Henry I (946 – 15 October 1002), called the Great, was

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy () was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by the Crown lands of France, French crown in 1477, and later by members of the House of Habsburg, including Holy Roman E ...

from 965 to his death and

Count of Nevers The counts of Nevers were the rulers of the County of Nevers, in France, The territory became a duchy in the peerage of France in 1539 under the dukes of Nevers. History The history of the County of Nevers is closely connected to the Duchy of Bu ...

through his first marriage. He is sometimes known as Odo-Henry or Otto-Henry (in French ''Eudes-Henri''), since his birth name was "Odo" and he only adopted "Henry" on being elected duke of Burgundy.

Life

He was a younger son of

Hugh the Great Hugh the Great (16 June 956) was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris. He was the most powerful magnate in France. Son of King Robert I of France, Hugh was Margrave of Neustria. He played an active role in bringing King Louis IV of France ...

Duke of the Franks Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they ...

, and

Hedwig of Saxony Hedwig of Saxony (; – after 958-959) was a member of the Ottonian dynasty and wife of the Robertian duke Hugh the Great. Upon her husband's death in 956, she ruled the Robertian estates as a regent during the minority of their son Hugh Cap ...

and thus the younger brother of King

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; ; 941 – 24 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder of and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, he was elected as t ...

.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten'', Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 10 As Odo, he entered the church at a young age and was a cleric at the time of the death of his brother

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants '' Audo'', '' Odo'', '' Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded fr ...

, Duke of Burgundy, on 22 February 965. He was elected by the Burgundian counts to succeed his brother and they gave him the name Henry. However Otto-Henry only held three counties of his own, his vassals holding the remaining six that comprised the core of that held by Richard the Justiciar who died in 921. In 978, Henry participated in the invasion of Lotharingia and the defence of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from a counter-raid. In 972, he married Gerberga, the widow of Adalbert II of Italy, who had sought refuge at

Autun Autun () is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the e ...

. Through Gerberga, he had a stepson named Otto-William. This marriage allowed Henry to rule the County of Nevers. He married a second time to Gersenda, daughter of William II of Gascony. As Henry had no child, Otto-William became a legitimate contender to inherit the

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; ; ) was a medieval and early modern feudal polity in north-western regions of historical Burgundy. It was a duchy, ruled by dukes of Burgundy. The Duchy belonged to the Kingdom of France, and was initially bordering th ...

. So did Henry's nephew, the king

Robert II of France Robert II ( 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious () or the Wise (), was List of French monarchs, King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his father on military matters ...

. This resulted in a war of succession (from 1003 to 1005) between Otto-William and Robert II. Otto-William eventually gave up the Duchy but kept in the Western Frankish Kingdom, the county of

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically Anglicization, anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home t ...

, the county of

Beaune Beaune (; in Burgundian: ''Beane'') is widely considered to be 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 a major ...

and the advowson for the abbey of St-Benigne in

Dijon Dijon (, ; ; in Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Digion'') is a city in and the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Côte-d'Or Departments of France, department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region in eas ...

Family

Henry died without any sons of his own two wives. He adopted his step-son Otto-William making him a possible heir of the

.Constance Brittain Bouchard, ''Sword, Miter, and Cloister: Nobility and the Church in Burgundy, 980-1198'' (New York: Cornell University Press, 1987), pp. 33, 265, 267 and 310. Odo-Henry had at least one illegitimate child by an unknown mother: * Odo of Beaune († after August 25, 1005), viscount of Beaune.

Notes

References

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, Robertians Dukes of Burgundy 946 births 1002 deaths 10th-century dukes in Europe 11th-century dukes in Europe