This book investigates the Hucpoldings, a group of individuals united by a blood lineage, who all, either directly or indirectly, lead back to Hucpold. He lived during the central decades of the ninth century and was a member of the Carolingian Reichsadel and count palatine during the rule of Louis II in Italy (844–875). This study will focus on a detailed examination of the prosopographical, political and patrimonial aspects of each known member of his lineage, according to classic methods of early medieval kin history. Through a thematic analysis of the distinctive elements of the Hucpolding group, we shall identify not only the members of the kin group but also consider the powers they attained, their relationship networks and their collective memory and self-cohesion.

Chronologically, this research commences in the mid-eighth century, with the first records of Hucpold in Italy, and continues well into the latter part of the twelfth century, when, after thirteen generations, the various branches of the lineage had followed separate routes. Its geographical focus will be on three regional blocks within which the leading figures of the group operated: first, the Romagna, particularly the city of Ravenna; second, the eastern Po valley between Modena and Bologna; third, Tuscany, especially the city of Florence together with the north and east Tuscan Apennines. Although Spoleto and Camerino were also a field of Hucpolding activity, the paucity of surviving documentation renders detailed discussion unfeasible.

A comprehensive understanding of an historical subject such as the Hucpoldings is a significant historiographic necessity, as they were one of the main kinship groups of Frankish origin who settled in Italy with the aim of achieving the rank of marquis.