Adalbert

▪ archbishop of Bremen

also spelled  Adelbert 

born c. 1000

died March 16, 1072, Goslar, Saxony [now in Germany]

      German archbishop, the most brilliant of the medieval prince bishops of Bremen, and a leading member of the royal administration.

      The youngest son of Frederick, Count of Goseck (on the Saale River), Adalbert attended the cathedral school at Halberstadt, becoming subsequently subdeacon and, in 1032, canon. In May 1043 he was appointed archbishop of Hamburg-Bremen by the German king, later the Holy Roman emperor Henry III. High in the emperor's favour, Adalbert tried to increase the influence of his archbishopric and to make Bremen a patriarchal see for northern Europe. Pope Leo IX, however, though he made Adalbert his vicar for the northern countries in 1053, never allowed him to exercise the authority that he desired.

      Adalbert's secular ambitions involved him in conflict with the Saxon nobles and especially with the house of Billung. After the emperor's death in 1056, the lands of his bishopric were ravaged by Bernard II Billung, and Adalbert had to flee to Goslar, where he gained considerable influence in imperial politics during the minority of Henry IV, whom he served as guardian and tutor. Henry granted Adalbert extensive powers in Saxony in 1063 but was obliged to dismiss him as royal adviser in 1066 because of the protests of the nobility. Although he was frequently at court after 1069, Adalbert never regained his political ascendancy. He was buried in the cathedral he had built at Bremen.

      Adalbert's death was a serious blow to Bremen's commerce, which under him had developed so rapidly that the town could be described as “the market of the northern peoples.” The 11th-century historian Adam of Bremen left a vivid description of Adalbert's personality in his History of the Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen.

▪ king of Italy

Italian  Adalberto  

died c. 972–975

      Lombard king of Italy, who shared the throne for 11 years with his father, Berengar II, and after Berengar's exile continued his father's struggle against the German king and Holy Roman emperor Otto I.

      Adalbert joined his father in 946–947 in fighting the co-kings of Italy, Hugh of Provence and his son Lothar. After Lothar's death in 950, Adalbert was crowned with Berengar at Pavia. When Lothar's widow, Adelaide, refused to marry Adalbert and Berengar imprisoned her, Otto I marched into Italy in 951 to rescue and marry her. After Otto's return to Germany, Berengar and Adalbert resumed the throne and in August 952 swore homage to Otto.

      In 956 Otto sent his son Liudolf against Berengar and Adalbert, but, when Liudolf died of malaria after a temporary victory, the co-kings continued to rule. When Otto again invaded Italy and was crowned emperor (962) by the pope, Adalbert fled to Provence.

      Returning to Italy in the autumn of 963, Adalbert was summoned to Rome by Pope John XII, who had quarreled with Otto and now offered his support to Adalbert. Adalbert and the pope fled when Otto marched on Rome, installing a new pope, Leo VIII. With Otto back in Germany, Adalbert assumed the throne again. In 965 an army sent by Otto drove Adalbert from Pavia; the following autumn Otto inflicted a final crushing defeat on him and his supporters.

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