Alberic II, Prince of the Romans

ALBERICO II, prince of the ROMANS. — Son of Alberico I, marquis of Spoleto, and Marozia, who in turn was the daughter of the Roman senator Theophylact and Theodora, he was born at the beginning of the 10th century and, while still very young, led the Romans in revolt against his mother on the day of her wedding to Ugo of Provence, king of Italy, celebrated in Castel S. Angelo (932). Beyond the personal animosities—it is said that Ugo slapped A. because he refused to give him water for his hands as a sign of homage—there was a profound political conflict, since Ugo’s arrival in Rome meant the disappearance of the civic autonomy so jealously defended by the local aristocracy. A. assumed power by imprisoning his mother and restricting the activity of Pope Giovanni XI, who was his brother, to the strictly religious sphere. At first he sought to come to an understanding with the emperor of the East and govern in his name, but later he acted independently and assumed the titles of princeps and senator omnium Romanorum, which demonstrate the persistence of Rome’s classical tradition even during the darkest periods of the city’s medieval history. A.’s political action was wise and prudent; it was confined to a narrow area around Rome—the territorial basis of his power was represented by the great holdings he possessed in the Sabina—but within this area he made the authority of the central government felt by sending his own officials. Ugo attempted several times to reconquer Rome but was always repulsed; finally, the two came to an agreement through the intervention of s. Oddone of Cluny. The Western Empire was vacant in those years, nor did A. wish to establish contact with Otto of Saxony, king of Germany. There is no evidence of serious rebellions breaking out in Rome against A. during his government, which lasted a full 22 years—something truly exceptional for that time. A. was always on excellent terms with the pontiffs, because he supported their spiritual work, but he reserved for himself the political and administrative direction of the Papal State; of Pope Marino II, a chronicler wrote—and the statement could almost be repeated for all of them—“non audebat adtingere aliquid extra iussione Alberici principis.” Only in his final years did Agapito II regain a certain freedom of action, as is also shown by the coins he struck bearing his own name rather than that of the lay lord. But the most original aspect of A.’s work certainly lay in the favor he showed to s. Oddone of Cluny and to the other representatives of the monastic reform movement; he summoned them to Rome, gave them one of his palaces in which to establish a monastery, and sent them to reform various convents in the Roman region. The princeps had realized the importance—not only religious, but also political and social—of a moral restoration of the clergy, and worked to bring it about. Before his death, A. had himself carried to S. Pietro and obtained from the Roman people a promise that, upon the death of the reigning Pope, they would elect his own son, whom he had given the auspicious name Ottaviano; thus the complete fusion of the two Roman authorities would be achieved. A. died on 31 August 954.