Ardoin’s Revolt (1002)

Ardoin’s Revolt (1002)

PRINCIPAL COMBATANTS: Ardoin, marquis of Ivrea vs. Otto
III, Holy Roman Emperor

PRINCIPAL THEATER(S): Lombardy in northern Italy

DECLARATION: None

MAJOR ISSUES AND OBJECTIVES: Otto III was seeking to renew
the flagging fortunes of the Holy Roman Empire by establishing
an ecclesiastical state centered in Rome; Ardoin led
the Lombards in an uprising against the “outsider” Otto.

OUTCOME: Otto died, and Ardoin became king of the
Lombards.

APPROXIMATE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF MEN UNDER ARMS:
Unknown

CASUALTIES: Unknown

TREATIES: None

Otto III (980–1002) became the Holy Roman Emperor at
the age of three, which left it up to his mother, Empress
Theophano (c. 956–991), to suppress the civil wars that had
plagued the reign of her husband, Otto II (955–983). Otto
III reached his majority determined to restore the glory of
the empire his grandfather, Otto I the Great (912–973), had
virtually created anew from the ruins of Charlemagne’s old
domains. At 16, Otto led an expedition to Italy to appoint a
new pope, Gregory V (972–999), who in turn officially
crowned him emperor. In suppressing an antipapal revolt in
998, Otto, who had declared himself king of Lombardy,
made clear his plans to create an “ecclesiastical empire” centered
in Rome. That was when Ardoin (Arduin) (d. 1015),
marquis of Ivrea, led the Lombards in northern Italy in a
successful revolt against Otto’s renewed Holy Roman
Empire. Though opposed by Italian bishops, Ardoin won
the support of the lay nobles. In February 1001 Ardoin’s
rebels laid siege to Otto’s palace. The emperor withdrew to
Pavenna, where he performed penance at the monastery of
St. Apollinaris. Despite this, he was unable to wrest control
of his palace and capital from the rebels. He sought aid from
Henry of Bavaria (r. 995–1005), his cousin, but Otto died
suddenly before help arrived. Ardoin was therefore proclaimed
king of the Lombards at Pavia in February 1002.

See also ARDOIN’S WARS.

Further reading: Roger Collins, Early Medieval Europe
300–1000 (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1999); R. I.
Moore, The First European Revolutions, c. 970–1215 (London:
Blackwell, 2000).