Hugh, Margrave of Tuscany

Hugh the Great (also Hugo or Ugo; c. 950–21 December 1001) was the Margrave of Tuscany from 961 to his death and Duke of Spoleto and Camerino from 989 to 996. He was the son and successor of Humbert of Tuscany, who was also briefly Duke of Spoleto, and Willa, a daughter of Boniface I of Spoleto. He himself was married to Judith and had a daughter Willa.

In 989, he became duke in Spoleto, but the Emperor Otto III became fearful of his extensive power in central Italy and so dispossessed him of that duchy and granted it to Conrad. On 31 July 1001, Otto granted several privileges to Ulric Manfred II of Turin by the request of Hugonis marchionis, probably Hugh of Tuscany.

The latter part of Hugh's long reign in Tuscany was spent endowing religious foundations. These donations were confirmed by many other rulers over the century after his death. He died at Pistoia and was buried in Florence. His life became surrounded by legends and he was remembered by Placido Puccinelli in his Istoria delle eroiche azioni di Ugo il Grande as a moral and pious prince. His tomb in the Badia Fiorentina was said to be the site of celestial visions.

Sources

• Puccinelli, Placido (1664). Istoria delle eroiche azioni di Ugo il Grande.