Lambert (archbishop of Milan)

Last updated April 16, 2019

Lambert (died 19 June 931) 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 (died 906) and Garimpert, his father and predecessor, who involved him in the administration of the diocese before 921.

Lambert, along with Marquis Adalbert I of Ivrea and Count Giselbert of Bergamo, led a rebellion against King Berengar I in 921, sparking a long civil war over the Italian throne. The rebels gathered an army outside Brescia, but Berengar surprised them and took many prisoners. Berengar's use of Hungarians as troops raised great indignation and the rebels offered the throne to King Rudolf II of Burgundy.^[1] Lambert sent troops to the Battle of Firenzuola (29 July 923), where Rudolf established himself on the Italian throne.^[2]

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.

Berengar I was the King of Italy from 887. He became Holy Roman Emperor after 915, until 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.

The Kingdom of Italy was one of the constituent kingdoms of the Holy Roman Empire, along with the kingdoms of Germany, Bohemia, and Burgundy. It comprised northern and central Italy, but excluded the Republic of Venice and the Papal States. Its original capital was Pavia until the 11th century.

When northern Italy was devastated by Hungarian raids in 925, while Rudolf was in Burgundy, Lambert and several other high-profile supporters of Rudolf defected. On their behalf, Lambert offered the crown to Count Hugh of Arles.^[3]

The Hungarian invasions of Europe took place in the ninth and tenth centuries, the period of transition in the history of Europe in the Early Middle Ages, when the territory of the former Carolingian Empire was threatened by invasion from multiple hostile forces, the Magyars (Hungarians) from the east, the Viking expansion from the north and the Arabs from the south.

When in 926 Duke Burchard II of Swabia invaded Italy in support of Rudolf, Lambert invited him to Milan while secretly arranging his ambush. He even allowed him to hunt deer in his private hunting preserve. Burchard was then attacked and killed by the Pavians on the road from Novara to Ivrea on 29 April 926.^[3]

Pavia is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, northern Italy, 35 kilometres south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,000. The city was the capital of the Kingdom of the Lombards from 572 to 774.

Novara is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 104 284 inhabitants (1-1-2017), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It is an important crossroads for commercial traffic along the routes from Milan to Turin and from Genoa to Switzerland. Novara lies between the rivers Agogna and Terdoppio in northeastern Piedmont, 50 kilometres (31 mi) from Milan and 95 kilometres (59 mi) from Turin.

Ivrea is a town and comune of the Metropolitan City of Turin in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy. Situated on the road leading to the Aosta Valley, it straddles the Dora Baltea and is regarded as the centre of the Canavese area. Ivrea lies in a basin that in prehistoric times formed a large lake. Today five smaller lakes — Sirio, San Michele, Pistono, Nero and Campagna — are found in the area around the town.

Lambert died on 19 June 931 and was buried in the Basilica Vetus . He was succeeded by Hilduin, the exiled bishop of Liège, a relative and appointee of Hugh.^[4]

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Willa, known as Willa of Tuscany (911/912-970), was medieval Italian noblewoman. By birth she was a member of the Bosonid noble dynasty. By marriage to Berengar II of Italy she was countess of Ivrea from 930 to 963, and queen consort of Italy from 950 to 963.

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.

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References

↑ Valerie Eads, "Berengar", in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology (Oxford University Press, 2010), vol. 1, pp. 142.
↑ Valerie Eads, "Firenzuola, Battle of", in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology (Oxford University Press, 2010), vol. 1, pp. 51–52.
1 2 Liutprand of Cremona; Paolo Squatriti, trans., "Retribution", in The Complete Works of Liudprand of Cremona (Catholic University of America Press, 2007), pp. 115–17.
↑ Liutprand, "Retribution", p. 132.

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[1] Valerie Eads, "Berengar", in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology (Oxford University Press, 2010), vol. 1, pp. 142.

[2] Valerie Eads, "Firenzuola, Battle of", in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Medieval Warfare and Military Technology (Oxford University Press, 2010), vol. 1, pp. 51–52.

[Liutprand1-3] 1 2 Liutprand of Cremona; Paolo Squatriti, trans., "Retribution", in The Complete Works of Liudprand of Cremona (Catholic University of America Press, 2007), pp. 115–17.

[Liutprand2-4] Liutprand, "Retribution", p. 132.