Walfred (or Waltfred) (died 896) was the Count of Verona and then

Margrave of Friuli The dukes and margraves of Friuli were the rulers of the Duchy and March of Friuli in the Middle Ages. The dates given below, when contentious, are discussed in the articles of the respective dukes. Lombard dukes * 568–c.584 Grasulf I * 5 ...

in the last decades of the ninth century. Walfred was an early supporter of

Berengar of Friuli Berengar I ( la, Berengarius, Perngarius; it, Berengario; – 7 April 924) was the king of Italy from 887. He was Holy Roman Emperor between 915 and his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friu ...

in his bid for the

Iron Crown of Lombardy The Iron Crown ( lmo, Corona Ferrea de Lombardia; it, Corona Ferrea; la, Corona Ferrea) is a relic and may be one of the oldest royal insignia of Christendom. It was made in the Early Middle Ages, consisting of a circlet of gold and jewels fit ...

following

Charles the Fat Charles III (839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandso ...

's deposition in 887. He was described as his "highest counsellor." He was a ''consiliarius'' and ''marchio'' by appointment of Charles and he was the greatest magnate in eastern Lombardy after Berengar. He even succeeded Berengar in Friuli, but under what circumstances scholarly opinion is divided. He may have succeeded Berengar, by Berengar's appointment around 890, when he is last heard in Friuli. The ''

Annales Fuldenses The ''Annales Fuldenses'' or ''Annals of Fulda'' are East Frankish chronicles that cover independently the period from the last years of Louis the Pious (died 840) to shortly after the end of effective Carolingian rule in East Francia with the ac ...

'' under the year 896, tell how Walfred died in office and how he had held

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 ...

with "great fidelity to the emperor," meaning

Arnulf of Carinthia Arnulf of Carinthia ( 850 – 8 December 899) was the duke of Carinthia who overthrew his uncle Emperor Charles the Fat to become the Carolingian king of East Francia from 887, the disputed king of Italy from 894 and the disputed emperor from Feb ...

, specifying that his death was the circumstance for Berengar to reassert his claim to kingship after his falling out with Arnulf earlier that year. It has been suggested that Walfred was placed in Berengar's office by Arnulf in 896 after Berengar's defection from Arnulf's camp early in that year.Reuter, 134 n19. Walfred held Friuli less than a year in that case.

References

*Reuter, Timothy (trans.)
The Annals of Fulda
'. (Manchester Medieval series, Ninth-Century Histories, Volume II.) Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1992. *MacLean, Simon. ''Kingship and Politics in the Late Ninth Century: Charles the Fat and the end of the Carolingian Empire''. Cambridge University Press: 2003.

Notes

896 deaths Margraves of Friuli 9th-century Italian nobility Year of birth unknown {{Italy-noble-stub