Bertila of Spoleto

Female ~860 - 915


Personal Information    |    Notes    |    All

  • Name Bertila of Spoleto 
    Birth ~860 
    Gender Female 
    Death Dec 915 
    Person ID I10385  Database
    Last Modified 9 Jan 2021 

    Spouse / Partner Berengar I of Italy,   b. ~845   d. 9 Apr 924 
    Children 
       1. Female Gisela of Friuli,   b. ~876   d. Aft 23 Jan 913
    Family ID F4311  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
    Last Modified 9 Jan 2021 

  • Notes 
    • Bertila was a member of the powerful Supponid family. She was the daughter of Suppo II (c. 835 - c. 885), and of Bertha (dead by 921). Her paternal grandfather was Adelchis I of Spoleto, second son of Suppo I, and her paternal aunt was Engelberga, wife of Louis II of Italy.

      She married Berengar, margrave of Friuli, sometime between 870 and 880. Berengar became King of Italy in 888, with Bertila as his queen. However, her husband lost his throne in the following year to Guy of Spoleto. Berengar began to reassert his power in 896, after the fall of the Spoleto family, and the withdrawal of Emperor Arnulf from the peninsula; however, a defeat by a Magyar army, and the decision by the Italian nobles to appoint Louis of Provence as King of Italy, delayed the King and Queen's formal return to power until 905. Throughout this period Bertila frequently intervened in Berengar's diplomas, particularly in favour of churches and monasteries. In these documents, Bertila is entitled consors regni ('partner in rule'), a title specifically denoting her power and influence, as opposed to that of a mere 'wife' (coniunx).

      In 915 Bertila became Holy Roman Empress, after her husband was crowned Emperor. She died this same year, probably of poisoning, and perhaps at her husband's request.
      At about this time, Bertila had been accused of infidelity, although this charge was frequently made against the wives of kings in this period, and often masked wider political intrigues. Bertila was also accused of taking advice from an evil 'Circe'. Tiziana Lazzari suggests that this is a reference to Bertha of Tuscany, wife of Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany, who was in open opposition to Berengar's rule. By December 915 Berengar had remarried, to Anna of Provence, daughter of Louis the Blind.