Willa of Spoleto (also Willa of Tuscany) ( – 7 January 978) was the daughter of Boniface I, duke of Spoleto. Through marriage to Hubert, Duke of Spoleto Willa became duchess of Spoleto and margravine of Tuscany.
Family Willa’s parents were Boniface I, duke of Spoleto and Waldrada, daughter of Rudolf I, king of Upper Burgundy.Hlawitschka, Franken, p. 158. Thus her maternal uncle was Rudolph II of Burgundy, and his daughter Adelaide of Italy was her cousin.Brunhofer, Arduin, p. 118.
Marriage and issue Around 945 Willa married Hubert, an illegitimate son of King Hugh and Wandelmoda.Liutprand of Cremona, Antapodosis, III.20, p. 306. Hubert and Willa at least two children:Hlawitschka, Franken, p. 203 Hugh, who succeeded Hubert as margrave of Tuscany; Waldrada, who married Pietro IV Candiano, doge of Venice;Iohannis Chronicon Venetum, MGH SS VII, p. 25; Peter Damian, Vita S. Romualdi, MGH SS IV, c. 5, p. 848. It is sometimes argued that Bertha, who married Margrave Arduin of Ivrea, future king of Italy, was also the daughter of Willa and Hubert. Carutti, Conte Umberto, pp. 227f.
Religious patronage According to a diploma issued by Emperor Otto III in 998, Willa was the founder of the convent of San Ponziano in Lucca.Die Urkunden des Otto III. (Hannover, 1893), no. 269 (998), p. 687. Willa was widowed, around 968, and her son Hugh succeeded Hubert as margrave of Tuscany.Hlawitchka, Franken, p. 203. Willa moved with Hugh from Lucca to Florence, establishing this as the new capital of Tuscany. In 978 Willa founded the monastery of Badia Fiorentina in Florence to commemorate her late husband.Goez, Beatrix, pp. 77, 128.
Willa’s date of death is not known.
Notes
References Liutprand of Cremona, Antapodosis, in J. Becker, ed., Die Werke Liutprands, MGH SS rer Germ 41 (Hannover, 1915).
Brunhofer, Ursula: Arduin von Ivrea. Untersuchungen zum letzten italienischen Königtum des Mittelalters (Augsburg, 1999). Goez Elke: Beatrix von Canossa und Tuszien. Eine Untersuchung zur Geschichte des 11. Jahrhunderts (Sigmaringen, 1995). Hlawitschka, Eduard: Franken, Alemannen, Bayern und Burgunder in Oberitalien (774-962) (Freiburg im Breisgau, 1960). Thiele, Andreas: Erzählende genealogische Stammtafeln zur europäischen Geschichte Band II, Teilband 2 Europäische Kaiser-, Königs- und Fürstenhäuser II Nord-, Ost- und Südeuropa (R.G. Fischer Verlag, 1994).
D. Carutti, Il conte Umberto (Biancamano) e il re Ardoino. Ricerche e documenti (Rome, 1884, 2nd ed., first published 1878).