Bertha (born between 863 and 868 – 8 March 925 in

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

) was countess of Arles by marriage to

Theobald of Arles Theobald ( 854 – 895), count of Arles, was a Frankish nobleman from the Bosonid family. He was a son of Hucbert. He and his wife Bertha had two sons, Hugh of Italy and Boso of Tuscany Boso (; died after 940?) was a Burgundian nobleman wh ...

, and margravine of Tuscany by marriage to

Adalbert II of Tuscany Adalbert II (c. 875 – 915), called the Rich, son of Adalbert I, Margrave of Tuscany and Rothild of Spoleto. Biography He was a grandson of Boniface II, and was concerned with the troubles of Lombardy, at a time when so many princes were con ...

. She served as regent of Lucca and Tuscany from 915 until 916 during the minority of her son

Guy of Tuscany Guy (also ''Guido'' or ''Wido''; raised Leo; called the Philosopher) (died 3 February 929) was the son of Adalbert II of Tuscany with Bertha, daughter of Lothair II of Lotharingia. After the death of his father Adalbert II in 915, he was the Coun ...

. She was described as beautiful, spirited and courageous, while her influence over her spouse was, coupled with ambition, attributed to have involved her husbands in many wars. She was the second daughter of

Lothair II Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was a Carolingian king and ruler of northern parts of Middle Francia, that came to be known as Lotharingia, reigning there from 855 until his death in 869. He also ruled over Burgundy, holding from 855 just th ...

King of Lotharingia The kings and dukes of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were k ...

, by his concubine,

Waldrada Waldrada or Walderada (French ''Waldrade'', Italian ''Gualdrada'') is a feminine given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle n ...

.C. W. Previté Orton. "Italy and Provence, 900-950."
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Life

Between 879 and 880, Bertha married her first husband,

. A

Bosonid The Bosonids were a dynasty of Carolingian-era counts, dukes, bishops, kings and emperors descended from Boso the Elder and his wife Engeltrude. They married into the Carolingian dynasty and raised to power during the second half of the 9th cen ...

, his father was

Hucbert Hucbert (also spelled Hubert or Hugbert; c. 820 – 864 or 866) was a Frankish nobleman and ecclesiastical official of the Bosonid dynasty. He served as Count of Valois, Duke of Transjurane Burgundy, and lay abbot of Saint Maurice's Abbey in Aga ...

. Hucbert's brother-in-law was Lothair II. Bertha is also known for her curious correspondence to Caliph al-Muktafi in 906, in which she described herself rather grandly as "Queen of the Franks." Bertha's letter is of interest in that she appears to have little knowledge of Baghdad politics or culture, and it is for this reason that details of her correspondence were recorded by one of the Muslim chroniclers. Bertha was seeking a marriage alliance between herself and the Emir of Sicily, unaware that al-Mukfati had little influence over the

Aghlabid The Aghlabid dynasty () was an Arab dynasty centered in Ifriqiya (roughly present-day Tunisia) from 800 to 909 that conquered parts of Sicily, Southern Italy, and possibly Sardinia, nominally as vassals of the Abbasid Caliphate. The Aghlabids ...

colony in Sicily. Moreover, the letter was written in a language unfamiliar to the Caliph's translators, and the accompanying gifts (among them a multicoloured woollen coat) which no doubt indicated largesse on Bertha's part, were unlikely to have impressed al-Muktafi beyond their novelty value. After the death of Adalbert II in 915, her son Guy became

count Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

and

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

and

margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

of Tuscany. Bertha, as his mother, was his

regent In a monarchy, a regent () is a person appointed to govern a state because the actual monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge their powers and duties, or the throne is vacant and a new monarch has not yet been dete ...

. She stepped down from regency in 916. Bertha died on 8 March 925 in Lucca.

Issue

Bertha and

had four children: *

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 ). ...

(882 – 10 April 947); * Boso (885–936) * Theutberga of Arles (890–948), married Warner, viscount of Sens * An unknown daughter (d. after 924) Bertha and

had three children: *

Guy Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an uninc ...

(d. 3 February 929);Townsend, Geo (1847) ''Ecclesiastical and Civil History Philosophically Considered'', Vol. II, p. 157 * Lambert (d. after 938); *

Ermengarde Ermengarde or Ermengard or Ermingarde or Irmingard or Irmgard is a feminine given name of Germanic origin derived from the Germanic words "ermen/irmin," meaning "whole, universal" and "gard" meaning "enclosure, protection". Armgarð is a Faroese ver ...

(d. 932).

References

Bibliography

* Metcalfe, A. (2009) Muslims of Medieval Italy (Edinburgh University Press). . * * Previté Orton, C. W. "Italy and Provence, 900-950." ''The English Historical Review'' Vol. 32, No. 127 (July, 1917) (pp. 335–347) * König, Daniel G. (2023). 906: Bertha of Tuscany’s Correspondence with al-Muktafī bi-llāh in the Version of Ibn al-Zubayr. ''Transmediterranean History'', 5(1). https://doi.org/10.18148/tmh/2023.5.1.66. {{DEFAULTSORT:Bertha, daughter of Lothair 02 860s births 925 deaths Year of birth uncertain 10th-century women regents Carolingian dynasty Women from the Carolingian Empire Daughters of kings 10th-century regents Mothers of Italian monarchs