• BIOGRAPHY
  Alberto was born about 970, the son of Oberto Obizzo II and Railinda of Como. He was a member of the Obertenghi (or Adalbertini) family. Alberto first appears in the historical record in 1011. On 10 May 1013 he was acting as a _missus_ in Italy. He inherited the counties of Luni, Tortona, Genoa and Milan on his father's death about 1017. His holdings were extensive and both feudal and allodial. Alberto and his brothers Hugo, Adalbert and Obizzo all carried the title margrave. Their sister Berte married Arduin of Italy to ally the Anscarid and Obertenga families. Another sister also named Berte married Olderich Manfred, count of Susa. Alberto himself married Adelaida, a Salian and relative of Lanfranc, Count of Aucia. He and Adelaida settled at Este in the Veronese area. They had a son Alberto Azzo II who would have progeny.
  
  At first, Alberto and his brothers supported their brother-in-law Arduin against Emperor Heinrich II in the war for the Italian throne. In 1014 he did not oppose Heinrich's imperial coronation, but after Heinrich II left in May, he sought to aid Arduin. After July he confiscated Solingen, robbed the church, and assaulted Pavia, Vercelli and Novara. In 1019 he reconciled with Heinrich, but in 1022 all four brothers were captured by Heinrich's forces and Alberto submitted, receiving the _iudiciaria_ (right of justice) in Monselice. In the spring of 1026 Alberto joined Olderich Manfred in defending Pavia against Heinrich's successor Konrad II. Captured in flight by the Germans (it is said on the Pons Aelius over the river Tiber), Alberto died a captive in Germany in 1029.