Ulric Manfred II of Turin

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Ulric Manfred II or Olderico Manfredi II (or Manfredo Udalrico; 992 – 29 October 1034) was the Count of Turin and Margrave of Susa in the early eleventh century, one the most powerful Italian barons of his time.

Ulric Manfred was the son of Manfred I. Ulric Manfred inherited a vast march centred on Turin (1000), which had been created from the lands of Arduin Glaber. By a charter dated 31 July 1001, the Emperor Otto III confirmed his possessions and granted him several privileges.^[1] This grant was requested by Hugonis marchionis, probably Hugh the Great, margrave of Tuscany.

Ulric Manfred, immediately upon his succession, began to consolidate his power vis-à-vis Arduin of the March of Ivrea on one hand and the Holy Roman Emperor Henry II on the other. In the fight over the regnum Italicum, he gained a great deal of territory at the expense of the Eporedian march. By the preserved notarial deeds of a priest named Sigifred (1021 and 1031), a precise catalogue of the cities under his control can be known: Turin, Ivrea, Albenga, Ventimiglia, Auriate, Tortona, and Vercelli. In all the wars between Arduin and Henry, Ulric Manfred prudently avoided any confrontation with the two leaders and gradually extended his territories by arms (he was at war with the margrave of Tuscany, Boniface III, in 1016) and by increasing his authority within his proper domains. In 1024, following the death of Henry, he opposed the election of Conrad II and instead invited William V of Aquitaine to take the Italian throne, but to no avail.^[2]

Ulric Manfred, though his capital was Turin, rarely resided in that strategic, but small city. He lived an itinerant life typical for an early eleventh century feudal lord, moving from castle to castle in order to maintain his control and to effect the administration of his dominions. His daughter Adelaide abandoned Turin as a capital and the itinerant baronial lifestyl for setting up house in Susa.

Ulric Manfred restored the old church of Santa Maria Maggiore in Susa and the monastery of Novalesa. He constructed a new monastery in Susa and a Cathedral of San Giusto (1029) as well. He fortified the villages of Exilles and Bardonecchia. He died at Turin and was buried there in the cathedral of San Giovanni.

Ulric Manfred married Bertha (born 997) of the Obertenghi, daughter of Oberto II, in 1014. That year, the Emperor Henry confirmed their joint donation to the abbey of Fruttuaria. On 29 December 1037, the Emperor Conrad confirmed a donation to San Giusto expressly without her. She must therefore have died in the meanwhile. Asides from his aforementioned heir, Adelaide, Ulric Manfred had two other daughters.

Irmgard (also Emilia or Immula; died 28 January 1078), married Otto III, Duke of Swabia
Bertha (died after 1050), inherited Vasto and Busco, married Otto, Marquis of Liguria (a great-grandson of Aleram) and was the mother of Boniface del Vasto