph II of Burgundy Rudolph II (c. 11 July 880 – 11 July 937), a member of the Elder House of Welf, was King of Burgundy from 912 until his death. He initially succeeded in Upper Burgundy and also ruled as King of Italy from 922 to 926. In 933 Rudolph acquired the ...

, who emerged as another rival candidate for the Italian throne, but was later forced back to

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

by Rudolph. The two armies met at

Firenzuola Firenzuola is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region Tuscany, located about northeast of Florence. Firenzuola borders the following municipalities: Barberino di Mugello, Borgo San Lorenzo, Castel ...

Battle

Both armies were led by the kings in person. Berengar defeated Rudolph's initial force but failed to control his men, who set out to

plunder Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...

the spoils. Rudolph's retreat may have been pre-planned. A second group under the future

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are ran ...

Boniface of Spoleto and Count Gariard of

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is ...

attacked Berengar's scattered troops. Rudolph's soldiers regrouped and rejoined the struggle. Berengar's army collapsed and he fled to his

fortress A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

in Verona.

Aftermath

Berengar was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

on 7 April 924 in Verona, possibly by Rudolph's men. Rudolph never received the Imperial throne and was forced out from Italy in 926.

Casualties

Flodoard Flodoard of Reims (; 893/4 – 28 March 966) was a Frankish chronicler and priest of the cathedral church of Reims in the West Frankish kingdom during the decades following the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire. His historical writings are m ...

wrote that 1,500 troops were killed on the Italian side.

Citations

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Firenzuola 923

10th century in Italy