In our community, the easiest way to give a project a certain degree of automation or intelligence is to obtain Arduino, which has become a metaphor. The origin of the popular circuit board ecosystem and the associated boot loader and IDE combination is well known. It comes from a team of Ivrea Interactive Design Institute in northern Italy. The name “Arduino” comes from their favorite pool, bar Di re Arduino, and is named after arduin of the Early Medieval King Ivrea.
As far as we can see, the bar no longer exists. Instead, it is a cafe, which appears on the left side of the Google Street View Link. In the story of Arduino microcontroller, the bar named after arduin of Ivrea is always mentioned as a sidenote, but for curious electronic lovers, it raises a question: who is arduin and why there was a bar named after him in the beginning?
In short, aduin was Marguerite of the Italian aristocrat ifreya. He became king of Italy in 1002 and abdicated in 1014. The longer answer requires a little background knowledge of European politics at the end of the first millennium, so if you’re ready, we’ll take hakdai on a rare journey of medieval history.
Challenge the Empire
Map of the Holy Roman Empire at the turn of the second millennium.
The Holy Roman Empire at the turn of the second millennium. S é mhur derivative works: Owen blacker, CC by-sa 3.0
At the turn of the first millennium, the dominant force in Western Europe was the Holy Roman Empire, a collection of countries ruled by Germany. Although it was not the direct successor of the Roman Empire, the Pope was recognized after a female ruler of Byzantium ascended the throne as the queen of the former Eastern Roman Empire. His young emperor Otto III died unexpectedly in 1002. There was no heir. The Italian aristocracy sought to rebuild control in the power vacuum and get rid of the influence of Germany. Therefore, they chose one of their own to become the king of Italy, and chose adoine as the heir to the throne.
The turbulent politics in Italy in the 10th and 11th centuries seemed to revolve around the struggle between the forces controlled by bishops. The forces controlled by bishops were mainly allied with or appointed by the Holy Roman emperor, while the nobility seemed to stand on the side of or fight with the emperor alternately. Aduin was excommunicated twice, once in Rome before Otto himself and his appointed Pope Silvestre II, after burning the Cathedral of vicelli and killing its bishop.
Empire counterattack
Later description of adoine
There seems to be no contemporary depiction of adoine. This stylized work began in the next century. Marilynmerlo，CC BY-SA 3.0。
When the newly crowned Emperor Henry II immediately sent an army to overthrow adoine, the army was repulsed, leading Henry himself to lead a larger army and defeat him in 1004. This and Henry’s subsequent coronation as king of Italy in Pavia may be the end of the story, but because the newly crowned king and his entourage were driven out of the city by riots, it is obvious that he did not get the support of the people. Therefore, although aduin lost some control of his claimed Kingdom, he continued to take power from the base in ifreya. For the next decade, Although Henry also had the throne, he still claimed to be the king of Italy. He was eventually defeated and forced to abdicate in 1013 and died the following year.
If there is anything to take away from this European political story a thousand years ago, it is that he left us so few surprises. For other medieval figures, there may be a statue or a mural in a church, but for alduin, we do not depict him except for the stylized portrait that was obviously painted centuries later. If the town he once ruled did not commemorate him with the street name, which prompted the owner of a bar to use his name, no one except a few historians may know him. Perhaps this is a lesson to measure the legacy of our politicians in the 21st century.
Therefore, we have some Italian graduate students’ love for their favorite pool. Thank us for our familiarity with the name of an unknown Medieval King. Now we know more about him and his life. Maybe we should all go to the local bar for inspiration when naming our project, although in my case, I’m not sure whether pig and pig will become an enlightening title.