Otto-William (french: Otte-Guillaume; german: Otto Wilhelm; 955/62 – 21 September 1026 AD) was count of

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as ...

Nevers Nevers ( , ; la, Noviodunum, later ''Nevirnum'' and ''Nebirnum'') is the prefecture of the Nièvre department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in central France. It was the principal city of the former province of Nivernais. It is sou ...

, and Burgundy.

Life

Otto was born in 958 during the joint reign of his grandfather, King

Berengar II of Italy Berengar II ( 900 – 4 August 966) was the King of Italy from 950 until his deposition in 961. He was a scion of the Anscarid and Unruoching dynasties, and was named after his maternal grandfather, Berengar I. He succeeded his father as Ma ...

, and his father, King Adalbert. His mother was Gerberga. After Adalbert's death in 971/5, Gerberga married for a second time, to

Henry I, Duke of Burgundy Henry I (946 – 15 October 1002), called the Great, was Duke of Burgundy from 965 to his death and Count of Nevers through his first marriage. He is sometimes known as Odo-Henry or Otto-Henry (in French ''Eudes-Henri''), since his birth name wa ...

, the younger brother of King

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...

. Gerberga and Henry had no children together. Since Henry had no legitimate son of his own, he adopted Otto-William making him a possible heir of the

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 ...

. While the son of a king, Otto did not seek a royal wife.Constance Brittain Bouchard, ''Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia'' (Philadelphia: The University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), p. 50 In , he married Ermentrude of Roucy, whose maternal grandmother,

Gerberga of Saxony Gerberga of Saxony (c. 913 – 5 May 968/9 or 984?) was a French queen who ruled as regent of France during the minority of her son Lothair in 954–959. She was a member of the Ottonian dynasty. Her first husband was Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine ...

, was a sister of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, and by this marriage alliance created a web of

consanguinity Consanguinity ("blood relation", from Latin '' consanguinitas'') is the characteristic of having a kinship with another person (being descended from a common ancestor). Many jurisdictions have laws prohibiting people who are related by blood fr ...

between later kings of France, Germany, Burgundy and the Carolingians. Even Otto's children's spouses, although from great families, came from widespread and scattered parts of France. This marriage brought to Otto-William the County of

as well as many other rights on the left bank of the

Saône The Saône ( , ; frp, Sona; lat, Arar) is a river in eastern France. It is a right tributary of the Rhône, rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department and joining the Rhône in Lyon, at the southern end of the Presqu'île. The name ...

in the province of

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzer ...

. The new

Count of Mâcon Count (feminine: countess) is a historical title of nobility in certain European countries, varying in relative status, generally of middling rank in the hierarchy of nobility. Pine, L. G. ''Titles: How the King Became His Majesty''. New York: ...

consolidated there his political grip making what would be later be the

Free County of Burgundy The Free County of Burgundy or Franche-Comté (french: Franche Comté de Bourgogne; german: Freigrafschaft Burgund) was a medieval county (from 982 to 1678) of the Holy Roman Empire, predecessor to the modern region of Franche-Comté. The name ' ...

around

Dole Dole may refer to: Places * Dole, Ceredigion, Wales * Dole, Idrija, Slovenia * Dole, Jura, France ** Arrondissement of Dole * Dole (Kladanj), a village at the entity line of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina-Republika Srpska * Dole, Ljubušk ...

. From his mother Otto could inherited the County of

before 990.W. Scott Jessee, ''Robert the Burgundian and the Counts of Anjou, Ca. 1025-1098'' (USA: The Catholic University of America Press. 2000), p. 15 However he left Nevers to his stepson Landric and rather claimed the County of

Beaune Beaune () is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and the center of Burgundy wine production and business. The annua ...

in which the dowry of Gerberga was. The Duchy of Burgundy was eventually annexed to the crown of France by King Robert II, nephew of

, in 1005. On the left-bank of the Saône, determined to be sovereign ruler of his own lands, Otto revolted against the

Emperor Henry II Henry II (german: Heinrich II; it, Enrico II; 6 May 973 – 13 July 1024), also known as Saint Henry the Exuberant, Obl. S. B., was Holy Roman Emperor ("Romanorum Imperator") from 1014. He died without an heir in 1024, and was the last ruler ...

in 1016. This was after

Rudolph III of Burgundy Rudolph III (french: Rodolphe, german: Rudolf; – 6 September 1032), called the Idle or the Pious, was the king of Burgundy from 993 until his death. He was the last ruler of an independent Kingdom of Burgundy, and the last male member of the Bu ...

, the last king of Burgundy and Arles, had done homage to Henry at Strasbourg, making him his guard and heir. On Otto's death, the Free County fell under the suzerainty of the German emperors. Otto died on 21 September 1026 at the age of 64 and was buried in St-Benigne of

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

Marriage and issue

Otto's first wife was Ermentrude, daughter of Renaud of Roucy. They had: * Guy (–1006) had been associated as count of Mâcon from 995. His wife is unknown. * Matilda, married Landri of Nevers, Count of Nevers * Gerberga, married Guilhem II of Provence *

Reginald I, Count of Burgundy Reginald I was the second count of the Free County of Burgundy. Born in 986, he was the son of Otto-William, the first count, and Ermentrude de Roucy. In 1016, Reginald married Alice of Normandy. He succeeded to the county on his father's death ...

(–1057), he married Adelaide (or Judith) of Normandy. * Agnes, married firstly

William V of Aquitaine William the Great (french: Guillaume le Grand; 969 – 31 January 1030) was duke of Aquitaine (as ) and count of Poitou (as or III) from 990 until his death. Upon the death of the emperor Henry II, he was offered the kingdom of Ital ...

, secondly

Geoffrey II of Anjou Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the m ...

. Otto remarried late in life to a wife named Adelaide. Some scholars have identified her as the four-times widowed Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou, but the identity is not directly attested and has been disputed by some studying the question.Christian Settipani, ''La Noblesse du Midi Carolingien'' (Prosopographia et Genealogica 5, 2004), p. 313, note 2

References

Sources

* *101 * *

External links

* Baldwin, Stewart, FASG
Adélaïde/Alix alias Blanche of Anjou
Henry Project {{DEFAULTSORT:Otto-William, Count of Burgundy Anscarids Dukes of Burgundy Counts of Burgundy Counts of Mâcon 10th-century births 1026 deaths Year of birth uncertain Sons of kings

Life

Marriage and issue

See also

References

Sources

External links