First revolt In June 931, the
archbishop of Milan,
Lambert, died and was succeeded by
Hilduin, bishop of Verona, who was replaced by
Rather by August. The election of Rather as bishop of Verona was the supported by Pope
John XI and all the leading men of Italy, including Milo, but it was strongly opposed by Hugh. In response, the king took control of the diocese and seized its revenues. This was the first major split between Milo and Hugh. The first certain reference to Milo as count of Verona comes from Liutprand's description of Rather's election in August 931. By 934 the situation at Verona had become intolerable. Milo and Rather actively recruited Duke
Arnulf of Bavaria to come to Italy with an army to install his son,
Eberhard, on the throne. According to Liutprand of Cremona, Arnulf and his army were welcomed "gleefully" (
libenter) by the count and the bishop and a party of "the most noble men" (
honestiores), but were forced to retreat in the face of Hugh's vigorous opposition. In order to salvage something from his defeat, Arnulf intended to take Milo, the instigator of the enterprise, back to Bavaria as a hostage. Getting wind of this plan and in fear of his life, Milo surrendered Hugh. In revenge Arnulf captured Milo's brother Manfred, who had been defending the citadel of Verona against the Bavarian army. By 935 Arnulf and his son had returned to Bavaria. In the aftermath of the revolt, Milo lost influence at court, but retained his county. His co-conspirator, Rather, was imprisoned at Pavia, then exiled to
Como. He was replaced at Verona by
Manasses, the king's nephew, who already held the dioceses of
Trent and
Mantua and controlled the revenues and defences of the newly created "Tridentine march". Rather finally left Italy in 939.
Second revolt In 936, Hugh moved to weaken the power and influence of the
Anscarids in the
margravate of Ivrea in the northwest. He transferred Margrave
Anscar II to the
duchy of Spoleto in central Italy, and began distributing lands in the county of Parma to rival families. In 941, Milo received one such grant near Parma from Hugh and his son Lothair. It signified his return to royal favour, but also represented a policy of weakening the regional power of the great families. In the winter of 941–42, Anscar's brother
Berengar was exposed as having plotted against Hugh and fled to
Swabia in Germany. In early 945, Berengar returned to Italy at the head of a small army, initially taking up residence in Milan. Following the lead of Bishop
Guido of Modena, Manasses abandoned Hugh and soon persuaded Milo to do likewise. The latter offered Berengar safety within the walls of Verona. The dissident group began negotiations with Hugh and Lothair. They agreed to recognise them as kings if they accepted Berengar as the "highest councilor of the kingdom". Hugh opted to go into exile in his native
Provence, and Lothair became sole king. From Verona, Berengar and Milo moved on to the capital, Pavia, where on 13 April 945, in Hugh's absence, Berengar was proclaimed "highest councilor" before a solemn assembly in the presence of many counts, including Milo. Milo appears at his strongest during Berengar's return to Italy, acting almost a kingmaker, although Berengar refrained from deposing Hugh, preferring the claim to be governing on his behalf. Liutprand of Cremona defends Milo for his second rebellion against Hugh. He baldly asserts that Milo was not "unfaithful" (
infidelis) to Hugh because his actions were necessary given Hugh's overbearing behaviour. He also describes Milo as a described as a "very powerful count" (
praepotens comes). Shortly after Berengar's assumption of power, Rather returned to Italy. His return to Verona was initially opposed by Milo, and he was imprisoned by Berengar for three and a half months. Manasses, who already held other dioceses and responsibilities, was then shunted aside and Rather was reluctantly welcomed back to Verona by Milo. The count took advantage of the shakeup in the diocese to seize control of its revenues. In his own letters, Rather calls his treatment under Milo a "martyrdom" that lasted two years while the count tried to keep him from exercising his office fully. Posing as the "advocate and protector" of the diocese, Milo prevented Rather from managing ecclesiastical properties, implementing clerical reforms and, most importantly, convoking a diocesan synod. Rather remarked in one letter, "I would rather hunger under Hugh than make merry under Milo". It has been hypothesised that Milo was behind the theft of the relics of a local Veronese priest, Saint Metro, housed in the church of San Vitale, by the people of nearby
Bolzano Vicentino, in order to deprive Rather of the support of a local saint's cult. Rather himself, however, calls this a "laudable theft" (
furtus laudibilis), presumably because it rescued the saint's relics from Milo.
Control of the church In 947 Hugh died and his son and co-king, Lothair, became sole ruler. In May 948, Lothair convinced Rather to leave Verona for his personal safety and Bishop Manasses returned. In October, however, Archbishop
Arderic died and the archdiocese of Milan fell vacant. Berengar put Manasses forward as a candidate, but he was rejected by the Milanese, who elected one
Adalman. Milo, looking to weaken Manasses as bishop of Verona by distracting him elsewhere, lent support to Adalman. For the next five years, Manasses was preoccupied with the conflict over Milan. Milo took advantage of the Milanese quarrel to negotiate his own economic control of the diocese of Verona. With the consent of Pope
Agapetus II, he had his young nephew
Milo, son of the count of Lomello, made bishop of Verona. He received from Agapetus the necessary dispensation on account of his nephew's youth and Milo became bishop in 950 or 951. He was bishop for the rest of his uncle's life, although he was removed when
Otto I of Germany seized Italy in 961 and reinstalled Rather. ==Margrave==