The
Anscarids or
Anscarii or the
House of Ivrea were a medieval
FrankishThe Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul...
dynasty of
BurgundianBurgundy is a region of Western Europe which has existed as a political entity in a number of forms with very different boundaries. Two of these entities have been called the Kingdom of Burgundy, and a third Kingdom of Burgundy was very nearly created....
origin which rose to prominence in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
in the tenth century, even briefly holding the Italian throne. They also ruled the
County of BurgundyThe Free County of Burgundy, in German Freigrafschaft Burgund, was a medieval county , within the traditional province and modern French region Franche-Comté, whose very French name is still reminiscent of the unusual title of its count: Freigraf...
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and it was one of their member who first declared himself a
franc-compte or
free count. By a cadet branch of the counts of Burgundy came the
House of Burgundy-Spain (Casa de Borgoña-España) which ruled the
kingdom of GaliciaKingdom of Galicia is the name of two distinct entities within the Iberian Peninsula. In the first period, it was a barbarian monarchy ruled by the Suebi, a Germanic-speaking people who entered the Western Roman Empire in 406. Their kingdom corresponded to the Roman province of Gallaecia in the...
from 1111 and the
Kingdoms of CastileKingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
and
LeónKingdom of León was an independent country situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 AD when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their main seat from Oviedo to the city of León...
from 1126 until 1369.
The founder of the family's fortunes was a petty Burgundian count named
AnscarAnscar I was the margrave of Ivrea from 888 to his death. From 877 or 879, he was the count of Oscheret in Burgundy. He supported Guy III of Spoleto for the throne of France after the deposition of Charles the Fat in 887, but after Guy's failed attempt and the coronation of Odo, Count of Paris, he...
, who, with the support of his powerful brother, the archbishop of Rheims, Fulk the Venerable, brought
Guy III of SpoletoGuy of Spoleto , sometimes known by the Italian version of his name, Guido, or by the German version, Wido, was the Margrave of Camerino from 880 and then Duke of Spoleto and Camerino from 883...
to
LangresLangres is a commune in north-eastern France. It is a subprefecture of the Haute-Marne département in the Champagne-Ardenne region.-History:...
to be crowned king of France in
887-Europe:* Charles the Fat is deposed from the entire Carolingian Empire.* Odo, Count of Paris ascends to the throne of Western Francia .* Berengar of Friuli ascends to the throne of Italy....
.
The
Anscarids or
Anscarii or the
House of Ivrea were a medieval
FrankishThe Franks or Frankish people were a West Germanic tribal confederation first attested in the 3rd century as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul...
dynasty of
BurgundianBurgundy is a region of Western Europe which has existed as a political entity in a number of forms with very different boundaries. Two of these entities have been called the Kingdom of Burgundy, and a third Kingdom of Burgundy was very nearly created....
origin which rose to prominence in
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
in the tenth century, even briefly holding the Italian throne. They also ruled the
County of BurgundyThe Free County of Burgundy, in German Freigrafschaft Burgund, was a medieval county , within the traditional province and modern French region Franche-Comté, whose very French name is still reminiscent of the unusual title of its count: Freigraf...
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and it was one of their member who first declared himself a
franc-compte or
free count. By a cadet branch of the counts of Burgundy came the
House of Burgundy-Spain (Casa de Borgoña-España) which ruled the
kingdom of GaliciaKingdom of Galicia is the name of two distinct entities within the Iberian Peninsula. In the first period, it was a barbarian monarchy ruled by the Suebi, a Germanic-speaking people who entered the Western Roman Empire in 406. Their kingdom corresponded to the Roman province of Gallaecia in the...
from 1111 and the
Kingdoms of CastileKingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
and
LeónKingdom of León was an independent country situated in the northwest region of the Iberian Peninsula. It was founded in 910 AD when the Christian princes of Asturias along the northern coast of the peninsula shifted their main seat from Oviedo to the city of León...
from 1126 until 1369.
The founder of the family's fortunes was a petty Burgundian count named
AnscarAnscar I was the margrave of Ivrea from 888 to his death. From 877 or 879, he was the count of Oscheret in Burgundy. He supported Guy III of Spoleto for the throne of France after the deposition of Charles the Fat in 887, but after Guy's failed attempt and the coronation of Odo, Count of Paris, he...
, who, with the support of his powerful brother, the archbishop of Rheims, Fulk the Venerable, brought
Guy III of SpoletoGuy of Spoleto , sometimes known by the Italian version of his name, Guido, or by the German version, Wido, was the Margrave of Camerino from 880 and then Duke of Spoleto and Camerino from 883...
to
LangresLangres is a commune in north-eastern France. It is a subprefecture of the Haute-Marne département in the Champagne-Ardenne region.-History:...
to be crowned king of France in
887-Europe:* Charles the Fat is deposed from the entire Carolingian Empire.* Odo, Count of Paris ascends to the throne of Western Francia .* Berengar of Friuli ascends to the throne of Italy....
. Their plot failing, Anscar accompanied Guy back to Italy to seek that vacant throne and in gratefulness created the
March of IvreaThe March of Ivrea was a large frontier county in the northwest of Italy in the tenth century. Its capital was Ivrea, and it was held by a Burgundian family of margraves called the Anscarids...
to bestow on his Burgundian faithful. Anscar's descendants held the march until 1030. Perhaps the most illustrious scion of the house was his grandson
BerengarBerengar of Ivrea , sometimes also referred to as Berengar II of Italy, was margrave of Ivrea, and usurper King of Italy. He was of Lombard descent.He was a son of Adalbert I of Ivrea and Gisela of Friuli...
, the first of three Anscarids to be crowned king of Italy.
Berengar seized the throne in 950 after the death of
Lothair IILothair II , often Lothair of Arles, was the King of Italy from 948 to his death. He was of the noble Frankish lineage of the Bosonids, descended from Boso of Provence...
. He was opposed, immediately, by Lothair's widow
AdelaideSaint Adelaide of Italy, also called Adelaide of Burgundy was Holy Roman Empress and perhaps the most prominent European woman of the 10th century.-Life:...
, whom he imprisoned after his attempt to force her marriage to his son,
Adalbert IIAdalbert was the king of Italy from 950 to 963. He was the son of the Margrave Berengar of Ivrea and Willa.On 15 December 950, both he and his father were crowned kings of Italy after the death of Lothair II. His father tried to force Adelaide, widow of the late Lothair, to marry Adalbert and...
, failed. Otto I came down the peninsula and forced him to do homage in 952. For the next eleven years, Berengar and his co-crowned son governed Italy until Otto finally formally deposed them in 963.
From 1002 to 1014,
Arduin of ItalyArduin of Ivrea , was Margrave of Ivrea and self-proclaimed King of Italy. He was the son of Dado, Count of Pombia. Arduin succeeded to the northern Italian Margravate of Ivrea in 990 on dubious grounds. He was excommunicated for the murder of the Bishop of Vercelli in 997.He proclaimed himself...
held the Italian throne as the national candidate in opposition to the German
Henry IIHenry II , called the Holy or the Saint, was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of Germany in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004. He is the only German king to have been canonized.He was...
.
Adalbert was eventually forced to flee to Burgundy, where he died at
AutunAutun is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in Burgundy in eastern France.The history of Autun dates back to Roman times.Autun marks the easternmost extent of the Umayyad campaign in Europe.-History:...
. His widow remarried to
Otto-Henry, Duke of BurgundyEudes-Henry , called the Great, was Count of Autun, Avallon, and Beaune and Duke of Burgundy from 965 to his death...
and her son by Adalbert, Otto William, inherited the
duchy of BurgundyThe Duchy of Burgundy was a feudal territory in Medieval Europe. It roughly conforms to the modern Bourgogne, although it grew to have considerable possessions in the Low Countries as well...
, but was opposed by
Henry I of FranceHenry I was King of France from 1031 to his death. The royal demesne of France reached its smallest size during his reign, and for this reason he is often seen as emblematic of the weakness of the early Capetians...
, who confiscated the duchy, leaving only a small portion around
DôleDole may refer to:* A gift of food or money in charity distributed or doled out ; specifically, various kinds of payments from government funds, such as:**the 'grain dole' or 'corn dole' of Ancient Rome...
to Otto. This was the kernel of the later
Free CountyFranche-Comté the former "Free County" of Burgundy, as distinct from the neighbouring Duchy, is an administrative region and a traditional province of eastern France...
.
The greatest of the free counts was
Renaud IIIRenaud III , son of Stephen I and Beatrix of Lorraine, was the count of Burgundy between 1127 and 1148. Previously, he had been the count of Mâcon since his father's death in 1102, with his brother, William of Vienne....
, who, from 1127, utilised the title
franc-compte as a sign of independence of
GermanThe Kingdom of Germany grew out of East Francia in the tenth century.The eastern partition of the Treaty of Verdun of 843 was never entirely Frankish and consisted also of large populations of Saxons, Bavarii, Thuringii, Alemanni and Frisii...
or
ImperialThe Holy Roman Empire was a union of territories in Central Europe during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period under a Holy Roman Emperor. The first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire was Otto I, crowned in 962. The last was Francis II, who abdicated and dissolved the Empire in 1806 during...
authority, but was forced to submit to
Conrad IIIConrad III may refer to:*Conrad III of Germany*Conrad III of Provence *Conrad III of Dachau*Conrad III of Jerusalem*Conrad III of Wittelsbach, Archbishop of Salzburg*Conrad III Zoellner of Rotenstein*Conrad III, Duke of Bavaria...
. His daughter and heiress,
BeatriceBeatrice of Burgundy Beatrice was the only daughter of Renaud III, Count of Burgundy and Agatha of Lorraine. She was the second wife and Empress of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her maternal grandparents were Simon I, Duke of Lorraine and his wife Adelaide of Leuven...
, married Frederick Barbarossa and united the Anscarid inheritance with that of the
HohenstaufenThe House of Hohenstaufen was a dynasty of German kings lasting from 1138 to 1254. Three of these kings were also crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1194 the Hohenstaufen also became Kings of Sicily...
. Burgundy was inherited by her son Otto, who had an Anscarid name.
RaymondRaymond of Burgundy was the fourth son of William I, Count of Burgundy and was Count of Amous. He came to the Iberian Peninsula for the first time during the period 1086-1087 with Eudes I, Duke of Burgundy...
, son of
William I of BurgundyWilliam I , called the Great was Count of Burgundy and Mâcon from 1057 to 1087. He was a son of Renaud I and Adelaide, daughter of Richard II, Duke of Normandy...
, travelled to
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
in the late eleventh century and there married the reigning queen of
CastileKingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...
,
UrracaUrraca of León was Queen of Galicia, León and Castile from 1109 to her death. She was the first woman ever to reign in a western European monarchy. Urraca was the daughter of Alfonso VI of León by his second wife, Constance of Burgundy...
. His son, Alfonso VII, was even proclaimed Emperor of Spain. The subsequent kings of Castile, León, and Galicia were direct descendants of Alfonso, even after 1369, when rule went to an illegitimate cadet branch, the House of Trastámara.
The second ruling house of the
Principality of OrangeThe Principality of Orange was formed in 1163 when Emperor Frederick I granted the former County of Orange full independence within the Holy Roman Empire...
, the
House of Chalon-ArlayThis page is a list of the lords of Chalon-Arlay and the principality of Orange.-Lord of Chalon-Arlay:* John, Count of Chalon, founder of the seigneurie of Chalon-Arlay...
, was also a cadet branch of the Anscarids.
See also
- House of Burgundy
The House of Burgundy was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty, descending from Robert, Duke of Burgundy, a younger son of Robert II of France....
, which ruled Portugal contemporaneously with the Spanish House of Burgundy
Sources
- Wickham, Chris
Christopher John Wickham, FBA is Chichele Professor of Medieval History in the University of Oxford and Fellow of All Souls College.-Biography:...
. Early Medieval Italy: Central Power and Local Society 400-1000. MacMillan Press: 1981.