Be'rengar I.

Be'rengar I., king of Italy, succeeded at his father's death to the dukedom of Friuli. After the deposition of Charles the Fat in 887, he was crowned king of Italy, but he soon irritated the nobles by condescending to hold his territory in fief from Arnulf, king of Germany; and Guido, Duke of Spoleto, was persuaded to contest the throne. With the help of Arnulf, however, Berengar ultimately prevailed. After Guido's death in 894, his son, Lambert, compelled the king to share with him the sovereignty of North Italy until 898, when Lambert was assassinated. Berengar's influence quickly sank, since he could not check the plundering incursions of the Magyars and Arabs, and many years were spent in struggles to maintain his position. In 915 he was crowned emperor by Pope John X.; but the nobles again revolted, and under Rudolf of Burgundy completely overthrew him in 923. In his extremity, Berengar called in the Hungarians to his aid, which unpatriotic act alienated the minds of all Italians from him, and cost him his life, for he was assassinated in 924.—BERENGAR II., grandson of the preceding, succeeded his father as Count of Ivrea in 925, and married Willa, niece of Hugo, king of Italy, in 934. For a conspiracy against Hugo, he was compelled to flee to Germany, where he was kindly received by the emperor, Otto I. In 945 he recrossed the Alps at the head of an army, and placed the weak Lothaire, the son of Hugo, on the throne. On the death of this prince, who was probably poisoned by Willa, Berengar allowed himself to be crowned along with his son, Adalbert, in 950. His tyranny induced his subjects to call in the aid of the emperor, who marched into Italy in 961, and took possession of the country. After three years' refuge in a mountain-fortress, Berengar surrendered, and was sent as a prisoner to Bamberg, in Bavaria, where he died in 966.