 Abt 0797 - 0818 (21 years)
-
| Name |
CAROLINGIAN Bernard |
| Birth |
Abt 0797 |
Vermandois, Neustria  |
| Gender |
Male |
| Death |
17 Apr 0818 |
Aachen, Frankish Empire |
| Notes |
- Bernard (797, Vermandois, Normandy 17 April 818, Milan, Lombardy), was an illegitimate son of Carloman (Pepin of Italy) , and an unknown woman. His paternal grandparents were Charlemagne and Hildegarde the Swabian. He married Cunigunda of Laon in 813, and had one son: Pepin, Count of Vermandois.[1]
Bernard was crowned King of Italy by Charlemagne. His rule lasted from 810 to 818. He was blinded after he was found to have plotted against his uncle, Emperor Louis the Pious. The mutilation killed him.
Name and Titles
Bernard [1]
King of Italy, 812 to March 817. [1]
797 Birth
Bernard was born, say 797. [1][2] [3] This is a reasonable estimate, since he left a son, and his father was born in 777. His place of birth is unknown. [1]
Bernard was illegitimate son of Pepin (Carloman), King of Italy.[2] and his mistress. [3] Thegan's Vita Hludowici Imperatoris names "Bernhardus filius Pippini ex concubina"[637]. [3] Settipani cites a litany of St Gallen which lists Bernard among Carolingians of illegitimate birth[640]. [3] Bernard is named only son of Pippin by Einhard[638]. [3]
Baldwin names Bernard's mother as Chrothais.[1]
813 Youth and Early Reign
Bernard was brought up at Kloster Fulda. [3]
His paternal grandfather sent him back to Italy in autumn 812, granting him the title "rex Langobardorum" in Apr 813. [3] Bernard was named to his father's position as king of Italy in 812 or 813 [1][2]
He was confirmed 11 Sep 813 at Aix-la-Chapelle as Bernard I King of Italy, vassal of the emperor, ruling under the regency of Adalhard abbé de Corbie[642]. [3]
814 Accession of Emperor Louis
In 814, Bernard's uncle, Louis I "le Pieux" became emperor. Although Bernard swore allegiance to Louis, the emperor passed the Ordinatio Imperii in Jul 817 which failed to mention Bernard's royal status, effectively depriving him of any role in government and of his royal title. [3]
815 Marriage
About 815 he married Kunigund [1] or Cunegonde. [2] Cawley places the year as 813; her parents are unknown. [3]
The origin of Cunigundis is not known. Settipani suggests[647] that she was Cunigundis, daughter of Héribert, relative of St Guillaume Comte de Toulouse in order to explain the transmission of the name Héribert into the family of Bernard King of Italy. This is highly speculative. It would also mean that Héribert was older than suggested in the document CAROLINGIAN NOBILITY, as it is unlikely that Cunigundis was born later than 800 assuming that the birth date of her son is correctly estimated at [815]. [3]
They had one child, Pépin/Pippin, b. say 815, d. after 840, count (near Paris).[1][2]
Kunigunde died after 15 June 835. [1] Settipani refers to an act of the monastery of San Alessandro, Parma dated 15 Jun 835 which names her. [3] Her deceased husband Bernard and her son Pépin are named in the charter.[1]
817 Revolt against Emperor Louis
In 817 Emperor Louis divided the administration of the Empire, his eldest son Lothair was given italy with the title of emperor. Bernard, though apparently not dispossessed, was not included. [2]
Bernard rebelled unsuccessfully in Dec 817. [3][2] with the support of several of his father's Frankish followers in Italy. The revolt failed [2]
Bernard was tricked into returning to France to ask for the emperor's forgiveness at Chalon-sur-Saône, but was taken to Aix-la-Chapelle where he was sentenced to death. [3] Louis had Bernard tried at Aachen and blinded. [2]
818 Death
Bernard, King of Italy. died on 17 April 818 in Aachen, [2] three days after he was blinded for disloyalty by the emperor. [1]
Thegan's Vita Hludowici Imperatoris records that "Bernhardus filius Pippini ex concubina" was blinded and died on the third day which followed this[644]. [3]
After his death on 17 August 1818, Bernard was buried in San Ambrosio, Milan.[3]
After his death, Italy was once more placed under the direct rule of the emperor[645]. [3]
835 Widow Founds Monastery
In 835 (the date of her charter), his widow, Cunegonde, founded the monastery of Santo Alessandro of Parma [2]
Issue
Bernard and Kunigunde had one son, Pepin (or Pippin) [2], who was born in 815 and died after 850 [3] i He was born in Vermandois [4] Pepin became Seigneur de Péronne et de Saint Quentin[649]. Comte near Paris after 834. [3]
Douglas Richardson [2] provides one line of descent from Charlemagne to William the Conqueror and four lines of descent from Charlemagne to William's wife Maud.
Parent: Pepin/Carloman, 777-811
This profile: Bernard, 797-818
Child: Pepin, 815-850
Sources
↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Stewart Baldwin. "Bernard, King of Italy." First Uploaded 23 May 2007. The Henry Project. http://sbaldw.home.mindspring.com/hproject/prov/berna000.htm. Accessed May 16, 2017 jhd
↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 2.11 2.12 Douglas Richardson. Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families. Kimball G. Everengham, ed. Salt Lake City, Utah: 2013. Volume V, page 484
↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 Cawley, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. [Medieval Lands Database] Accessed February 21, 2017 jhd
↑ WikiTree Data Field, not otherwise sourced.
See also:
Wikipedia: Bernard of Italy
"Ancestors/Descendants of Royal Lines" (Contributors: F. L. Jacquier (History of Charlemagne by Christian Settipani); L. Orlandini, Manuel Abranches de Soveral, Reynaud de Paysac, F.L. J P de Palmas (Aurejac et Tournemire; Frankish line;
The Complete Peerage}
The Royal Families of England Scotland & Wales by Burkes Peerage
Debrett's Peerage & Baronage
The Dukes of Normandy, XXXXI), A. Brabant ("Dynastie Montmorency, Michel d'Herbigny), Paul Leportier, Claude Barret, H.R. Moser (Burke Peerage), O.Guionneau, L.B. de Rouge, E. Polti, N. Danican
Britain's Royal Families; Buthlaw, Succession of Strathclyde, the Armorial 1961-62
A.Terlinden (Genealogy of the existing British Peerage, 1842), L. Gustavsson, C. Cheneaux, E. Lodge, S. Bontron (Brian Tompsett), R. Dewkinandan, H. de la Villarmois, C. Donadello; Scevole de Livonniere, H. de la Villarmois, I. Flatmoen, P. Ract Madoux
(History of Morhange; Leon Maujean; Annuaire de Lorraine, 1926; La Galissonniere: Elections d'Arques et Rouen), Jean de Villoutreys (ref: Georges Poull), E. Wilkerson-Theaux (Laura Little), O. Auffray, A. Brabant
(Genealogy of Chauvigny of Blot from "Chanoine Prevost Archiviste du Diocese de Troyes Union Typographique Domois Cote-d'Or 1925), Emmanuel Arminjon (E Levi-Provencal Histoire de l'Espagne Andalouse), Y. Gazagnes-Gazanhe, R. Sekulovich and J.P. de Palmas ("notes pierfit et iconographie Insecula", Tournemire)
Roderick W. Stuart, Royalty for Commoners
Royal Line, The. Author: Albert F Schmuhl. Publication: Orig. March, 1929 NYC, NY - Rev. March 1980.
Fredrick Weis, Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700; Note: Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America before 1700; Seventh Edition, 1992.
Roberts, Gary Boyd. ENGLISH ORIGINS OF NEW ENGLAND FAMILIES. NEHGS Register Three Volumes. Genealogical Publishing Co., Inc. 1984;
Affò (1792-5) = Ireneo Affò, Storia della città di Parma, 4 vols. (Parma, 1792-5).
ARF = Georg Pertz & Friedrich Kurze, Annales Regni Francorum (Annals of the kingdom of the Franks), (MGH SRG 6, Hannover, 1895), a collective name commonly given to two closely related sets of annals, Annales Laurissenses Maiores and the so-called Einhardi Annales (Annals of Einhard), in parallel on alternate pages until the coronation of Charlemagne in 800 (s.a. 801).
Brandenburg (1964) = Erich Brandenburg, Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen (Frankfurt, 1964).
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Settipani (1993) = Christian Settipani, La préhistoire des Capétiens 481-987 (Première partie - Mérovingiens, Carolingiens et Robertiens) (Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1993).
Werner (1967) = Karl Ferdinand Werner, "Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen bis um das Jahr 1000 (1.-8. Generation)", Karl der Große 4 (1967): 403-483.
|
| Person ID |
I58225 |
Freeman-Smith |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
| Family |
UNKNOWN Cunégonde, b. Abt 0800 d. Aft 15 Jun 0835 (Age > 35 years) |
| Children |
| | 1. VERMANDOIS Pepin, b. Abt 0815, Vermandois, Normandy, France d. Abt 0850, Milan, Milano, Lombardia, Italy (Age 35 years) [Father: natural] [Mother: natural] |
|
| Family ID |
F25968 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
27 Jan 2026 |
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