Alberic II, Prince of the Romans

ALBERIC II, PRINCE OF THE ROMANS. - Son of Alberic I, marquis of Spoleto, and of Marozia, who was in turn the daughter of the Roman senator Theophylact and of Theodora, he was born at the beginning of the 10th century and, still a young man, he roused the Romans against his mother on the day of her marriage to Hugh of Provence, king of Italy, celebrated in Castel S. Angelo (932). Beyond the personal motives (it is said that Hugh slapped A., because he refused to give him water for his hands as a sign of homage) there was a profound political conflict, inasmuch as Hugh's coming to Rome meant the disappearance of the city's autonomy, defended so jealously by the local aristocracy. A. assumed power by imprisoning his mother and confining the activity of the pontiff John 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 to govern in his name, but then he acted on his own and assumed the titles of princeps and senator omnium Romanorum, which demonstrate the persistence of the classical tradition of Rome even in the darkest periods of the city's medieval history. A.'s political action was wise and prudent; it was confined to a narrow circle around Rome (the territorial basis of his power was represented by the great estates held in the Sabina), but over this he made the authority of the central government felt by sending his own officials. Several times Hugh attempted to reconquer Rome but was always repulsed; finally the two came to an agreement through the intervention of St. Odo of Cluny. The empire of the West was vacant in those years, nor did A. wish to enter into contact with Otto of Saxony, king of Germany. There is no record of serious rebellions breaking out in Rome against A. during his government, which lasted a full 22 years, a truly exceptional thing for that time. With the pontiffs A. was always on excellent terms, because he favored their spiritual work, but he reserved for himself the political and administrative direction of the Papal State; of Pope Marinus II a chronicler wrote (and it could be repeated of almost all of them): « non audebat adtingere aliquid extra iussione Alberici principis ». Only in the last years did Agapetus II recover a certain freedom of action, as also appears from the coins he struck with his own name instead of that of the lay lord. But the newest aspect of A.'s work certainly lies in the favor he granted to St. Odo of Cluny and to the other representatives of the monastic reform movement; he summoned them to Rome, gave them one of his palaces to build a monastery in, and sent them to reform various convents of 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 he worked to bring it about. Before his death A. had himself carried to St. Peter's and had the Roman people promise him that upon the death of the reigning Pope they would elect his own son, to whom he had given the auspicious name of Octavian; thus the full fusion of the two Roman authorities would be realized. A. died on 31 Aug. 954.

Paolo Brezzi