Atto
Conte di Lecco
(–975)

Biographical

Conte di Lecco

Count Attone of Lecco is known from only a small number of surviving records, and these present him most clearly through his role in defending the Island of Comacina, which he purchased in 961, alongside Nantelmo, Count of Seprio, against Bishop Gualdo of Como, a supporter of Otto of Saxony, and the island, part of a pre-Alpine defensive system established in the late Roman Empire and later used by Goths, Byzantines and Lombards, had declined in strategic value after Carolingian unification but regained importance during the conflict between Berengar II and Otto, and the siege was prolonged and seems to have ended in compromise since Attone and Nantelmo kept their positions when Otto arrived, and although this is the only directly documented political event involving Attone and has drawn most attention, less has been said about his standing as a landholder, with surviving records showing him acquiring and exchanging property iure proprietario nomine, a description that suggests ownership free of feudal obligations even though debate continues over whether his holdings were allodial or feudal. Atto appears in documentation for the last time in 975, now elderly and seriously ill, where he sells numerous properties.

Place of burial: Lumello?

Son of Wibert and an unknown woman, he married Ferlinda (†>999), daughter of Bertarius of Beulco, and had issue (Wido, †<973).