This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(September 2024) |
Battle of Firenzuola | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Kingdom of Burgundy March of Ivrea | Kingdom of Italy | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Rudolph II of Burgundy Adalbert I of Ivrea | Berengar I of Italy | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,500 killed |
The Battle of Firenzuola was fought on 29 July 923 between the forces of Rudolph II of Burgundy and Adalbert I of Ivrea on one side and Berengar I of Italy on the other. The battle was a defeat for Berengar, who was thus de facto dethroned and replaced by Rudolf as King of Italy. His own grandson and namesake, Berengar II, who would later be king of Italy as well, fought on the winning side against him.
Berengar was supported principally by the German faction in Italy. He was defeated by Guido of Spoleto in 889. He re-emerged as sole king in Italy in 898 after the death of Lambert of Spoleto. Louis of Provence was elected as king of Italy in 900, with support particularly from Anscar I of Ivrea. [1] Berengario defeated Louis twice, the second time conclusively in 905 when he had his rival blinded. He was crowned Emperor at Rome in 916. [1]
He allied himself with the Magyars to defeat King Rudolph II of Burgundy, who emerged as another rival candidate for the Italian throne, but was later forced back to Verona by Rudolph. The two armies met at Firenzuola.
Both armies were led by the kings in person. [2] Berengar defeated Rudolph's initial force but failed to control his men, who set out to plunder the spoils. [2] Rudolph's retreat may have been pre-planned. [2] A second group under the future Duke Boniface of Spoleto and Count Gariard of Novara attacked Berengar's scattered troops. [2] Rudolph's soldiers regrouped and rejoined the struggle. Berengar's army collapsed and he fled to his fortress in Verona. [2]
Berengar was assassinated on 7 April 924 in Verona, possibly by Rudolph's men. [2] Rudolph never received the Imperial throne and was forced out from Italy in 926. [2]
Flodoard wrote that 1,500 troops were killed on the Italian side. [2]
The 890s decade ran from January 1, 890, to December 31, 899.
The 920s decade ran from January 1, 920, to December 31, 929.
Year 923 (CMXXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.
Year 922 (CMXXII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Year 958 (CMLVIII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.
Year 894 (DCCCXCIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.
Louis the Blind was the king of Provence from 11 January 887, King of Italy from 12 October 900, and briefly emperor between 901 and 905. His father was a Bosonid and his mother was a Carolingian. He was blinded after a failed invasion of Italy in 905.
Hugh, known as Hugh of Arles or Hugh of Provence, was the king of Italy from 926 until his death. He belonged to the Bosonid family. During his reign, he empowered his relatives at the expense of the aristocracy and tried to establish a relationship with the Byzantine Empire. He had success in defending the realm from external enemies, but his domestic habits and policies created many internal foes and he was removed from power before his death.
Rudolph II was King of Burgundy from 912 until his death in 937 and King of Italy from 922 to 926. He initially succeeded in Upper Burgundy. In 933, Rudolph acquired the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy (Provence) from King Hugh of Italy in exchange for the waiver of his claims to the Italian crown, thereby establishing the united Kingdom of Burgundy.
Berengar I was the king of Italy from 887. He was Holy Roman Emperor between 915 and his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friuli from 874 until at least 890, but he had lost control of the region by 896.
Guy III of Spoleto 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 control of the Italian Peninsula.
The Kingdom of Upper Burgundy was a Frankish dominion established in 888 by the Welf king Rudolph I of Burgundy within the territory of former Middle Francia. It grew out of the Carolingian margraviate of Transjurane Burgundy southeast of the Jura Mountains together with the adjacent County of Burgundy (Franche-Comté) in the northwest. The adjective 'upper' refers to its location upstream in the Rhône river valley, as distinct from Lower Burgundy and also from the Duchy of Burgundy west of the Saône river. Upper Burgundy reunited with the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy in 933 to form the Kingdom of Burgundy, later known as Kingdom of Arles or Arelat.
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.
The March of Ivrea was a large frontier county (march) in the northwest of the medieval Italian kingdom from the late 9th to the early 11th century. Its capital was Ivrea in present-day Piedmont, and it was held by a Burgundian family of margraves called the Anscarids. The march was the primary frontier between Italy and Upper Burgundy and served as a defense against any interference from that state.
Adalbert I was the margrave of Ivrea, the second of the Anscarid dynasty, from the late 890s until his death. In the intermittent civil war which affected Italy from 888 into the 930s, Adalbert initially strove to remain neutral, but from 901 on he sided sequentially with every claimant to the Italian throne.
The Anscarids or the House of Ivrea were a medieval dynasty of Burgundian and Frankish origin which rose to prominence in Northern Italy in the tenth century, even briefly holding the Italian throne. The main branch ruled the County of Burgundy from the eleventh to fourteenth centuries and it was one of their members who first declared himself a count palatine. The cadet Castilian branch of Ivrea ruled the Kingdom of Galicia from 1111 and the Kingdoms of Castile and León from 1126 until 1369. The Spanish House of Trastámara, which ruled in Castile, Aragon, Naples, and Navarre at various points between the late 14th and early 16th centuries, was an illegitimate cadet branch of that family.
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 territory comprised parts of modern-day Italy, Slovenia and Croatia.
Anscar was a magnate in the Kingdom of Italy who served as Count of Pavia, Margrave of Ivrea (929–36) and Duke of Spoleto (936–40). He is sometimes numbered "Anscar II" to distinguish him from his grandfather, Anscar I of Ivrea. Described by Liutprand of Cremona as courageous and impulsive, he died in the battle of Spoleto.
Lambert was the archbishop of Milan from his ordination on 5 October 921 until his death. He was related to two prior archbishops: Andrea da Canziano and Garimpert, his father and predecessor, who involved him in the administration of the diocese before 921.