Berengar I of Italy

Berengar I Of Italy

Berengar of Friuli (c. 845 – 7 April 924) was the Margrave of Friuli from 874 until no earlier than 890 and no later than 896, King of Italy (as Berengar I) from 887 (with interruption) until his death, and Holy Roman Emperor from 915 until his death.

Berengar rose to become one of the most influential laymen in the empire of Charles the Fat before he was elected to replace Charles in Italy after the latter's deposition. His long reign of 36 years saw him opposed by no less than seven other claimants to the Italian throne. Though he is sometimes seen as a "national" king in Italian histories, he was in fact of Frankish birth. His reign is usually characterised as "troubled" because of the many competitors for the crown and because of the arrival of Magyar raiders in Western Europe. He was the last emperor before Otto the Great was crowned in 962, after a 38-year interregnum.