7 - Sex, Denigration and Violence: A Representation of Political Competition between Two Aristocratic Families in Ninth Century Italy

Summary

Abstract

The conflict between Hucpoldings and Supponids is an interesting case study of competition within elites in Carolingian Italy. A peculiar narrative of this conflict has survived, included in the ‘so called’ Epitome chronicorum Casinensium. It is a tale of cupidity, violence and iniquity that took place at Louis II's court between the Count Palatine Hucpold and the Empress Angelberga. This study will examine the literary layer of the account as well as the political situation which grounded the scene of this clash. Coming from the Hucpoldings’ point of view, the tale is an outstanding statement of how Hucpold's descendants wanted to represent and remember the first period of their kinship in Italy, when they managed to settle their power.

Keywords: Hucpoldings, Carolingian Italy, aristocracy, struggle for power, kinship representation

Over the last decades, the concept of competition among the aristocratic elites of Carolingian Europe has enabled scholars to better understand power relations and use of violence among elite groups in Frankish society. In turn, this has clarified the fundamental role played by the sovereign: the possibility for the proceres regni (‘kingdom's magnates’) to have a share in the management of power, earn honours and offices at a local level, and therefore acquire wealth was closely dependent upon their capacity to acquire a degree of Königsnahe (‘proximity to the king’).

An interesting case study for Carolingian Italy is the conflict between the Hucpolding and Supponid kinship groups. These vied for a leading role at the court of Louis II (844-875) and, at the same time, for control over the Emilian region extending between the Po River and the Apennines, from the capital Pavia to the former Exarchate of Ravenna. A very peculiar account of this conflict survives: a narrative of the first centuries of the Abbey of Montecassino, the Epitome chronicorum Casinensium (ECC), which describes an episode of lewdness, violence and injustice at the court of Louis II. The protagonists of this fictional episode are real historical figures: Count Palatine Hucpold, the first scion of the Hucpolding dynasty in Italy, his wife Andaberta and Empress Angelberga, of the Supponid lineage.