ARNULF, King of Germany. - Natural son of Carloman, he was elected duke of Carinthia in 887, and the following year, having been at the head of the rebellion that deposed Charles the Fat, he was made king of Germany. He defeated the Normans in the famous battle of Louvain (1 Nov. 891) and also fought against the Moravians and the Slavs. In 894 he came to Italy, where Guy, duke of Spoleto, had not only had himself crowned emperor in 891, but had also wished to associate his son Lambert with the empire (892). This first expedition of A., which represented the first intervention of Germany in the history of Italy, was marked by much devastation. Guy was preparing to resist with arms when he died (894).

His son Lambert took advantage of A.'s return to Germany to make the Spoletan party in Rome as strong as possible. But in 895 A. returned to Italy and in Feb. 896 had himself crowned emperor in Rome. Stricken with paralysis while advancing toward Spoleto, he was forced to return to Germany, where he died in the year 899.

Bibliography3 works

BIBL.: S. Pisano, Stato e Chiesa. Da Berengario I ad Arduino, Turin 1908; L. M. Hartmann, Gesch. Italiens im Mittelalter, III, Gotha 1909; G. Romano - A. Solmi, Le dominazioni barbariche in Italia (395-888), Milan 1940.

Emma Santovito

@incollection{ec2_arnolfo_re_di_germania, author = {Santovito, Emma}, title = {Arnolfo, re di germania}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {II}, pages = {5--6}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1949}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/arnolfo-re-di-germania} }

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Arnulf, King of Germany

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