The Kingdom of Burgundy, known from the 12th century as the Kingdom of Arles, also referred to in various context as Arelat, the Kingdom of Arles and Vienne, or Kingdom of Burgundy-Provence,
was a realm established in 933 by the merger of the kingdoms of
Upper and
Lower Burgundy under King
Rudolf II
Rudolf II (18 July 1552 – 20 January 1612) was Holy Roman Emperor (1576–1612), King of Hungary and Croatia (as Rudolf I, 1572–1608), King of Bohemia (1575–1608/1611) and Archduke of Austria (1576–1608). He was a member of the Ho ...
. It was incorporated into the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
in 1033 and from then on was one of the empire's three constituent realms, together with the
Kingdom of Germany
The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom ( la, regnum Teutonicorum "kingdom of the Germans", "German kingdom", "kingdom of Germany") was the mostly Germanic-speaking East Frankish kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, espec ...
and the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
.
By the mid-13th century at the latest, however, it had lost its concrete political relevance.
Its territory stretched from the
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...
to the
High Rhine River in the north, roughly corresponding to the present-day
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
regions of
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur (; or , ; commonly shortened to PACA; en, Provence-Alps-French Riviera, italic=yes; also branded as Région Sud) is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, the far southeastern on the mainland. Its pre ...
,
Rhône-Alpes
Rhône-Alpes () was an administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is part of the new region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. It is located on the eastern border of the country, towards the south. The region was named after the river Rhône ...
and
Franche-Comté
Franche-Comté (, ; ; Frainc-Comtou: ''Fraintche-Comtè''; frp, Franche-Comtât; also german: Freigrafschaft; es, Franco Condado; all ) is a cultural and historical region of eastern France. It is composed of the modern departments of Doubs, ...
, as well as western
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. Until 1032 it was ruled by independent kings of the
Elder House of Welf
An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority.
Elder or elders may refer to:
Positions Administrative
* Elder (administrative title), a position of authority
Cultural
* North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and ...
.
[''The New Columbia Encyclopedia'' 1975, 150]
Carolingian Burgundy
Since the conquest of the First Burgundian kingdom by the
Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...
in 534, its territory had been ruled within the Frankish and
Carolingian Empire
The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the L ...
. In 843, the three surviving sons of Emperor
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqu ...
, who had died in 840, signed the
Treaty of Verdun
The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three years of civil war and ...
which partitioned the Carolingian Empire among them: the former Burgundian kingdom became part of
Middle Francia, which was allotted to Emperor
Lothair I
Lothair I or Lothar I ( Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bava ...
(''Lotharii Regnum''), with the exception of the later
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the ...
—the present-day ''
Bourgogne
Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...
''—which went to
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a se ...
, king of
West Francia
In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from ab ...
. King
Louis the German
Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the P ...
received
East Francia
East Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the East Franks () was a successor state of Charlemagne's empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty until 911. It was created through the Treaty of Verdun (843) which divided the former empire int ...
, comprising the territory east of the
Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, source ...
River.
Shortly before his death in 855, Emperor Lothair I in turn divided his realm among his three sons in accordance with the
Treaty of Prüm. His Burgundian heritage would pass to his younger son
Charles of Provence
Charles of Provence or Charles II (845 – 25 January 863) was the Carolingian King of Provence from 855 until his early death in 863.
Charles was the youngest son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours.
His father divided Middle Franc ...
(845–863). Then in 869 Lothair I's son,
Lothair II
Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was the king of Lotharingia from 855 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga (died 875), daughter of Boso the Elder.
Reign
For politic ...
, died without legitimate children, and in 870 his uncle Charles the Bald and Louis the German by the 870
Treaty of Meerssen partitioned his territory:
Upper Burgundy, the territory north of the
Jura mountains
The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Fre ...
(''Bourgogne Transjurane''), went to Louis the German, while the rest went to Charles the Bald. By 875 all sons of Lothair I had died without heirs and the other Burgundian territories were held by Charles the Bald.
Formation of the kingdom
In the confusion after the death of Charles' son
Louis the Stammerer
Louis II, known as Louis the Stammerer (french: Louis le Bègue; 1 November 846 – 10 April 879), was the king of Aquitaine and later the king of West Francia. He was the eldest son of Emperor Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans. Louis ...
in 879, the West Frankish count
Boso of Provence
Boso (french: Boson; c. 841 – 11 January 887) was a Frankish nobleman of the Bosonid family who was related to the Carolingian dynasty and who rose to become King of Lower Burgundy and Provence.
Origin
Boso was the son of Bivin of Gorze, ...
established the Kingdom of
Lower Burgundy (''Bourgogne Cisjurane'') at Arles. In 888, upon the death of the Emperor
Charles the Fat, son of Louis the German, Count
Rudolph of Auxerre,
Count of Burgundy, founded the Kingdom of Upper Burgundy at
Saint-Maurice which included the County of Burgundy, in northwestern Upper Burgundy.
In 933,
Hugh of Arles ceded Lower Burgundy to
Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy in return for Rudolph relinquishing his claim to the
Italian throne. Rudolph merged both Upper and Lower Burgundy to form the Kingdom of Arles (''Arelat''). In 937, Rudolph was succeeded by his son
Conrad the Peaceful. Inheritance claims by Hugh of Arles were rejected, with the support of Emperor
Otto I
Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the oldest son of He ...
.
In 993, Conrad was succeeded by his son
Rudolph III, who in 1006 was forced to sign a succession treaty in favor of the future Emperor
Henry II. Rudolph attempted to renounce the treaty in 1016 without success.
Imperial kingdom
In 1032, Rudolph III died without any surviving heirs, and, in accordance with the 1006 treaty, the kingdom passed to Henry's successor,
Emperor Conrad II from the
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty or Salic dynasty (german: Salier) was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages. The dynasty provided four kings of Germany (1024–1125), all of whom went on to be crowned Holy Roman emperors (1027–1125).
After the death of the la ...
, and Arelat was incorporated in the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.
From the accession of Otto I in 962 unt ...
, though the kingdom's territories operated with considerable autonomy.
Though from that time the emperors held the title "King of Arles", few went to be crowned in the cathedral of Arles. An exception was
Frederick Barbarossa
Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (german: link=no, Friedrich I, it, Federico I), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death 35 years later. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt ...
, who in 1157 held
a diet in Besançon and in 1178 was crowned King of Burgundy by the
archbishop of Arles.
The
Vivarais
Vivarais (; oc, Vivarés; la, Vivariensis provincia{{cite web , url=http://www.columbia.edu/acis/ets/Graesse/orblatv.html , title = ORBIS LATINUS - Letter V) is a traditional region in the south-east of France, covering the ''département'' of ...
see of
Viviers was the first of the kingdom's territories to be annexed to the
Kingdom of France
The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...
, gradually during the 13th century with formal recognition in 1306. The
Lyonnais
The Lyonnais () is a historical province of France which owes its name to the city of Lyon.
The geographical area known as the ''Lyonnais'' became part of the Kingdom of Burgundy after the division of the Carolingian Empire. The disintegratio ...
had been practically beyond the reach of the Empire since the late 12th century. Its incorporation into France was the result of internal conflicts between the
Archbishop of Lyon, the cathedral chapter and the city council. It was cemented in the early 14th century and formalized in a 1312 treaty between
Archbishop Peter of Savoy and
Philip IV of France
Philip IV (April–June 1268 – 29 November 1314), called Philip the Fair (french: Philippe le Bel), was King of France from 1285 to 1314. By virtue of his marriage with Joan I of Navarre, he was also King of Navarre as Philip I from ...
.
Emperor Henry VII protested against this but did not seriously challenge it. The
Dauphiné
The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois.
In the 12th centu ...
was effectively annexed by France through a series of largely accidental developments between 1343 and 1349, but the issue of whether the king or emperor had ultimate sovereignty over it was left unclear until well into the 15th century.. The
County of Provence was ruled by junior branches of the
House of France from 1246 onwards, but only became formally part of the Kingdom of France with the death of
Charles du Maine on 11 December 1481.
A stillborn attempt to revive the kingdom of Burgundy/Arles was made by
Charles of Anjou in coordination with
Pope Nicholas III. Between 1277 and 1279, Charles, at that time already
King of Sicily
The monarchs of Sicily ruled from the establishment of the County of Sicily in 1071 until the "perfect fusion" in the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies in 1816.
The origins of the Sicilian monarchy lie in the Norman conquest of southern Italy which occ ...
,
Rudolf of Habsburg, King of the Romans and aspirant to the Imperial crown, and
Margaret of Provence
Margaret of Provence (french: Marguerite; 1221 – 20 December 1295) was Queen of France by marriage to King Louis IX.
Early life
Margaret was born in the spring of 1221 in Forcalquier. She was the eldest of four daughters of Ramon Berenguer IV ...
, queen dowager of France, settled their dispute over the County of Provence, and also over Rudolf's bid to become the sole Imperial candidate. Rudolf agreed that his daughter
Clemence of Austria would marry Charles's grandson
Charles Martel of Anjou, with the whole Arelat kingdom as her dowry. In exchange, Charles would support the imperial crown being made hereditary in the House of Habsburg. Nicholas III expected Northern Italy to become a kingdom carved out of the Imperial territory, to be given to his family, the Orsini. In 1282, Charles was ready to send the child couple to reclaim the old royal title of Kings of Arles, but the
War of the Sicilian Vespers frustrated his plans.
On 4 June 1365,
Charles IV was the last emperor to be crowned king at Arles, after a gap of nearly two centuries following the previous Arlesian coronation of
Frederick I in 1178. That attempt to revive the imperial hold on the kingdom did not succeed, however, and as a consequence Charles annexed the
County of Savoy to the
Kingdom of Germany
The Kingdom of Germany or German Kingdom ( la, regnum Teutonicorum "kingdom of the Germans", "German kingdom", "kingdom of Germany") was the mostly Germanic-speaking East Frankish kingdom, which was formed by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, espec ...
.
During his visit to Paris in early 1378, Charles IV granted the title of
Imperial vicar
An imperial vicar (german: Reichsvikar) was a prince charged with administering all or part of the Holy Roman Empire on behalf of the emperor. Later, an imperial vicar was invariably one of two princes charged by the Golden Bull with administerin ...
over the Kingdom of Arles to the nine-year-old
Dauphin Charles of France, later King Charles VI, but only for his lifetime (i.e. not
lineally).
The title "King of Arles" remained one of the Holy Roman Emperor's subsidiary titles until the dissolution of the Empire in 1806. The
Archbishop of Trier continued to act as
archchancellor of Burgundy/Arles, as codified by the
Golden Bull of 1356
The Golden Bull of 1356 (, , , , ) was a decree issued by the Imperial Diet at Nuremberg and Metz ( Diet of Metz, 1356/57) headed by the Emperor Charles IV which fixed, for a period of more than four hundred years, important aspects of the con ...
.
See also
*
Kings of Burgundy
References
Literature
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Arles, Kingdom of
States and territories established in the 930s
States and territories disestablished in 1378
11th century in the Holy Roman Empire
Former monarchies of Europe
Kingdom of Burgundy
Kingdom of Arles
The Kingdom of Burgundy, known from the 12th century as the Kingdom of Arles, also referred to in various context as Arelat, the Kingdom of Arles and Vienne, or Kingdom of Burgundy-Provence, was a realm established in 933 by the merger of the king ...
1378 disestablishments in Europe
Medieval Switzerland
933 establishments
1030s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1032 establishments in Europe
Monarchy of the Holy Roman Empire
History of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
History of Rhône-Alpes
History of Franche-Comté
10th-century establishments in France
10th-century establishments in Europe
de:Königreich Burgund#Königreich Arelat