Adelaide of Italy

Yesterday I mentioned the need to explain Adelaide of Italy to understand how she affected the marriage of her son.

Adelaide was born to King Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy (now Switzerland) and Bertha of Swabia. Her parents became king and queen of (northern) Italy after the death of Berengar I. Later, after her father's death, Adelaide was married to the new King of Italy, Lothair II. She was 15 years old. They had a daughter, Emma of Italy, who married King Lothair of France.

After Lothair died, his successor Berengar II tried to force a marriage between Adelaide and Berengar's son, Adalbert. Adelaide refused and fled, but was caught and imprisoned for four months. She managed to escape and (we believe) found while in hiding by a priest who took her to a safe refuge. From there she wrote to Otto I asking for protection, for which he had an idea. They met and married on 23 September 951. (See the two at Meissen Cathedral in the illustration.)

Otto had been married before, but when his son from that wife, Liudolf Duke of Swabia, led a revolt  that was quelled, Otto dispossessed Liudolf of his title. This was a good sign for any future children of Otto's and Adelaide's. They had a couple sons who died while young, but they continued producing children, including Otto II.

Otto I was crowned Holy Roman Emperor on 2 February 962 by Pope John XII, whom Otto (accompanied by Adelaide) had come to Rome with an army to protect against John's enemies. In a first for the Holy Roman Empire, John crowned Adelaide as Holy Roman Empress.

Adelaide's influence in the Empire was significant. She was named alongside Otto in papal bulls. She was involved in 75 charters. She received requests for help and protection separate from requests to her husband. Her daughter Emma wrote, asking for help against enemies, as did future Pope Sylvester II, Gerbert of Aurillac.

After a later expedition to Rome to support Pope John XIII, Adelaide remained in Rome with her son Otto for six years. In 967, Otto II was crowned co-emperor, and in April 972 Otto married Theophanu, daughter of a former Byzantine Emperor. When Otto I died in 973 and Otto II became Holy Roman Emperor in his own right, Adelaide did not relinquish any of the authority she was accustomed to wield, which interfered with her son's rule and clashed with her daughter-in-law.

Tomorrow we'll go back to Theophanu and see how things were between her and her mother-in-law.

Otto and Theophanu

Holy Roman Emperor Otto I was looking for a suitable bride for his son, Otto, and thought the daughter of a Byzantine Emperor was a good choice. The Byzantine Emperor, however, saw themselves as the emperors of the Roman Empire, West as well as East, and so disliked Otto styling himself as Holy Roman Emperor and Pope John XIII referring to him as "Emperor of the Greeks." This caused the breakdown of initial attempts to arrange a marriage with Anna Porphyrogeneta, daughter of former Emperor Romanus II, as recorded by Liudprand of Cremona.

There was more than one attempt to get a Byzantine bride for young Otto. The later ruler, Emperor John I Tzimiskes, had been treated a little differently. He had been referred to as Roman Emperor and so was not insulted. A round of negotiations was led by Archbishop Gero of Cologne. (Liudprand might have been involved, since he spoke and wrote Greek and was familiar with Constantinople, but his previous encounter might have made him a detriment to diplomacy.)

John chose his niece Theophanu, who was 14. There were some concerns in the West. For one, she was not "Porphyrogeneta," which means "born to the purple," so she was less royal than Anna. Also, she was even "less royal" because she was the emperor's niece through his brother-in-law by marriage and not actually a member of there powerful Macedonian dynasty.

John I Tzimiskes had come to power by overthrowing Nicephorus II Phocas, and the Ottonians were concerned that John's status as a usurper would invalidate Theophanu's suitability and standing as a link to the Byzantine Empire. Otto was advised to send her back to Constantinople, but for whatever reason he was persuaded otherwise. They were wed by Pope John XIII on 14 April 972. (You can actually see the marriage charter here.) She was also crowned Holy Roman Empress on the same day. The illustration is of Christ blessing the young couple.

One historian claims that Otto I, her father-in-law, was very supportive until his death a year later. Theophanu was later very involved in the running of the empire: she is mentioned in one quarter of the imperial documents. Although she was from a different culture, which made many of Otto's subjects wary of her, the only serious difficulty was with her mother-in-law, Adelaide of Italy. Before we go on to see what kind of ruler Theophanu was, let's take a look at Adelaide starting tomorrow.

Liudprand in Constantinople

When Liudprand of Cremona went to Constantinople a second time, it was specifically to arrange a marriage between the son of Holy Roman Emperor Otto I and Anna Porphyrogeneta, daughter of former Emperor Romanus II.

The atmosphere in Constantinople was not as welcoming as his first visit there, and he described it in a letter to Otto:

On the day before the Nones of June (June 4) we came to Constantinople, and there, as a mark of disrespect to yourselves, being shamefully received, we were harshly and shamefully treated. We were shut up in a palace large enough, indeed, but uncovered, neither keeping out the cold nor warding off the heat. Armed soldiers were made to stand guard who were to prevent all of my companions from going out and all others from coming in. This dwelling, into which we alone who were shut up could pass, was so far removed from the palace that our breath was taken away when we walked there - we did not ride. To add to our calamity the Greek wine, on account of being mixed with pitch, resin, and plaster was to us undrinkable - The house itself was without water, nor could we even for money buy water to still our thirst. To this great torment was added another torment - our warden namely, who cared for our daily support. If one were to look for his like, not earth. but perhaps hell, would furnish it; for he, like an inundating torrent, poured forth on us whatever calamity, whatever plunder, whatever expense, whatever torment, whatever misery he could invent.- Nor among a hundred and twenty days did a single one pass without bringing us groaning and grief. [source]

Why such a different reception?

The current Byzantine Emperor, Nicephorus Phocas, still lay claim to Benevento and Capua in Italy, and Byzantine forces had clashed recently with Otto's forces. Nicephorus, as the Eastern Emperor, also objected to Otto calling himself Holy Roman Emperor. Nicephorus was also annoyed that, in a letter from Pope John XIII, Nicephorus had been called "Emperor of the Greeks," when technically he was Emperor over the entirety of the Roman Empire, including the western parts.

The "insult" went both ways. Liudprand was brought before the emperor's brother, who (he says in the letter to Otto):

...called you not emperor, which is Basileus in his tongue, but, to insult you, Rex, which is king in ours. And when I told him that the thing signified was the same although the terms used to signify it, were different, he said that I had come not to make peace but to excite discord;

Liudprand was not the most diplomatic of diplomats. He relates how, after he purchased purple cloth, and it was confiscated because (they told him) it was reserved for royals because it is unique, he replied:

"Such a garment can hardly be called unique," I answered, "when with us the street-walkers and conjurers wear them."

A marriage between Otto II and Anna never took place. Liudprand might have gone to Constantinople one more time after that, during the negotiation that led to Otto getting a Byzantine bride, but there is no account of it.

A new bishop of Cremona was installed in 973, so Liudprand must have died by then. But we have no other stories from him except his histories. How Otto got his Byzantine bride, however, will come next. See you tomorrow.