Bernhard OF CAROLINGIAN King of Italy ¹⁹⁶³

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  General Notes:

King of the Lombards of the Carolingian Dynasty (King of Italy) 810 to 818. Bernard was the illegitimate son of King Pepin of Italy, also known as Carloman. Bernard married a Cunigunde and had one son, Pepin, the Count of Vermandois. When his father died in 810, his grandfather, Charlemagne, allowed Bernard to inherit his father's kingdom despite the fact Bernard was illegitimate, as was his father. Bernard then became a trusted agent of both his grandfather and his uncle, Louis the Pious, King of Aquitaine and King of the Franks. Empress Ermengarde, the wife of Louis, wanted Bernard to be displaced in favor of her own sons, causing her husband to draw up the Ordinatio Imperii, a detail the future of the Frankish Empire where Bernard's position in Italy was confirmed but he would be a vassal to Lothair, Louis's eldest son. Bernard gathered many allies including Louis's own brothers in a plot to rebel against Lothair and Louis, who discovered the plot, taking Bernard by surprise in Chalon. He was then taken to Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen, Germany) and condemned to death. Louis commuted the sentence to blinding, such a traumatic event that Bernard died two days later. Louis's half brothers Drago, Hugh and Theoderic were confined to monasteries, the remaining co-conspirators were treated severely, losing all properties, rights or their lives. Bernard's kingdom of Italy was absorbed into the Frankish Kingdom and given to Lothair. In the following years, Louis would confess to Bernard's murder in a public display of penance. It is believed that Bernard was beloved by his people and Louis's sentence upon Bernard created an upheaval in Italy. His penance was "a well-judged gesture to restore harmony and re-establish his authority."


Deutsche Biographie
Bernhard
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geni.com Bernard Italian: Bernardo Also Known As: "Bernhard", "Bernard", "Bernardo", "King of Italy", "King Of Lombardy & Italy", "Pepin I Carloman" Birthdate: circa 797 Birthplace: Vermandois (Present Region Picardie), Neustria (within present France), Frankish Empire Death: April 17, 818 (16-25) Milan, Neustria (Present Piedmont), Lombardia (within present Italy), Frankish Empire (complications from "blinding") Place of Burial: Milano, Provincia Milano, Regione Lombardia, Italia Immediate Family:
Son of Pépin, king of Italy and Mistress/es of Pepin
Husband of Cunigundis
Father of Pépin II, lord of Péronne
Brother of Princess Adelais of Italy and Lombardia; Adula, Princesa da Itália; Theodrate d'Italie; Gundrada; Bertraide / Berthais; and NN, one of the daughters of Pepin < less Occupation: King of the Lombards (Italy), 813-818, roi d italie, Bernard d'Italie1, né vers 797, mort le 17 avril 818, fut roi des Lombards de 813 à 817. Petit-fils de Charlemagne, c'est un fils illégitime de Pépin, roi des Lombards., King of the Lombards

Bernard (797, de Vermandois, Picardy - 17 April 818, Milan, Lombardy) was the King of the Lombards from 810 to 818. He plotted against his uncle, Emperor Louis the Pious, when the latter's Ordinatio Imperii made Bernard a vassal of his cousin Lothair. When his plot was discovered, Louis had him blinded, a procedure which killed him.

Life
Bernard was born in 797, the illegitimate son of King Pepin of Italy, himself the son of the Emperor Charlemagne. In 810, Pepin died from an illness contracted at the siege of Venice. Despite being illegitimate, Bernard was allowed to inherit Italy. Bernard married a woman named Cunigunde, but the year of their marriage, and her origins are obscure. Some sources refer to her as "of Laon". They had one son, Pepin, Count of Vermandois, who was born in 817.

In 817, Louis the Pious drew the Ordinatio Imperii, detailing the future of the Frankish Empire. Under this, the bulk of the Frankish territory went to Louis' eldest son, Lothair; Bernard received no further territory, and although his Kingship of Italy was confirmed, he would be a vassal of Lothair. This was, it was later alleged, the work of the Empress, Ermengarde, who wished Bernard to be displaced in favour of her own sons. Resenting Louis' actions, Bernard began plotting with a group of magnates: Eggideo, Reginhard, and Reginhar, the last being the grandson of a Thuringian rebel against Charlemagne, Hardrad. Anshelm, Bishop of Milan and Theodulf, Bishop of Orléans, were also accused of being involved: there is no evidence either to support or contradict this in the case of Theodulf, whilst the case for Anshelm is murkier.

Bernard's main complaint was the notion of his being a vassal of Lothair. In practical terms, his actual position had not been altered at all by the terms of the decree, and he could safely have continued to rule under such a system.

Nonetheless, "partly true" reports came to Louis the Pious that his nephew was planning to set up an 'unlawful' - i.e. independent - regime in Italy.

Louis the Pious reacted swiftly to the plot, marching south to Chalon. Bernard and his associates were taken by surprise; Bernard travelled to Chalon in an attempt to negotiate terms, but he and the ringleaders were forced to surrender to Louis, who had them taken to Aix-la-Chapelle where they were tried and condemned to death. Louis 'mercifully' commuted their sentences to blinding, which would neutralize Bernard as a threat without actually killing him; however, the process of blinding (carried out by means of pressing a red-hot stiletto to the eyeballs) proved so traumatic that Bernard died in agony two days after the procedure was carried out. At the same time, Louis also had his half-brothers Drogo, Hugh and Theoderic tonsured and confined to monasteries, to prevent other Carolingian offshoots challenging the main line. He also treated those guilty or suspected of conspiring with Bernard harshly: Theodulf of Orleans was imprisoned, and died soon afterwards; the lay conspirators were blinded, the clerics deposed and imprisoned; all lost lands and honours.

Legacy
His Kingdom of Italy was reabsorbed into the Frankish empire, and soon after bestowed upon Louis' eldest son Lothair. In 822, Louis made a display of public penance at Attigny, where he confessed before all the court to having sinfully slain his nephew; he also welcomed his half-brothers back into his favour. These actions possibly stemmed from guilt over his part in Bernard's death. It has been argued by some historians that his behaviour left him open to clerical domination, and reduced his prestige and respect amongst the Frankish nobility. Others, however, point out that Bernard's plot had been a serious threat to the stability of the kingdom, and the reaction no less a threat; Louis' display of penance, then, "was a well-judged gesture to restore harmony and re-establish his authority."

  Noted events in his life were:

1. Clan: House of Carolingians,,. ¹⁹¹⁷

2. Title of Nobility: King of Italy, between 810 and 818,.

Bernhard married Kunigunde OF LAON Queen of Italy, daughter of Wilhelm OF AQUITAINE Marquis de Septimania and Kunigunde, about 813.¹⁹¹⁷ (Kunigunde OF LAON Queen of Italy was born on 1 January 797 in Bohain-en-Vermandois, Aisne, Hauts-de-France, France ¹⁹⁶³, christened about 800,¹⁹⁶³ died on 15 June 835 in Milan, , Lombardy, Italy ¹⁹⁶³ and was buried after 19 June 835 in Milan, , Lombardy, Italy ¹⁹⁶³.)