Italy (Berengario)

This article is about the specific polity Italy (Berengario) and therefore only includes events related to its territory and not to its possessions or colonies. If you are interested in the possession, this is the link to the article about the nation which includes all possessions as well as all the different incarnations of the nation.

If you are looking for the page with the statistics about this polity you can find it here:All Statistics

One of the kingdoms that emerged from the division of the Frankish Empire after the death of Charles the Fat.

Establishment

January 888: In 888 Berengar of Friuli managed to convince a special diet of Counts and Bishops meeting in Pavia, then considered the capital of the Kingdom, to be elected as the successor of Charles the Fat on the Italian throne.

Chronology

Interactive Chronologies with maps are available in the section Changes Navigation

1. Frankish Partitions

The Frankish Kingdom was partitioned and reuinited several times as the Frankish rulers used to divide their territories equally among their heirs. This lead also to a number of wars and revolts.

1.1.Partition of the Frankish realm after the death of Charles the Fat

After the Death of Charles the fat, Oddo was proclamated King of West francia.

1.2.Invasion of Italy of Guido II of Spoleto

Independent Lombard Duke Guy III of Spoleto invaded the Kingdom of Italy.

February 889: Guido of Spoleto was victorious against Berengar, receiving the Iron Crown of Italy in Pavia on February 16, 889. However, he failed to definitively defeat Berengar, who remained in possession of the Friuli march and sought an alliance with Arnolfo.

1.3.War in Italy between Louis the Blind and Berengar of Friuli

Was a struggle between Louis the Blind, King of Provence, and Berengar I, who was the King of Italy.

July 905: In 902 Berengar strengthened his army with mercenaries of Magyar origin and faced the new Emperor a second time, defeating him and forcing him to return to Provence. In 905 Ludovico went back to Italy, faced Berengario who defeated him a second time and imprisoned him in Verona. Ludovico, accused by the Marquis of perjury and then blinded, had to return to Provence and renounced his imperial and royal titles, leaving the Provençal kingdom in the hands of Hugh. Berengar therefore remained the only king.

1.4.Burgundian Annexion of Italy

The King of Burgundy invaded the Kingdom of Italy.

March 922: The period of peace ended in 922, when there was a conspiracy of the greats of the kingdom, including the Marquis of Ivrea, aimed at bringing the King of Burgundy Rudolph to the Italian throne. He went down to Italy, had himself elected King in Pavia and faced Berengario's army at Fiorenzuola d'Arda (or at Fidenza). Berengario was defeated (he miraculously escaped death, hidden under a shield covered with corpses) and had to acknowledge his adversary's royal title. He returned to Verona, brooding his revenge. The opportunity was offered to him when Rodolfo had to return to Burgundy to stop the designs of Duke Burcardo of Swabia on his possessions. He launched a mercenary army of 5,000 Hungarians towards Pavia, who besieged the city. Just during the siege, the launch of flaming projectiles unleashed a fire that completely destroyed the eastern part of the city (the Faramannia), including the Palazzo Regio, and part of the western one; caught between the fire and the pagans, the Pavesi paid an immense price in human lives. The fire of Pavia represented a horrible chapter in the history of those years, and from the outset the responsibility for the events was attributed to Berengario, who had unleashed the Hungarians against the population of the kingdom: for this reason some Veronesi, led by the sculdascio Flamberto, planned a plot against Berengario, who was killed in Verona in 924, pierced from behind while praying during mass.

2. Hungarian invasions of Europe

The Magyars (or Hungarians) successfully conquered the Carpathian Basin (corresponding to the later Kingdom of Hungary) by the end of the ninth century, and launched a number of plundering raids thoughout Europe.

January 918: Between 917 and 925, the Magyars raided through Basel, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence and the Pyrenees.

February 918: Between 917 and 925, the Magyars raided through Basel, Alsace, Burgundy, Provence and the Pyrenees. The Magyars then left the raided territories.

January 922: In 921, the Hungarians raided Italy, reaching Apulia in 922.

February 922: In 921, the Hungarians raided Italy, reaching Apulia in 922. The territories were left after the raid.