Alberic I (died c. 925) was the
Lombard Duke of Spoleto
The Duke of Spoleto was the ruler of Spoleto and most of central Italy outside the Papal States during the Early and High Middle Ages (c. 500 – 1300). The first dukes were appointed by the Lombard king, but they were independent in practice. Th ...
from between 896 and 900 until 920, 922, or thereabouts. He was also Margrave of Camerino, and the son-in-law of
Theophylact I, Count of Tusculum
Theophylact I (before 864 – 924/925) was a medieval count of Tusculum who was the effective ruler of Rome from around 905 through to his death in 924. His descendants controlled the papacy for the next 100 years.
Biography
Theophylact was th ...
, the most powerful man in Rome.
Life
He first appears as a
page
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...
to
Guy III of Spoleto
Guy III of Spoleto (german: Wido, it, Guido; died 12 December 894) 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 emperor in 891. He died in 894 while fighting for co ...
at the Battle on the Trebbia in 889. He may have later been the count of
Fermo
Fermo (ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo.
Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway.
History
The oldest hum ...
, but whatever the case, he succeeded to Spoleto after murdering
Duke Guy IV.
He was recognised soon by King
Berengar I, with whom he fought 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 ...
in 899 or 900.
Theophylact, Count of Tusculum, in the
Alban Hills
The Alban Hills ( it, Colli Albani) are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcano, volcanic complex in Italy, located southeast of Rome and about north of Anzio. The high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak the centre of the caldera, bu ...
southeast of Rome served as ''
palatine iudex'' (or leader of the militia) for
Emperor Louis III. He remained in Rome, commanding a group of soldiers after the emperor’s return to Provence in 902, and was prominent in the overthrow of
Antipope Christopher
Christopher claimed the papacy from October 903 to January 904. Although he was listed as a legitimate pope in most modern lists of popes until the first half of the 20th century, the apparently uncanonical method by which he obtained the papacy ...
in January 904. Together with Alberic, they secured the succession of
Pope Sergius III
Pope Sergius III (c. 860 − 14 April 911) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from 29 January 904 to his death. He was pope during a period of violence and disorder in central Italy, when warring aristocratic factions ...
. Under Sergius, Theophylact became both ''sacri palatii vestararius'' and ''magister militum''. As the first oversaw appointments, and the second supervised the soldiers, Theophylact had effective control of the city. Theophylact was married to
Theodora
Theodora is a given name of Greek origin, meaning "God's gift".
Theodora may also refer to:
Historical figures known as Theodora
Byzantine empresses
* Theodora (wife of Justinian I) ( 500 – 548), saint by the Orthodox Church
* Theodora o ...
. They had two daughters:
Marozia
Marozia, born Maria and also known as Mariuccia or Mariozza ( 890 – 937), was a Roman noblewoman who was the alleged mistress of Pope Sergius III and was given the unprecedented titles ''senatrix'' ("senatoress") and ''patricia'' of Rome by ...
and Theodora. In 909, Marozia married Alberic. This alliance with the
Tusculani
The counts of Tusculum, also known as the Theophylacti, were a family of secular noblemen from Latium that maintained a powerful position in Rome between the 10th and 12th centuries. Several popes and an antipope during the 11th century came fro ...
was very advantageous, and he received the title of "
patrician
Patrician may refer to:
* Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage
* Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
of the Romans," ''patricius Romanorum''.
Although Alberic was a supporter of Pope Sergius, around 906, when the Pope agreed to crown Berengar Holy Roman Emperor, Alberic allied with his neighbour,
Adalbert II,
margrave of Tuscany
The rulers of Tuscany varied over time, sometimes being margraves, the rulers of handfuls of border counties and sometimes the heads of the most important family of the region.
Margraves of Tuscany, 812–1197 House of Boniface
:These were origin ...
. Together their combined forces blocked the road, preventing Berengar from reaching Rome.
Alberic was margrave of
Camerino
Camerino is a town in the province of Macerata, Marche, central-eastern Italy. It is located in the Apennines bordering Umbria, between the valleys of the rivers Potenza and Chienti, about from Ancona.
Camerino is home to the University of Cam ...
,
[Mann, Horace K., The Lives of the Popes in the Early Middle Ages, Vol. IV: The Popes in the Days of Feudal Anarchy, 891-999 (1910), pp. 154–155] and Duke of Spoleto.
[ He was one of the leaders of the Christian League which defeated the ]Saracens
file:Erhard Reuwich Sarazenen 1486.png, upright 1.5, Late 15th-century Germany in the Middle Ages, German woodcut depicting Saracens
Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek language, Greek and Latin writings, to refer ...
at the Battle of the Garigliano
The Battle of Garigliano was fought in 915 between Christian forces and the Saracens. Pope John X personally led the Christian forces into battle. The aim was to destroy the Arab fortress on the Garigliano River, which had threatened central Ital ...
in June 915. He led his troops from Spoleto and Camerino with those of Theophylact of Tusculum to join with Pope John X
Pope John X ( la, Ioannes X; died 28 May 928) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 914 to his death. A candidate of the counts of Tusculum, he attempted to unify Italy under the leadership of Berengar of Friuli, ...
—and his contingent from Latium
Latium ( , ; ) is the region of central western Italy in which the city of Rome was founded and grew to be the capital city of the Roman Empire.
Definition
Latium was originally a small triangle of fertile, volcanic soil (Old Latium) on whi ...
and Adalbert of Tuscany—and Nicholas Picingli Nicholas Epigingles ( el, Νικόλαος Ἐπιγίγγλης), better known by his Latinisation of names, Latinized surname Picingli, was a Byzantine Empire, Byzantine general active in southern Italy and the Balkans. As ''strategos'' of the ''T ...
, the ''strategos
''Strategos'', plural ''strategoi'', Linguistic Latinisation, Latinized ''strategus'', ( el, στρατηγός, pl. στρατηγοί; Doric Greek: στραταγός, ''stratagos''; meaning "army leader") is used in Greek language, Greek to ...
'' of Bari
Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...
, leading the Byzantine forces and Lombard and Greek princes of the South: Guaimar II of Salerno Guaimar II (also ''Waimar'', ''Gaimar'', or ''Guaimario'', sometimes called Gybbosus, meaning "Hunchback") (died 4 June 946) was the Lombard prince of Salerno from 901, when his father retired (or was retired) to a monastery, to his death. His fath ...
, Landulf I of Benevento
Landulf I (died 10 April 943), sometimes called Antipater, was a Lombard nobleman and the Prince of Benevento and of Capua (as Landulf III) from 12 January 901, when his father, Atenulf I, prince of Capua and conqueror of Benevento, associated ...
, Atenulf II of Capua Atenulf II (also ''Atenolf'', ''Atenolfo'', ''Atinolfo'', ''Adenolfo'', ''Atenulfo'', or ''Adenulfo'') (died 940) was the younger brother of Prince Landulf I of Benevento, who associated him with the government in June 910 or 911 (as their own fathe ...
, John I John I may refer to:
People
* John I (bishop of Jerusalem)
* John Chrysostom (349 – c. 407), Patriarch of Constantinople
* John of Antioch (died 441)
* Pope John I, Pope from 523 to 526
* John I (exarch) (died 615), Exarch of Ravenna
* John I o ...
and the later Docibilis II of Gaeta Docibilis II ( it, Docibile) ( 880 – c. 954) was the ruler of Gaeta, in one capacity or another, from 906 until his death. He was the son of the hypatus John I, who made him co-ruler in 906 or thereabouts.
Docibilis took part in the Battle of G ...
, and Gregory IV and the later John II of Naples
John II (died 919) was the duke of Naples from 915 to his death. He succeeded his father Gregory IV on the latter's death late in 915.
He had accompanied his father to the Battle of the Garigliano under Nicholas Picingli, where the Christian c ...
. Even Berengar sent a contingent from the March of Friuli
The March of Friuli was a Carolingian frontier march, established in 776 as the continuation of the Lombard Duchy of Friuli, established against the Slavs and Avars. It was ceded to the Duchy of Bavaria as the March of Verona in 952. Its territ ...
. The battle went famously and many a petty prince received titles of great honour. Alberic was appointed the "consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throug ...
of the Romans" in 917.
He became, however, a tyrant in the Eternal City and people and pope expelled him. He was subsequently murdered in Orte
Orte is a town, ''comune'', former Catholic bishopric and Latin titular see in the province of Viterbo, in the central Italian region of Lazio, located about north of Rome and about east of Viterbo.
Geography
Orte is situated in the Tiber vall ...
between 924 or 926, probably because of his reliance on marauding Hungarians who supported his power. The dates of his downfall and death are as uncertain as those of his rise. He last appears in a datable document of 917, the ''Liber largitorius'' of Farfa Abbey
Farfa Abbey ( it, Abbazia di Farfa) is a territorial abbey in northern Lazio, central Italy. In the Middle Ages it was one of the richest and most famous abbeys in Italy. It belongs to the Benedictine Order and is located about from Rome, in ...
. He had four or five sons by Marozia:
* Pope John XI
Pope John XI ( la, Ioannes XI; c. 910 – December 935) was the bishop of Rome and nominal ruler of the Papal States from March 931 to his death. The true ruler of Rome at the time was his mother, Marozia, followed by his brother Alberic II. Hi ...
(b.910)
* Alberic II, who was later prince of Rome
* Constantino (d. after January 14, 945)
* Sergio, bishop of Nepi (d. before 963)
* David or Deodatus, who was the father of Pope Benedict VII
Pope Benedict VII ( la, Benedictus VII; died October 983) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 974 to his death.
Family and early career
Benedict was born in Rome, the son of David or Deodatus and nephew of Alberic I ...
In addition, they had at least one daughter who was used to attempt a marriage alliance with the Byzantine emperor
This is a list of the Byzantine emperors from the foundation of Constantinople in 330 AD, which marks the conventional start of the Eastern Roman Empire, to its fall to the Ottoman Empire in 1453 AD. Only the emperors who were recognized as le ...
Romanos I Lekapenos
Romanos I Lekapenos ( el, Ρωμανός Λεκαπηνός; 870 – 15 June 948), Latinized as Romanus I Lecapenus, was Byzantine emperor from 920 until his deposition in 944, serving as regent for the infant Constantine VII.
Origin
Romanos ...
by marrying her to one of his sons, either Stephen Lekapenos
Stephen Lekapenos or Lecapenus ( grc-gre, Στέφανος Λεκαπηνός, Stéphanos Lekapenós; died 18 April 963) was the second son of the Byzantine Empire, Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (r. 920–944), and co-emperor from 924 to ...
or Constantine Lekapenos
Constantine Lekapenos or Lecapenus ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντῖνος Λακαπηνός, Kōnstantínos Lakapenós) was the third son of the Byzantine emperor Romanos I Lekapenos (), and co-emperor from 924 to 945. With his elder brother Steph ...
.
Liutprand of Cremona
Liutprand, also Liudprand, Liuprand, Lioutio, Liucius, Liuzo, and Lioutsios (c. 920 – 972),"LIUTPRAND OF CREMONA" in ''Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium, The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium'', Oxford University Press, New York & Oxford, 1991, p. 12 ...
says that Marozia's first son, who later became Pope John XI, was illegitimate, and the result of an affair with Pope Sergius. Subsequent commentators have repeated this report. Edward Gibbon
Edward Gibbon (; 8 May 173716 January 1794) was an English historian, writer, and member of parliament. His most important work, ''The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'', published in six volumes between 1776 and 1788, is k ...
says that the birth of John in 910, after her marriage to Alberic, would seem to indicate that Sergius was not the father. Horace Mann says that the report "...must be regarded as highly doubtful," and are assertions only made by bitter or ill-informed adversaries, and inconsistent with what is said by reliable contemporaries.Mann, Horace. "Pope Sergius III." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 23 September 2017
References
Further reading
Lindsay Brook, "Popes and pornocrats: Rome in the Early Middle Ages"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberic 01 of Spoleto
Lombard warriors
Alberic 1
Medieval Roman consuls
9th-century births
920s deaths
Year of birth unknown
Year of death uncertain
10th-century Lombard people
Medieval Roman patricians
Counts of Tusculum