Individual Details

Alberto Azzo II d'Este

(10 Jul 1009 - 20 Aug 1097)

According to Wikipedia:

Alberto Azzo II d'Este , also known as Albertazzo II for a case of the name ( 10 July 1009 - Vangadizza , 20 August 1097 ), was, since 1029 , Marquis of Milan , count of Luni , Genoa and Tortona and first of the Obertenghi family of the line of the Marquises of Este from 1039 until his death; between 1069 and 1070 he was also a consort of Maine . He is considered the progenitor of the Este house, having been the first of the family to be lord of Este , a citizen of the Paduan area . The title of Marquis came to him by imperial appointment [1] .

From document No. L of the Regesta comitum Sabaudiæ, marchionum in Italy, it appears to be a descendant of Oberto , the first marquis of the Obertenga brand , in which he is mentioned as nephew ( Alberti infantis nepoti sui ) of Berta , daughter of Oberto [2] ; his father, Alberto Azzo I, margrave of Milan [3] , married Adelaide, a relative of Lanfranco count of Aucia [4] .

Alberto Azzo I was the son of Oberto II, count of Luni , Tortona , Genoa and Milan (in turn son of Oberto , marquis of the Obertenga brand , which included Eastern Liguria, including Genoa and part of the central-eastern Po Valley ) and wife whose name and ascendants are unknown [3] .

Biography
On the death of his father, around 1029 , he took over the title of Marquis of Milan , count of Luni , Genoa and Tortona .

He then became Marquis d'Este , around 1039 ; the anonymous author of an important imperial chronicle believed to have been drawn up, around 1150 , in the Benedictine abbey of Nienburg in Saxony-Anhalt , Germany, known as the Saxo Annalist , when he talks about his marriage to Cunegonda , mentions him as marquis of Este in northern Italy ( Longobardia ) [5] .
In Este , Alberto Azzo II built a castle around which the city that at the time was little more than a village grew.

In 1069 , the nobles of Maine , supported by Earl of Anjou , Folco IV il Rissoso , expelled the Normans from the county of Maine and offered the county to the wife of Alberto Azzo II, Gersenda , who, after the death of his sister Biota , was the legitimate heir of the county. Thus Alberto Azzo II also became consort of Maine : however, in 1070 , according to the Actus pontificum Cenomannis, ch. XXXII, Gesta Domini Arnaldi Episcopi , Alberto Azzo and Gersenda decided to renounce the title in favor of the young son [6] , Ugo (Ugo V), entrusting the county government to Goffredo di Mayenne [6] , who according to Orderico Vitale, had led the revolt against the Normans [7] .

According to the document nº 289 of the Henrici IV graduated , dated 1077, the emperor Henry IV , confirms to Alberto Azzo II and his sons, Folco and Ugo , the various possessions in Lunigiana and neighboring lands (county of Luni) and in the Este and neighboring areas (marquisate d'Este) [8] .

In a document dated May 31, 1079 of the Paduan Diplomatic Code Alberto Azzo II, together with his sons, Folco and Ugo, is the architect of an agreement with the church of Verona [9] .

Alberto Azzo, who had possessions throughout Northern Italy, in Lunigiana , which also included territories in the Modena area and also, with the marquisate of Este, his lordship included a large territory between the current provinces of Padua , Rovigo and Ferrara , so , in the struggle between the papacy and the empire , known as the fight for investitures , he tried to juggle alternately by allying himself with the emperor and the pope. This policy led him to have relationships also with the countess, Matilde of Canossa , who in the meantime became his acquired granddaughter, having married Alberto Azzo's nephew, Guelfo V , in 1089 .

In 1093 , Alberto Azzo sent his son, Ugo V of Maine , who had just returned to Italy from the county of Maine, who had sold his cousin Elia I of Beaugency († 1110 ), for 10,000 solid (or money) from Maine [10] , to help the Countess Matilde of Canossa , who fought the Emperor Henry IV, but also in this mission, again according to Muratori, she did not have to stand out for courage and nobility [11] .

Ugo, left without a county, with the consent of his father, Alberto Azzo, still according to Muratori, received some properties from his brother Folco and, in 1095 , received half of all the properties and titles, provided that he recognized himself as a vassal of Folco [12] .

In a document dated 13 April 1097 of the Paduan Diplomatic Code , Ugo, together with his father and brother, makes a donation to the monastery of Santa Maria in Vangadizza [9] .

In ch. XXVIII of his Della antichità estensi , Muratori informs us of the death of the marquis Alberto Azzo II, in August 1097 , in the monastery of Vangadizza, near Legnago [13] ; this death is also confirmed by Bernoldi Chronicon [14] . After the death of Alberto Azzo, the son of the Marquis' first bed, Guelph IV claimed the entire inheritance of his father, even that which his father had left to Count Ugo and the Marquis Folco; he came to Italy, but then he was satisfied with the titles and properties that the family had in Germany [15] .

Marriages and offspring
Around 1035 , according to the Saxal Annalist , Alberto Azzo had married Cunizza (or Cunegonda) [5] , daughter of Count Guelph II of Altdorf [5] and Ermengarda of Luxembourg; this marriage is also confirmed by the Welforum Genealogy [16] .
From their marriage only one child was born [9] :

Guelph (ca. 1040 - † 9 November 1101 ), Duke of Bavaria [5] [16] . Guelph moved to Germany , first to Carinthia and then to Bavaria , giving rise to one of the most important families in European history, the Guelphs , from whose collateral branch originated then the House of Hanover , who ascended the throne of England in 1714 with George I of England . Another son, Folco I was the first whose expression of Marquis d'Este is documented.
Between 1049 and 1051 , Alberto Azzo married, in second marriage, with Gersenda , second daughter of the Count of Maine, Eriberto I (as evidenced by the Actus pontificum Cenomannis, chapter XXXII, Gesta Domini Arnaldi Episcopi in which, said that Gersenda's husband, defined daughter of Eriberto ( filia Herberti ) did not govern Maine, but passed it on to his son Ugo , under the tutelage of Goffredo di Mayenne [6] ) and his wife, whose name is unknown nor the house.
From their marriage two children were born [9] :

Folco [17] († 1128 ), marquis d'Este ,
Ugo [6] († 1131 ), count of Maine .
Alberto Azzo married Matilda (Pallavicini), sister of the bishop of Pavia Guglielmo , [18] who gave him a daughter [9] :

Adelasia (? -1146), wife of William I of the Adelards , of which little information is available.
Alberto Azzo II in literature
In the Divine Comedy he is called Azzo II and defined third marquis d'Este in 1039 with emperor Corrado II ; in the same are attributed two children had by Isabella del Monferrato: Bertoldo, fourth marquis d'Este, and Albertazzo (perhaps Alberto Azzo);


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According to Wikipedia:

Alberto Azzo II d'Este , also known as Albertazzo II for a case of the name ( 10 July 1009 - Vangadizza , 20 August 1097 ), was, since 1029 , Marquis of Milan , count of Luni , Genoa and Tortona and first of the Obertenghi family of the line of the Marquises of Este from 1039 until his death; between 1069 and 1070 he was also a consort of Maine . He is considered the progenitor of the Este house, having been the first of the family to be lord of Este , a citizen of the Paduan area . The title of Marquis came to him by imperial appointment [1] .

From document No. L of the Regesta comitum Sabaudiæ, marchionum in Italy, it appears to be a descendant of Oberto , the first marquis of the Obertenga brand , in which he is mentioned as nephew ( Alberti infantis nepoti sui ) of Berta , daughter of Oberto [2] ; his father, Alberto Azzo I, margrave of Milan [3] , married Adelaide, a relative of Lanfranco count of Aucia [4] .

Alberto Azzo I was the son of Oberto II, count of Luni , Tortona , Genoa and Milan (in turn son of Oberto , marquis of the Obertenga brand , which included Eastern Liguria, including Genoa and part of the central-eastern Po Valley ) and wife whose name and ascendants are unknown [3] .

Biography
On the death of his father, around 1029 , he took over the title of Marquis of Milan , count of Luni , Genoa and Tortona .

He then became Marquis d'Este , around 1039 ; the anonymous author of an important imperial chronicle believed to have been drawn up, around 1150 , in the Benedictine abbey of Nienburg in Saxony-Anhalt , Germany, known as the Saxo Annalist , when he talks about his marriage to Cunegonda , mentions him as marquis of Este in northern Italy ( Longobardia ) [5] .
In Este , Alberto Azzo II built a castle around which the city that at the time was little more than a village grew.

In 1069 , the nobles of Maine , supported by Earl of Anjou , Folco IV il Rissoso , expelled the Normans from the county of Maine and offered the county to the wife of Alberto Azzo II, Gersenda , who, after the death of his sister Biota , was the legitimate heir of the county. Thus Alberto Azzo II also became consort of Maine : however, in 1070 , according to the Actus pontificum Cenomannis, ch. XXXII, Gesta Domini Arnaldi Episcopi , Alberto Azzo and Gersenda decided to renounce the title in favor of the young son [6] , Ugo (Ugo V), entrusting the county government to Goffredo di Mayenne [6] , who according to Orderico Vitale, had led the revolt against the Normans [7] .

According to the document nº 289 of the Henrici IV graduated , dated 1077, the emperor Henry IV , confirms to Alberto Azzo II and his sons, Folco and Ugo , the various possessions in Lunigiana and neighboring lands (county of Luni) and in the Este and neighboring areas (marquisate d'Este) [8] .

In a document dated May 31, 1079 of the Paduan Diplomatic Code Alberto Azzo II, together with his sons, Folco and Ugo, is the architect of an agreement with the church of Verona [9] .

Alberto Azzo, who had possessions throughout Northern Italy, in Lunigiana , which also included territories in the Modena area and also, with the marquisate of Este, his lordship included a large territory between the current provinces of Padua , Rovigo and Ferrara , so , in the struggle between the papacy and the empire , known as the fight for investitures , he tried to juggle alternately by allying himself with the emperor and the pope. This policy led him to have relationships also with the countess, Matilde of Canossa , who in the meantime became his acquired granddaughter, having married Alberto Azzo's nephew, Guelfo V , in 1089 .

In 1093 , Alberto Azzo sent his son, Ugo V of Maine , who had just returned to Italy from the county of Maine, who had sold his cousin Elia I of Beaugency († 1110 ), for 10,000 solid (or money) from Maine [10] , to help the Countess Matilde of Canossa , who fought the Emperor Henry IV, but also in this mission, again according to Muratori, she did not have to stand out for courage and nobility [11] .

Ugo, left without a county, with the consent of his father, Alberto Azzo, still according to Muratori, received some properties from his brother Folco and, in 1095 , received half of all the properties and titles, provided that he recognized himself as a vassal of Folco [12] .

In a document dated 13 April 1097 of the Paduan Diplomatic Code , Ugo, together with his father and brother, makes a donation to the monastery of Santa Maria in Vangadizza [9] .

In ch. XXVIII of his Della antichità estensi , Muratori informs us of the death of the marquis Alberto Azzo II, in August 1097 , in the monastery of Vangadizza, near Legnago [13] ; this death is also confirmed by Bernoldi Chronicon [14] . After the death of Alberto Azzo, the son of the Marquis' first bed, Guelph IV claimed the entire inheritance of his father, even that which his father had left to Count Ugo and the Marquis Folco; he came to Italy, but then he was satisfied with the titles and properties that the family had in Germany [15] .

Marriages and offspring
Around 1035 , according to the Saxal Annalist , Alberto Azzo had married Cunizza (or Cunegonda) [5] , daughter of Count Guelph II of Altdorf [5] and Ermengarda of Luxembourg; this marriage is also confirmed by the Welforum Genealogy [16] .
From their marriage only one child was born [9] :

Guelph (ca. 1040 - † 9 November 1101 ), Duke of Bavaria [5] [16] . Guelph moved to Germany , first to Carinthia and then to Bavaria , giving rise to one of the most important families in European history, the Guelphs , from whose collateral branch originated then the House of Hanover , who ascended the throne of England in 1714 with George I of England . Another son, Folco I was the first whose expression of Marquis d'Este is documented.
Between 1049 and 1051 , Alberto Azzo married, in second marriage, with Gersenda , second daughter of the Count of Maine, Eriberto I (as evidenced by the Actus pontificum Cenomannis, chapter XXXII, Gesta Domini Arnaldi Episcopi in which, said that Gersenda's husband, defined daughter of Eriberto ( filia Herberti ) did not govern Maine, but passed it on to his son Ugo , under the tutelage of Goffredo di Mayenne [6] ) and his wife, whose name is unknown nor the house.
From their marriage two children were born [9] :

Folco [17] († 1128 ), marquis d'Este ,
Ugo [6] († 1131 ), count of Maine .
Alberto Azzo married Matilda (Pallavicini), sister of the bishop of Pavia Guglielmo , [18] who gave him a daughter [9] :

Adelasia (? -1146), wife of William I of the Adelards , of which little information is available.
Alberto Azzo II in literature
In the Divine Comedy he is called Azzo II and defined third marquis d'Este in 1039 with emperor Corrado II ; in the same are attributed two children had by Isabella del Monferrato: Bertoldo, fourth marquis d'Este, and Albertazzo (perhaps Alberto Azzo);

Events

Birth10 Jul 1009Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Death20 Aug 1097Modena, Emilia-Romagna, Italy

Families

SpouseCunegonda of Altdorf (1020 - 1057)
ChildWelf I, Duke of Bavaria (1035 - 1101)
SpouseGersenda of Maine (1030 - 1071)
ChildFolco I d'Este (1070 - 1136)
FatherAlberto Azzo I d'Este ( - 1029)