Adalbert I of Ivrea

Who was Adalbert I of Ivrea?

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 that effecting 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.

He was a son of Margrave Anscar I, originally from Oscheret in Upper Burgundy. He succeeded his father at Ivrea between 896 and 900. He initially refused to take sides after King Louis of Provence invaded Italy in 900, but after Louis's imperial coronation in 901 he recognised his authority. After Louis was defeated by his rival, Berengar I, in 902, Adalbert changed sides. Shortly thereafter, by 903 at the latest, he married Gisela, Berengar's daughter, which was possibly the price of his allegiance. Although Adalbert is not recorded as being related to the king in any of Berengar's charters down through 14 August 908 and his marriage is not expliticly reference before 13 June 910, it must have taken place some fifteen years before he and Gisela's eldest son was sent was granted a county and a missaticum in 918. With Gisela he had two children: Berengar, who succeeded him as margrave, and Bertha, who became abbess of Modena.