ARDUINO D'IVREA, king of Italy. — Of the strong Arduinic stock, of Germanic origin and later a family of feudal lords of the Kingdom of Italy, A. was born in 955 to Dadone, count of Pombia. After an obscure youth, during which he governed his paternal county and married Berta, daughter of Oberto II, marquis of Liguria, by whom he had three sons (Arduino or Ardiano, Ottone and Guiberto), he succeeded his cousin Corrado Covone, marquis of Ivrea, from whom he derived the fame of his name and the impulse toward greater fortunes. It was the time of the bitter dispute between civil and ecclesiastical power for dominion over the city: and both in Ivrea and in Vercelli, although dependent on the march, ecclesiastical power had prevailed. A. entered into a struggle—which was impassioned and violent and had moments of inhuman ferocity—against the two bishops. The occasion was provided, in 995, by the donation, arranged by the empress Adelaide, of the court of Caresana to the chapter of Vercelli. A. would not tolerate it: after taking possession of the city, Bishop Pietro was killed, his body burned in the fire of the Cathedral, and the episcopal church of Vercelli was forced to bow before the ferocious feudal lord. Warmondo, bishop of Ivrea, also came into conflict with the marquis; twice he excommunicated him, in vain, and Pope Gregory V, who intervened, threatened him with anathema, also in vain; but the situation became difficult for A. as well; after the see of Ivrea had remained vacant following two favorable bishops—Raginfredo and Adalberto—it returned, with the German Leone, imperial chaplain, to the opposing party. The hatreds spread into the countryside, where A. incited the bishop’s own dependents, massari and second-rank soldiers, against him. Then he had the audacity (if indeed he was not compelled) to appear in Rome, to defend himself before the emperor Ottone III and Pope Silvestro II, shortly after the hanging of Giovanni Crescenzio and the anti-imperial conspiracy. The synod that judged him divided his possessions between the two bishops who were his enemies, and demanded penance from him.
But, in defiance of the sentence, A. embarked upon a desperate and open war against a far greater enemy: the Empire. Having recovered his possessions, already in the following spring, in 1000, his power was so considerable that he was acclaimed in Piedmont, for the first time, king of Italy. And in vain did Bishop Warmondo and his other colleague, Leone, thunder against the usurper and tyrant, appealing to all the princes of the earth: after Ottone III had died during the expedition to the South, on 23 January 1002, A. was crowned king of Italy at Pavia by the great men of the Kingdom. Recognition was immediate throughout northern and central Italy; and his chancellor was the same as that of the unfortunate Ottone, Pietro, bishop of Como. However, as soon as Enrico II was elected in Germany, the storm broke out again, provoked by old enmities and new resentments. Before the year ended, Enrico II sent Oddone, count of Carinthia and Verona, against A. But A., stronger, defeated the imperial envoy and forced him to cross the Alps again. After all of 1003 had passed, in the spring of 1004 Enrico II descended in turn to acquire the prestige necessary for his imperial coronation and to exact vengeance; A.’s army was defeated; at Pavia, Enrico was crowned king of Italy and stifled in blood the revolt that had broken out violently in the city during the night.
A. fortified himself in his well-defended castle of Sparone and sustained the siege for an entire year. When the emperor returned to Germany, A.’s power rose once again, and he was able to establish his seat at Pavia again. Enrico II did not return to Italy until 1013; A., weary, attempted to make peace with him, but in vain; the conflict therefore flared up again and spread to Rome, where Enrico was staying for the imperial coronation. Although the Emperor had prevailed, made cautious by the kindling of passions he soon found again the unsafe mountain routes, while rebellion raged all around in northern Italy. A., having seized Vercelli, Novara and Como, expelled their bishops, ravaged their countryside and divided the enemies’ possessions among his followers. But as soon as A. had left it, Vercelli turned against him under Bishop Leone.
A troubled and mysterious life, like few others. Periods of absolute scarcity of information alternate
with others for which information is abundant. A. is weary of his hazardous fortunes and ill; with the loss of Vercelli, fortune abandons him once again, and he suddenly seeks peace within the walls of the abbey of Fruttuaria, which is not even his, and awaits death there, which is not long in coming (14 December 1015).
A certain stylized historiography attributed to him the task—which was not his, even though there is no shortage of attitudes on his part consistent with it—of championing the Italian idea against German power. He was rather the champion of secular power against ecclesiastical power in the feudal sphere; personal and dynastic interest was truly the driving force behind his action.