Bertha, Abbess of Santa Giulia in Brescia explained

Type:	monarch
Bertha
Succession:	Abbess of Santa Giulia in Brescia
Reign:	908-952
Succession1:	Abbess of San Sisto in Piacenza
Reign1:	917-952
House:	Unruochings
Father:	Berengar I of Italy
Mother:	Bertila of Spoleto
Death Date:	after 952
Religion:	Catholic Church

Bertha (also Berta) (c.880-after 952), was the daughter of Berengar I of Italy and his wife Bertila of Spoleto. She was abbess of Santa Giulia in Brescia from at least 908 to her death, and of San Sisto in Piacenza from at least 917 to her death.

Family

Bertha was a member of the Unruoching dynasty. Her parents were Berengar I, King of Italy and Bertila.^[1] Her sister was Gisela of Friuli, whose son Berengar II later became king of Italy.

Abbess of Santa Giulia in Brescia

A letter from Archbishop John of Ravenna indicates that Bertha was already abbess of Santa Giulia in Brescia by 908.^[2] The monastery of Santa Giulia (previously San Salvatore) in Brescia was one of the richest and most influential female religious houses in northern Italy.^[3] It was closely connected with royal women, including Engelberga, Bertha's maternal great-aunt.

In 915 and 916 Berengar made two separate grants, at Bertha's request: one to her monastery of Santa Giulia in Brescia, and the other granting Bertha the right to build a castle in Pavia.^[4]

Abbess of San Sisto in Piacenza

A diploma issued by Berengar in 917 indicates that in addition to Santa Giulia in Brescia, Bertha was now also the abbess of San Sisto in Piacenza, which had been founded by her aunt, Engelberga.^[5]

Successive kings of Italy made grants to San Sisto whilst Bertha was abbess: Rudolf II in 924, Hugh in 926 and Bertha's nephew, Berengar II and his son, Adalbert in 951.^[6]

Notes

Thiele, Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln, Tafel 391; Arnaldi, ‘Bertilla’.
A. Ceriani, G. Porro, eds., 'Il Rotolo opistografico del Principe Pio di Savoia, Archivio storico lombardo, s. 2, 1/1 (1884), n. 3, pp. 21-23.
Sereno, ‘Bertilla e Berta,’ pp. 4-5.
Schiaparelli, Diplomi di Berengario, nos. XCVI (4 March 915); CX (25 May 916).
Muratori, Antiquitates Italicæ, I, p. 624.
Schiaparelli, Diplomi di Rodolfo, no. 8 (924); Schiaparelli, Diplomi di Ugo, no. 2 (926), pp. 6-9; and no. 1 (951), pp. 291-294.

References

L. Schiaparelli, ed., I diplomi di Berengario I (Rome, 1903).
L. Schiaparelli, ed., I diplomi italiani di Ludovico III e di Rodolfo II (Rome, 1910).
L. Schiaparelli, ed., I diplomi di Ugo e Lotario, di Berengario II e di Adalberto (Rome, 1924).
L.A. Muratori, Antiquitates Italicæ Medii ævi (Modena, 1773).
C. Sereno, ‘Bertilla e Berta: il ruolo di Santa Giulia di Brescia e di San Sisto di Piacenza nel regno di Berengario I,’ Reti Medievali Rivista, 13, 2 (2012)
A. Thiele, Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte Band II, Teilband 2 Europäische Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser II Nord-, Ost- und Südeuropa (R.G. Fischer Verlag 1994).
G. Arnaldi, ‘Bertilla,’ Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani, Vol. 9 (Rome, 1967).