Ermengarde of Tuscany (also Ermengarda; Hermengarda) (-931/2) was a medieval Italian noblewoman. She was the daughter of Bertha of Lotharingia and Adalbert II, Margrave of Tuscany. She was countess of Ivrea through marriage to Adalbert I of Ivrea. Alongside her half-brother Hugh of Italy Ermengarde was an important opponent of Rudolf II of BurgundyâÂÂs rule in Italy.
Ermengarde was born in 901. Her father was Adalbert II of Tuscany and her mother was, Bertha of Lotharingia. Through Bertha, who was an illegitimate daughter of Lothair II, king of Lotharingia, Ermengarde was connected with the Carolingian dynasty. Ermengarde had two brothers, Guy of Tuscany and Lambert of Tuscany. She also had four half-siblings from her motherâÂÂs first marriage to Theobald of Arles: Hugh, king of Italy, Boso of Tuscany, Theutberga of Arles, and another sister, whose name is not known.
Ermengarde married Adalbert I of Ivrea, from the Anscarid dynasty around 914/5. With Adalbert I, Ermengarde had a son, Anscar of Spoleto. Ermengarde had a great influence on her husband, and often appeared in his diplomas entitled âÂÂmost noble countessâ (noblissima comitissa). Ermengarde also intervened in the diplomas of other rulers, including a diploma issued by Rudolf II of Burgundy in 924, granting Castel vecchio d'Asti to Autbert of Asti, and a diploma issued by her half-brother, Hugh, in Pavia in 926.
The tenth-century Italian chronicler, Liutprand of Cremona indicates that after the death of her husband, Ermengarde âÂÂobtained primacy in all ItalyâÂÂ. Liutprand, who wrote disparagingly about many powerful Italian women, argued that the source of ErmengardeâÂÂs power was her sexuality: âÂÂshe exercised carnal transactions with one and all, not just princes but even with ordinary menâÂÂ. Although her husband Adalbert had supported crowning Rudolph II of Burgundy as king of Italy in opposition to Berengar I of Italy, Ermengarde did not. She âÂÂquite manfully kept the king (Rudolf) out of the very capital of the kingdom, PaviaâÂÂ.