Otto-William, Duke of Burgundy
Encyclopedia
Otto-William was a son of Adalbert, King of Italy
King of Italy
King of Italy is a title adopted by many rulers of the Italian peninsula after the fall of the Roman Empire...

, and Gerberga of Mâcon.

His mother gave him what would be the Free County of Burgundy around Dôle
Dole
Dole may refer to:*The Grain supply to the city of Rome in ancient times.* Since the early 20th Century, a colloquial term referring to government public assistance programs; see Unemployment benefits. Originally it referred to any charitable gift of food, clothing or money. The dole has taken on...

 in 982. Otto also inherited the duchy of Burgundy
Duchy of Burgundy
The Duchy of Burgundy , was heir to an ancient and prestigious reputation and a large division of the lands of the Second Kingdom of Burgundy and in its own right was one of the geographically larger ducal territories in the emergence of Early Modern Europe from Medieval Europe.Even in that...

 on the other side of the Saône
Saône
The Saône is a river of eastern France. It is a right tributary of the River Rhône. Rising at Vioménil in the Vosges department, it joins the Rhône in Lyon....

 in 1002 from his stepfather Eudes Henry the Great. The duchy then corresponded to the diocese of Besançon in the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

. He was also Count of Mâcon in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

Burgundy was annexed to the crown of France by King Robert II
Robert II of France
Robert II , called the Pious or the Wise , was King of France from 996 until his death. The second reigning member of the House of Capet, he was born in Orléans to Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine....

 in 1004. Determined to be sovereign ruler of his own lands, Otto revolted against the Emperor Henry II
Henry II, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry II , also referred to as Saint Henry, Obl.S.B., was the fifth and last Holy Roman Emperor of the Ottonian dynasty, from his coronation in Rome in 1014 until his death a decade later. He was crowned King of the Germans in 1002 and King of Italy in 1004...

 in 1016. This was after Rudolph III of Burgundy
Rudolph III of Burgundy
Rudolf III of Burgundy was the last King of an independent Burgundy. He was the son of Conrad, King of Burgundy, and Matilda of France...

, the last king of that realm, had done homage to Henry at Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...

 making him his guard and heir. On Otto's death, the Free County fell under the suzerainty of the German emperors.

Marriage and issue

His first wife was Ermentrude, daughter of Count Renaud of Rheims (Renaud of Roucy
Renaud of Roucy
Renaud or Ragenold, Count of Roucy . Known as a Viking who became the military chief of Reims after the restoration of Artald of Reims. He'd built a fort at Roucy between late 940s and early 950s and supported young King Lothair of France in the expedition at Aquitaine and the siege of Poitiers...

).

They had two sons and three daughters:
  • Guy had been associated as count of Mâcon from 995, he died young in 1006
  • Matilda, married Landri of Nevers
  • Gerberga, married Guilhem II of Provence
  • Renaud I, Count of Burgundy
  • Agnes
    Agnes of Burgundy, Duchess of Aquitaine
    Agnes of Burgundy , Duchess of Aquitaine was a daughter of Otto-William, Count of Burgundy and Ermentrude of Roucy. She was a member of the House of Ivrea.-Life:...

    , married firstly William V of Aquitaine
    William V of Aquitaine
    William V , called the Great , was Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou from 990 until his death. He was the son and successor of William IV by his wife Emma of Blois, daughter of Theobald I of Blois. He seems to have taken after his formidable mother, who ruled Aquitaine as regent until 1004...

    , secondly Geoffrey II of Anjou
    Geoffrey II of Anjou
    Geoffrey II, called Martel , was Count of Anjou from 1040 to 1060. He was the son of Fulk the Black. He was bellicose and fought against the Duke of Aquitaine, the Count of Blois, and the Duke of Normandy...



Otto married the four-times widowed Adelaide of Anjou
Adelaide of Anjou
Adelaide , called the White, was the daughter of Fulk II of Anjou and Gerberga. She was therefore the sister of Geoffrey Greymantle. She was married five times to some of France's most important noblemen....

 late in life and they had no known children.

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