The Arduinici were a noble

Nobility

Nobility is a social class which possesses more acknowledged privileges or eminence than members of most other classes in a society, membership therein typically being hereditary. The privileges associated with nobility may constitute substantial advantages over or relative to non-nobles, or may be...

 Frankish

Franks

The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

 family that immigrated to Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 in the early tenth century, possibly from Neustria

Neustria

The territory of Neustria or Neustrasia, meaning "new [western] land", originated in 511, made up of the regions from Aquitaine to the English Channel, approximating most of the north of present-day France, with Paris and Soissons as its main cities...

. They were descended from and take their name after one Arduin (Harduoin).

The first of the Arduinici to enter Italy was Roger, son of Arduin, who was established as count

Count

A count or countess is an aristocratic nobleman in European countries. The word count came into English from the French comte, itself from Latin comes—in its accusative comitem—meaning "companion", and later "companion of the emperor, delegate of the emperor". The adjective form of the word is...

 (comes) at Auriate

Auriate

Auriate was a county in medieval Italy on the eastern slopes of the Western Alps lying between Cuneo and Saluzzo. The county existed from the late ninth century to the middle of the tenth...

 in the early tenth century. He extended his power and was succeeded by his son Arduin Glaber

Arduin Glaber

Arduin Glaber was the Count of Auriate from c. 935 and Margrave of Turin from c. 950. He placed his family, the Arduinici, on a firm foundation and established the march of Turin through conquests and royal concessions...

, named after his grandfather, who established the family as one of the most powerful in northwestern Italy. He conquered the Susa Valley

Susa Valley

The Susa Valley is a valley in the Piedmont region of northern Italy, located between the Graian Alps in the north and the Cottian Alps in the south. It is the longest valley in Italy. It extends over in an east-west direction from the French border to the outskirts of Turin. The valley takes its...

 and allied with Provence against Fraxinetum. He ruled the counties of Auriate, Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, Asti

Asti

Asti is a city and comune of about 75,000 inhabitants located in the Piedmont region of northwestern Italy, about 55 kilometres east of Turin in the plain of the Tanaro River...

, Albenga

Albenga

Albenga is a city and comune situated on the Gulf of Genoa on the Italian Riviera in the Province of Savona in Liguria, northern Italy.left|thumb|220px|Towers of Albenga.The economy is mostly based on tourism, local commerce and agriculture-History:...

 and probably Bredulo, Alba

Alba, Italy

Alba is a town and comune of Piedmont, Italy, in the province of Cuneo. It is considered the capital of the hilly area of Langhe, and is famous for its white truffle, peach and wine production...

, and Ventimiglia

Ventimiglia

Ventimiglia is a city and comune in Liguria, northern Italy, in the province of Imperia. It is located southwest of Genoa by rail, and 7 km from the French-Italian border, on the Gulf of Genoa, having a small harbour at the mouth of the Roia River, which divides the town into two parts...

. During a reorganisation of the structure of Italy's marches

Marches

A march or mark refers to a border region similar to a frontier, such as the Welsh Marches, the borderland between England and Wales. During the Frankish Carolingian Dynasty, the word spread throughout Europe....

 under Berengar II

Berengar II of Italy

Berengar of Ivrea , sometimes also referred to as Berengar II of Italy, was Margrave of Ivrea and usurper King of Italy from 950 until his deposition in 961, the last before Italy's incorporation into the Holy Roman Empire...

 in 950, Arduin's territories were organised as the March of Turin

March of Turin

The county or march of Turin was founded in 941 by Hugh of Italy, who appointed Arduin Glaber as its governor. Arduin had captured Turin and the Susa Valley from the Saracens...

, or marca Arduinica.

Arduin allied his family with the House of Canossa by marrying his heir, Manfred I

Manfred I of Turin

Manfred I or Maginfred was the second Margrave of Turin from 977. He inherited the county of Auriate and the vast marca Arduinica in the Susa Valley from his father Arduin Glaber. In his reign, the marca extended from the Alps to the Ligurian Sea and the Po Valley. Under him, Pavia became a...

 to Prangarda, daughter of Adalbert Atto of Canossa

Adalbert Atto of Canossa

Adalbert Atto was the first Count of Canossa and founder of that noble house which eventually was to play a determinant rôle in the political settling of Italy and the Investiture Controversy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.Adalbert first appears in sources as a son of Sigifred, who is...

. The family later drew itself close to the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

. Arduin's grandson, Ulric Manfred

Ulric Manfred II of Turin

Ulric Manfred II was the Margrave of Turin and Susa in the early 11th century.- Biography:...

 (Odalrich-Maginfred), was one of the most powerful noblemen Italy in the 1020s, when he tried to play kingmaker and give the throne to William V of Aquitaine

William V of Aquitaine

William V , called the Great , was Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou from 990 until his death. He was the son and successor of William IV by his wife Emma of Blois, daughter of Theobald I of Blois. He seems to have taken after his formidable mother, who ruled Aquitaine as regent until 1004...

. Ulric Manfred's daughters, Adelaide

Adelaide of Susa

Adelaide of Susa was the Marchioness of Turin from 1034 to her death. She moved the seat of the march from Turin to Susa and settled the itinerant court there...

 and Irmgard, married high-ranking German princes: Hermann IV of Swabia and Otto III of Swabia, respectively. Irmgard later married Egbert I, Margrave of Meissen

Egbert I, Margrave of Meissen

Egbert I was the Margrave of Meissen from 1067 until his early death the next year. Egbert was the Count of Brunswick from about 1038, when his father, Liudolf, Margrave of Frisia, died. His mother was Gertrude, the sister of Pope Leo IX.Egbert was the scion of the influential Eastphalian family...

, one of the richest magnates in Germany, and Adelaide, through her marriage to Otto of Savoy

Otto of Savoy

Otto was Count of Savoy from 1051 until his death. He was son of Humbert I, the first Count of Savoy, and his wife Ancilla, and ascended the throne after the death of his elder brother, Amadeus I of Savoy.Otto substantially enlarged his lands through his marriage with Adelaide of Susa,...

, was the mother of Bertha

Bertha of Savoy

Bertha of Savoy , also called Bertha of Turin, was the first wife of Emperor Henry IV, and was German Queen and Holy Roman Empress. She is buried in the cathedral of Speyer.-Life:...

, empress of Henry IV

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Henry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...

 and of another Adelaide, who married the German anti-king Rudolf of Rheinfeld

Rudolf of Rheinfeld

Rudolf of Rheinfelden was Duke of Swabia and German antiking . He was the son of Count Kuno of Rheinfelden and eventually became the alternative king or antiking for the politically oriented anti-Henry German aristocrats, whose rebellion became known as the Great Saxon Revolt...

. Adelaide (died 1091) was the last scion of the house; her heirs were her sons Peter I

Peter I of Savoy

Peter I was count of Savoy and margrave of Turin jointly with his brother Amadeus II of Savoy from c. 1060 to 1078. He ruled only nominally, as true power was in the hands of his mother, Adelaide of Susa....

 and Amadeus II of Savoy

Amadeus II of Savoy

Amadeus II was the Count of Savoy from 1078 to 1080. His life is obscure and few documents mention him. During his reign he was overshadowed by his mother, but he had good relations with the Papacy and, for a time, the Holy Roman Emperor.-Before his countship:The second son of Otto, Count of...

. The Arduinici possessions in Italy formed the basis for Savoy

House of Savoy

The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...

 power there and of the later Duchy of Savoy

Duchy of Savoy

From 1416 to 1847, the House of Savoy ruled the eponymous Duchy of Savoy . The Duchy was a state in the northern part of the Italian Peninsula, with some territories that are now in France. It was a continuation of the County of Savoy...

, Kingdom of Sardinia

Kingdom of Sardinia

The Kingdom of Sardinia consisted of the island of Sardinia first as a part of the Crown of Aragon and subsequently the Spanish Empire , and second as a part of the composite state of the House of Savoy . Its capital was originally Cagliari, in the south of the island, and later Turin, on the...

 and Kingdom of Italy

Kingdom of Italy (1861–1946)

The Kingdom of Italy was a state forged in 1861 by the unification of Italy under the influence of the Kingdom of Sardinia, which was its legal predecessor state...

.