Kings of Italy

Berengar of Friuli was a Margrave of Friuli, King of Italy (from 888 on) and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire from 915 on. He was the founder of a line of princes of the 9th–11th century who in popular Italian histories are ranked incorrectly as national kings. Through his mother he was a grandson of the Carolingian emperor Louis I the Pious.

After the fall of the emperor Charles III the Fat, Berengar was elected king of Italy in 888 at Pavia. He acknowledged the overlordship of the East Frankish king Arnulf, and from early 889 he was confined to northeastern Italy by Guy of Spoleto (d. 894), who at that time ruled the rest of Italy. After the death of Guy's son and successor, Lambert (898), Berengar finally was recognized throughout the kingdom.

In 899 Berengar was defeated on the Brenta River by the invading Magyars. In 900 King Louis of Provence (the future emperor Louis III the Blind) was invited to Italy by a group of nobles antagonistic to Berengar. Louis was crowned king of the Lombards and then, in 901, was made emperor by Pope Benedict IV. Within a year Berengar had expelled Louis from Italy. ..... more

King Berengar's defeat by the Magyars (in Hungarian)
King Berengar II kidnapped and imprisoned Adelaide of Burgundy
Romans, Lombards and Saracens


Berengario primo re d'Italia

  • A1 = Siberius;
    • B1 = Desiderius, King of the Lombards;
      • C1 = Everhard, Count of Friuli;
        • D1 = Berengarius, Count of Friuli;
          • E1 = Everhard, Margrave of Friuli, d:866, m. Princess Gisele;  ==>  Franks (Carolingians)
            • F1 = Berengar I, Holy Roman Emperor, d:924, m. Bertila of Spoleto;
              • G1 = Gisela *, d:910, m. Count Adalbert of Parma (see below);
        • D2 = Wido, Count, lvd:827;
          • E1 = Anscario II, Count of Oscheret, lvd:888;
            • F1 = Adalbert, Count of Parma, lvd:924, m. Gisela *;
              • G1 = Berengar II, King of Italy, d:966, m. Willa of Arles;

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