Without an Emperor on the throne, Italy…

Without an Emperor on the throne, Italy begins to break away from German control.

The Lombard Margrave of Ivrea Arduin, an opponent of the Ottonian dynasty, is on February 15, 1002, elected King of Italy in Pavia.

Arduin had succeeded to the northern Italian Margravate of Ivrea in 990 on dubious grounds and been excommunicated for the murder of the Bishop of Vercelli in 997.

Although opposed by Italian bishops, he gains the support of the lay nobles and is "elected by the Lombards in Pavia and is called 'caesar' by all", according to the chronicler Arnulf of Milan.

He makes the rounds of the kingdom with the Archbishop of Milan publicly at his side, while Henry II is acclaimed King of the Germans.

The territorial magnates profess to favor him but secretly favor Henry, according to Arnulf, and his enemies in the church side with the new emperor.

Henry sends Otto of Worms, newly restored as Duke of Carinthia and now made count of Verona, to face Arduin, who is successful in the pitched battle of Fabrica: "he slaughtered many and put the rest to flight outside the boundaries of the kingdom".