Count of Flanders Baldwin IV of Flanders

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• Reference Number: 37144

Notes:

Baldwin IV of Flanders (980 - May 30, 1035) known as the Bearded, was Count of Flanders from 988 until his death. He was the son of Arnulf II, Count of Flanders. His mother was Rozala of Lombardy.

History:

In contrast to his predecessors Baldwin turned his attention to the east and north, leaving the southern part of his territory in the hands of his vassals the counts of Guînes, Hesdin, and St. Pol.

To the north of the county Baldwin was given Zeeland as a fief by the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II, while on the right bank of the Scheldt river he received Valenciennes (1013) and parts of the Cambresis and Hainaut.

In the French territories of the count of Flanders, the supremacy of the Baldwin remained unchallenged. They organized a great deal of colonization of marshland along the coastline of Flanders and enlarged the harbour and city of Brugge.

Family:

Baldwin first married Ogive of Luxembourg, daughter of Frederick of Luxembourg, by whom he had a son and heir Baldwin V.

He later married Eleanor of Normandy, daughter of Richard II of Normandy, by whom he had at least one daughter Judith who married Tostig Godwinson and Welf I, Duke of Bavaria.

His granddaughter, Matilda of Flanders, would go on to marry William the Conqueror, therefore starting the line of Anglo-Norman Kings of England.

Baldwin — Eleanor of Normandy. Eleanor (daughter of Richard II of Normandy and Judith of Brittany) was born Abt 1011; died Aft 1071, Flanders, Belgium. [Group Sheet]

1. Judith of Flanders was born 1033; died 5 Mar 1094.

Baldwin — Ogive of Luxembourg. [Group Sheet]

1. Baldwin V of Flanders was born 19 Aug 1012; died 1 Sep 1067.

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• Reference Number: 37334

Notes:

Baldwin III died in 962, when Arnulf was just an infant, while Arnulf's grandfather, Arnulf I, was still alive. When Arnulf I died three years later (965), the regency was held by his kinsman Baldwin Balso.

By the time Arnulf attained his majority in 976, Flanders had lost some of the southern territory acquired by Arnulf I. The latter had given some parts of Picardy to King Lothar of France to help assure his grandson's succession, and gave Boulogne as a fief to another relative. Then early in Arnulf's minority Lothar had taken Ponthieu and given it to Hugh Capet, and the first counts of Guînes had established themselves.

Arnulf — Rozala of Lombardy. [Group Sheet]

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• Name: Rozala of Italy, Rozala of Provence, or Susannah of Italy
• Reference Number: 37335

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• Reference Number: 37344

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• Name: Berengar II of Italy
• Reference Number: 37336

Notes:

Berengar was a son of Margrave Adalbert I of Ivrea and his wife Gisela of Friuli, daughter of the Unruoching king Berengar I of Italy. He thereby was a direct descendant of the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious in the female line. He succeeded his father as margrave about 923 and married Willa, daughter of the Bosonid margrave Boso of Tuscany and niece of King Hugh of Italy. The chronicler Liutprand of Cremona, raised at Berengar's court at Pavia, gives several particularly vivid accounts of her character.

About 940 Berengar led a revolt of Italian nobles against the rule of his uncle. To evade an assault by Hugh's liensmen, he, forewarned by the king's young son Lothair, had to flee to the court of King Otto I of Germany. Otto avoided taking sides, nevertheless in 845 Berengar could return to Italy with hired troops, welcomed by the local nobility. Hugh was defeated and retired to Arles, he was nominally succeeded by Lothair. From the time of Berengar's successful uprising, all real power and patronage in the Kingdom of Italy was concentrated in his hands with Hugh's son Lothair as titular king. Lothair's brief reign ended upon his early death in 950, presumably poisoned.

Berengar then assumed the royal title with his son Adalbert as co-ruler. He attempted to legitimize his kingship by forcing Lothair's widow Adelaide, the respective daughter, daughter-in-law, and widow of the last three Italian kings, into marriage with Adalbert. However, the young woman fiercely refused, whereafter Berengar had her imprisoned at Garda Castle, allegedly mistreated by Berengars's wife Willa. With the help of Count Adalbert Atto of Canossa she managed to flee and entreated the protection of King Otto of Germany. Otto, himself a widower since 946, took the occasion to gain the Iron Crown of Lombardy: Adelaide's requests for intervention resulted in his 951 invasion of Italy. Berengar had to entrench himself at San Marino, while Otto received the homage of the Italian nobility, married Adelaide himself, and assumed the title of a King of the Lombards. He afterwards returned to Germany, appointing his son-in-law Conrad the Red Italian regent at Pavia.

Berengar by Conrad's agency appeared at the 952 Reichstag in Augsburg and paid homage to Otto. He and his son Adalbert remained Italian kings as Otto's vassals, though they had to cede the territory of the former March of Friuli to him, which the German king enfeoffed to his younger brother Duke Henry I of Bavaria as the Imperial March of Verona.
Berengar remained a rebellious subordinate: when Otto had to deal with the revolt of his son Duke Liudolf of Swabia in 953, he attacked the Veronese march and also laid siege to Count Adalbert Atto's Canossa Castle. After 960, he even invaded the Papal States under Pope John XII, on whose appeal finally KIng Otto, aiming at his coronation as Holy Roman Emperor, again marched against Italy. Berengar's troops deserted him and Otto by Christmas 961 had taken Pavia by default and declared Berengar deposed. He proceeded to Rome, where he was crowned emperor on 2 February 962. He then once more turned against Berengar, who was besieged at San Leo.

Meanwhile Pope John had entered on negotiations with Berengar's son Adalbert, which in 963 caused Otto to move into Rome, where he deposed the pope and had Leo VIII elected. The next year, Berengar finally surrendered to Otto's forces, he was captured and imprisoned at Bamberg in Germany, where he died in 966. His wife Willa spent the rest of her life in a German nunnery.

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• Name: The Great
• Reference Number: 37345

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• Reference Number: 37337

Notes:

Adalbert I (died 17 July 923 or 8 October 924) was the son of Anscar of Ivrea and, from his death in 902, margrave of Ivrea.

He rebelled against his father-in-law Berengar I in 905 in support of Louis III. When Louis was defeated, captured, and blinded, Adalbert was exiled to Burgundy, whence his family had originated. He later returned and rebelled again, this time with Lambert, Archbishop of Milan, in support of another rival for the Italian throne: Rudolf II of Burgundy. Initially unsuccessful, he and Rudolf jointly defeated Berengar at the Battle of Firenzuola on 29 July 923.

He married firstly, before 900, Gisela of Friuli, a daughter of Berengar I of Italy and Bertila of Spoleto. With her, he had two children:

Berengar, successor
Bertha, abbess of Modena

Around 915, he married Ermengard, the daughter Adalbert II of Tuscany and Bertha, daughter of Lothair II. From this marriage he had a second son, Anscar, Duke of Spoleto.

Adalbert — Gisela of Friuli. [Group Sheet]

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• Reference Number: 37338