Summary
Berengar I was a ruler of the late Carolingian and post-Carolingian world who became king of Italy and later emperor. He is especially important as the last western emperor before the gap that preceded Otto I's coronation.
Historical role
He matters because his reign highlights the discontinuous and contested nature of western imperial authority after the breakup of the Carolingian order. The fact that no western emperor followed him immediately helps explain why Otto I's coronation is often treated as a restoration rather than a routine succession.
Connections
Useful for linking post-Carolingian politics, imperial discontinuity, the Italian kingdom, and the long problem of Roman imperial legitimacy in the medieval West.