Berengar I was the king of Italy from 887. He was Holy Roman Emperor between 915 and his death in 924. He is usually known as Berengar of Friuli, since he ruled the March of Friuli from 874 until at least 890, but he had lost control of the region by 896.
Berengar's imperial seal
The so-called Cross of Berengar, said to have been Berengar I's pectoral cross and now in the cathedral of Monza
Some coins of Berengar's found in Hungary, possibly from payments made to Magyar raiders or mercenaries
Berengar portrayed as emperor (Berengarius Imperator) in a twelfth-century manuscript
King of Italy was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian warlord, in the late 5th century, followed by the Ostrogothic kings up to the mid-6th century. With the Frankish conquest of Italy in the 8th century, the Carolingians assumed the title, which was maintained by subsequent Holy Roman Emperors throughout the Middle Ages. The last Emperor to claim the title was Charles V in the 16th century. During this period, the holders of the title were crowned with the Iron Crown of Lombardy.
For centuries, the Iron Crown of Lombardy was used in the Coronation of the King of Italy.
Image: Otto the Great
Image: Otton 2
Image: Clm 4453 fol 24r Detail Herrscherbild
