Everything about The Anscarids totally explained
The
Anscarids or
Anscarii or the
House of Ivrea were a medieval
Frankish dynasty of
Burgundian origin which rose to prominence in
Italy in the tenth century, even briefly holding the
Italian throne.
They also ruled the
County of Burgundy 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 Galicia from
1111 and the
Kingdoms of Castile and
León from
1126 until
1369.
The founder of the family's fortunes was a petty Burgundian count named
Anscar, who, with the support of his powerful brother, the
archbishop of Rheims,
Fulk the Venerable, brought
Guy III of Spoleto to
Langres to be crowned
king of France in
887.
Their plot failing, Anscar accompanied Guy back to Italy to seek that vacant throne and in gratefulness created the
March of Ivrea 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
Berengar, the first of three Anscarids to be crowned king of Italy.
Berengar seized the throne in
950 after the death of
Lothair II. He was opposed, immediately, by Lothair's widow
Adelaide, whom he imprisoned after his attempt to force her marriage to his son,
Adalbert II, failed.
Emperor 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 Italy held the Italian throne as the national candidate in opposition to the German
Henry II.
Adalbert tried to continue holding on to his throne, but he was eventually forced to flee back to Burgundy, where he died at
Autun. His widow remarried to
Otto-Henry, Duke of Burgundy and her son by Adalbert,
Otto William, inherited the
duchy of Burgundy, but was opposed by
Henry I of France, who confiscated the duchy, leaving only a small portion around
Dôle to Otto. This was the kernel of the later
Free County.
The greatest of the free counts was
Renaud III, who, from
1127, utilised the title
franc-compte as a sign of independence of
German or
Imperial authority, but was forced to submit to
Conrad III. His daughter and heiress,
Beatrice, married
Frederick Barbarossa and united the Anscarid inheritance with that of the
Hohenstaufen. Burgundy was inherited by her son
Otto, who had an Anscarid name.
Raymond, son of
William I of Burgundy, travelled to
Spain in the late eleventh century and there married the reigning queen of
Castile,
Urraca. 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 Orange, the
House of Châlon-Arlay, was also a cadet branch of the Anscarids.
Further Information
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