BERENGAR II

born c. 900 died 966 also called Berengario, Marchese D'ivrea E Di Gisla grandson of Berengar I and king of Italy from 950 to 952. Berengar was important in the career of the German king and Holy Roman emperor Otto I the Great. For several months in 951 he held captive Adelaide, the daughter and widow of kings of Italy; she escaped and married Otto, who assumed the title of king of the Lombards and made Berengar his vassal. Later (from 960) Berengar and his son Adalbert attacked Pope John XII, on whose appeal Otto marched into Rome and was crowned emperor (962). John's subsequent negotiations with Berengar caused Otto to depose the pope and imprison Berengar in Germany (963).