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5 - The March of Tuscany
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 April 2022
Summary
Abstract
The growth of Hucpolding landed possessions in Tuscia is marked by two distinct phases. The first covers the second half of the ninth century, when key elements of their presence included two monasteries in the Florentine area and close relationships with the Adalbertings; the second, the second half of the tenth century after the group achieved the marchisal office, when the full resources of the fisc became available to them. Chapter 5 examines the evolution of parental assets in the march, aligned with the pathway to marchisal authority. It proposes that the marchisal office was fundamental to the expansion of their power in the region – a power that proved transitory, however, after the loss of the public office.
Keywords: kinship; Hucpoldings; march of Tuscany; monasteries; officials; properties
Analysis of landholdings in the march of Tuscany is substantially founded on relationships with some of the wealthier and more significant monastic institutions in the region. Behind these were the relationships attained in the institutional sphere essential for the kindred to settle in this area of the kingdom. Bonds built with the Florentine bishops and the Adalbertings stand out above all others. Once the Hucpoldings had, however, reached their paramount political and social dominance, it was the Benedictine monasteries which were the main patrimonial intermediaries in all territorial environments across the march.
The city of Florence and its territory represented the centre of reference from as early as the middle of the ninth century. In the city centre the abbadiola of S. Andrea was controlled for at least three generations with the blessing of the city's bishop. The final decades of the tenth century saw the independent foundation of the monastery of S. Maria, the so-called Badia fiorentina, which became one of the most powerful monasteries in the whole of Tuscany, due to the consistent endowment of Willa and the Marquises Hugh and Boniface II. Also in the Florence area, we find traces of the almost century-old relationships with the church of S. Salvatore a Settimo to the west of Florence.
Control of the march, together with Hugh I's prestigious ascendancy gave him the opportunity to increase his power and influence over the whole Tuscan territory, thus playing a key role during the reign of Otto III.
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- Struggles for Power in the Kingdom of ItalyThe Hucpoldings, c. 850-c.1100, pp. 185 - 216Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2022