The Arduinici were a noble Frankish family that immigrated to Italy in the early tenth century, possibly from Neustria. They were descended from and take their name after one Arduin (Hardouin).
The first of the Arduinici to enter Italy was Roger, son of Arduin, who was established as count (comes) at Auriate in the early tenth century. He extended his power and was succeeded by his son Arduin Glaber, named after his grandfather, who established the family as one of the most powerful in northwestern Italy. He conquered the Susa Valley and allied with Provence against the Muslim Andalusian outpost of Fraxinetum. He ruled the counties of Auriate, Turin, Asti, Albenga and probably Bredulo, Alba, and Ventimiglia. During a reorganisation of the structure of Italy's marches under Berengar II in 950, Arduin's territories were organised as the March of Turin, or marca Arduinica.
Arduin allied his family with the House of Canossa by marrying his heir, Manfred I to Prangarda, daughter of Adalbert Atto of Canossa. The family later drew itself close to the Holy Roman Empire. Arduin's grandson, Ulric Manfred (Odalrich-Maginfred), was one of the most powerful noblemen Italy in the 1020s, when he tried to play kingmaker and give the throne to William V of Aquitaine. Ulric Manfred's daughters, Adelaide and Irmgard, married high-ranking German princes: Hermann IV of Swabia and Otto III of Swabia, respectively. Irmgard later married Egbert I, Margrave of Meissen, one of the richest magnates in Germany, and Adelaide, through her marriage to Otto of Savoy, was the mother of Bertha, empress of Henry IV and of another Adelaide, who married the German anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfelden. Adelaide (died 1091) was the last scion of the house; her heirs were her sons Peter I and Amadeus II of Savoy.
Otto was count of Savoy from around 1051 until his death. Through marriage to Adelaide, the heiress of Ulric Manfred II, he also administered the march of Susa from around 1046 until his death.
Amadeus II was the count of Savoy from 1078 to 1080. His life is obscure and few documents mention him. During his rule, he was overshadowed by his mother, but he had good relations with the papacy and, for a time, the Holy Roman emperor.
The County of Savoy was a state of the Holy Roman Empire which emerged, along with the free communes of Switzerland, from the collapse of the Burgundian Kingdom in the 11th century. It was the cradle of the future Savoyard state.
Boniface III, son of Tedald of Canossa and the father of Matilda of Tuscany, was the most powerful north Italian prince of his age. By inheritance he was count of Brescia, Canossa, Ferrara, Florence, Lucca, Mantua, Modena, Pisa, Pistoia, Parma, Reggio, and Verona from 1007 and, by appointment, margrave of Tuscany from 1027 until his assassination in 1052.
Adalbert was the king of Italy from 950 until 961, ruling jointly with his father, Berengar II. After their deposition, Adalbert continued to claim the Italian kingdom until his defeat in battle by the forces of Otto I in 965. Since he was the second Adalbert in his family, the Anscarids, he is sometimes numbered Adalbert II. His name is occasionally, especially in older works, shortened to Albert.
Otto III, called the White and known as Otto of Schweinfurt, was the margrave of the Nordgau (1024–1031) and duke of Swabia (1048–1057). He was the son of Henry of Schweinfurt, margrave of the Nordgau, and Gerberga of Henneberg. Otto was one of the most powerful East Franconian princes by inheritance: having extensive land in the Radenzgau and Schweinfurt. In 1014, he first appears as count of Lower Altmühl and, in 1024, he inherits his father's march. In 1034, Otto became count of the Lower Naab. From then on to his appointment to Swabia, he takes part in many imperial expeditions into Bohemia, Hungary, and Poland. He was betrothed to Matilda, daughter of Bolesław I the Brave, but the arrangement fell through.
Boniface del Vasto was the margrave of Savona and Western Liguria from 1084 to c.1130. He was the son and successor of Otto and of Bertha, daughter of Ulric Manfred II of Turin. Boniface was a member of the Aleramici dynasty.
Ulric Manfred II or Manfred Ulric was the count of Turin and marquis of Susa in the early 11th century. He was the last male margrave from the Arduinid dynasty. Ulric Manfred's daughter, Adelaide, inherited the majority of his property. Through marriage to Adelaide, Otto of Savoy, a younger son of Count Humbert I of Savoy became margrave of Turin. Their descendants would later comprise the House of Savoy who ruled Sardinia and Italy.
The March or Marquisate of Turin was a territory of medieval Italy from the mid-10th century, when it was established as the Arduinic March. It comprised several counties in Piedmont, including the counties of Turin, Auriate, Albenga and, probably, Ventimiglia. The confines of the march thus stretched across the Po Valley from the Western Alps in the north, to the Ligurian Sea.
Arduin Glaber was count of Auriate from c. 935, count of Turin from c. 941/942, and Margrave of Turin from c. 950/964. He placed his dynasty, the Arduinici, on a firm foundation and established the march of Turin through conquests and royal concessions. The Chronicon Novaliciense, the chronicle of the abbey of Novalesa, is the primary source for his life.
Manfred I or Maginfred was the second Arduinici marquis of Susa from 977 until his death. Manfred was the eldest son of Arduin Glaber, from whom he inherited the county of Auriate and the vast March of Susa. The march extended from the Susa Valley by the Alps south across the Po to the Ligurian Sea. Although he ruled for almost twenty-five years, there is little evidence of his activities in surviving sources. Under him, Pavia became a mercantile city. He also controlled the road between Genoa and Marseilles.
Albert Azzo I was an Italian nobleman. He was a member of the Obertenghi family. From 1014 onward, he was margrave of Milan and count of Luni, Genoa and Tortona.
Adelaide of Turin was the countess of part of the March of Ivrea and the marchioness of Turin in Northwestern Italy from 1034 to her death. She was the last of the Arduinici. She is sometimes compared to her second cousin and close contemporary, Matilda of Tuscany.
Bertha of Savoy, also called Bertha of Turin, was Queen of Germany from 1066 and Holy Roman Empress from 1084 until 1087 as the first wife of Emperor Henry IV.
Auriate was a county in medieval Italy on the eastern slopes of the Western Alps lying between Cuneo and Saluzzo. The county existed from the late ninth century to the middle of the tenth. The name of the county survives in that of the comune of Valloriate.
Bertha of Milan or Bertha of Luni, was a countess margravine of Turin by marriage to Ulric Manfred II of Turin, and regent in Turin and Susa for her daughter Adelaide of Susa in 1033.
Immilla was a duchess consort of Swabia by marriage to Otto III, Duke of Swabia, and a margravine of Meissen by marriage to Ekbert I of Meissen. She was regent of Meissen during the minority of her son, Ekbert II.
Bertha was a member of the Arduinici dynasty.
Adelaide of Savoy, a member of the Burgundian House of Savoy, was Duchess of Swabia from about 1062 until 1079 by her marriage with Rudolf of Rheinfelden, who also was elected German anti-king in 1077.
Alric, also known as Alrico, Adalric, and Odelric, was a medieval Lombard bishop of Asti in Italy from 1007 or 1008 until his death.