Alberto Azzo II (January/February 997 in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

– 20 August 1097 in Modena), Margrave of Milan, and

Liguria Liguria (; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is roughly coextensive with ...

, Count of

Gavello Gavello is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rovigo in the Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about southeast of Rovigo. As of 31 December 2004, it had a population of 1,616 and an area of .All demographic ...

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; ) is a city and communes of Italy, commune in the region of Veneto, Northeast Italy, the capital of the province of Rovigo, eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Veni ...

Lunigiana The Lunigiana () or Lunesana is a historical territory of Italy that today falls within the provinces of Massa Carrara, Tuscany, and La Spezia, Liguria. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, ...

Monselice Monselice (; ) is a town and municipality (comune) located in northeastern Italy, in the Veneto region, in the province of Padua about southwest of the city of Padua, at the southern edge of the Euganean Hills (''Colli Euganei''). ''Monselic ...

, and Montagnana, was a powerful nobleman in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

. He is considered the founder of Casa d'Este (

House of Este The House of Este ( , , ) is a European dynasty of North Italian origin whose members ruled parts of Italy and Germany for many centuries. The original House of Este's elder branch, which is known as the House of Welf, included dukes of Bavaria ...

), having been head of the first family to be master of Este, a town of Padua.

Life

Alberto Azzo II was the only son of Albert Azzo I, Margrave of Milan and Adela of Milan. He inherited his father's offices around 1029, and continually increased his properties in northern Italy. Around 1073 he made a castle at Este his residence, from which the

took its name. Before his building project, Este was little more than a village. In the

Investiture Controversy The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest (, , ) was a conflict between church and state in medieval Europe, the Church and the state in medieval Europe over the ability to choose and install bishops (investiture), abbots of monasteri ...

between

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and List of kings of Burgundy, Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was t ...

, and

Pope Gregory VII Pope Gregory VII (; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. One of the great ...

, Azzo attempted to mediate, but later he joined the side of the pope.

First marriage

Azzo II married Kunigunde (also called Chuniza), the daughter of Welf II, Count of Altdorf, in 1035/6. Azzo's son with Chuniza, Welf, moved first to Carinthia and then to Bavaria, giving rise to one of the most important families in European history, the

Guelphs The Guelphs and Ghibellines ( , ; ) were Political faction, factions supporting the Pope (Guelphs) and the Holy Roman Emperor (Ghibellines) in the Italian city-states of Central Italy and Northern Italy during the Middle Ages. During the 12th ...

Albert Azzo II tomb - Vangadizza Abbey - Badia Polesine

With his first wife, Chuniza, Azzo had: * Welf (died 6 November 1101,

Paphos Paphos, also spelled as Pafos, is a coastal city in southwest Cyprus and the capital of Paphos District. In classical antiquity, two locations were called Paphos: #Old Paphos, Old Paphos, today known as Kouklia, and #New Paphos, New Paphos. It i ...

) Duke of Bavaria from 1070 to 1077 and from 1096 to his death who was the first member of the Welf branch of the

Second marriage

Around 1050, Azzo married again, to Garsende, daughter of Herbert I, Count of Maine. In 1069–1070, he tried to acquire

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

for his son

Hugh Hugh is the English-language variant of the masculine given name , itself the Old French variant of '' Hugo (name)">Hugo'', a short form of Continental Germanic Germanic name">given names beginning in the element "mind, spirit" (Old English ). ...

, because his wife, Garsende, was a co-heiress of the previous counts of Maine. With his second wife, Garsende, Azzo had: * Fulco I, Margrave of Milan (died 1128), ancestor of the Italian branch of the House of Este made the first documented use of the title "Marquis d'Este." * Hugh V, Count of Maine (died 1131), was declared count of Maine, but he could not prevail against Robert, the Duke of Normandy. Some sources say he also married Vitalia Orseolo, daughter of Peter Orseolo. They had a daughter: Itta. He had an extra-marital affair with, or perhaps married, Matilda, sister of William/Guglielmo, Bishop of Pavia (r.1069-1102/3), with whom he had a daughter named Adelasia, who married Guglielmo Adelardi.

Death

Alberto Azzo II lived to at least 100. He died in August 1097 at the monastery of Vangadizza (

Badia Polesine Badia Polesine is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Rovigo in the Italy, Italian region Veneto, located about southwest of Venice and about west of Rovigo. It is part of the upper Polesine, and is bounded by the Adige river, which se ...

), where he was buried.L.A. Muratori, ''Della antichità estensi'', p. 316
.

Notes

References

*H. Bresslau, ''Jahrbücher des deutschen Reiches unter Konrad II.'' vol. 1 (Leipzig, 1879). * * * * * *

External links

(in German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Albert Azzo 02, Margrave of Milan House of Este 11th-century Italian nobility 997 births Year of birth uncertain 1097 deaths Obertenghi family History of Milan