Otto I was Count of Burgundy

County of Burgundy

The Free County of Burgundy , was a medieval county , within the traditional province and modern French region Franche-Comté, whose very French name is still reminiscent of the unusual title of its count: Freigraf...

 from 1190 to his death and briefly Count of Luxembourg from 1196 to 1197. He was the fourth son of Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa

Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor

Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...

 by his second wife Countess Beatrice I of Burgundy

Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy

Beatrice of Burgundy was the only daughter of Renaud III, Count of Burgundy and Agatha of Lorraine. She was the second wife and Empress of Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor. Her maternal grandparents were Simon I, Duke of Lorraine and his wife Adelaide of Leuven. Beatrice was active at the...

, heiress of Count Renaud III

Renaud III, Count of Burgundy

Renaud III , son of Stephen I and Beatrix of Lorraine, was the count of Burgundy between 1127 and 1148. Previously, he had been the count of Mâcon since his father's death in 1102, with his brother, William of Vienne....

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Reign

Upon the death of his mother in 1184, his father granted him the Burgundian county, elevating him to the rank of a Count palatine

Count palatine

Count palatine is a high noble title, used to render several comital styles, in some cases also shortened to Palatine, which can have other meanings as well.-Comes palatinus:...

 (Freigraf

Freigraf

Freigraf is a title of Germany nobility. It is derived from the German words frei and the feudal title graf . It can be used in two different contexts:...

). Haughty Otto however soon entered into several feuds: not only with the Anscarid

Anscarids

The Anscarids or Anscarii or the House of Ivrea were a medieval Frankish dynasty of Burgundian origin which rose to prominence in Italy in the tenth century, even briefly holding the Italian throne. They also ruled the County of Burgundy in the eleventh and twelfth centuries and it was one of their...

 lords of Auxonne

Auxonne

Auxonne is a commune in the Côte-d'Or department in Bourgogne in eastern France.Auxonne is one of the sites of the defensive structures of Vauban, clearly seen from the train bridge as it enters the Auxonne SNCF train station on the Dijon - Besançon train line. It also was home to the Artillery...

 and Mâcon

Mâcon

Mâcon is a small city in central France. It is prefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department, in the region of Bourgogne, and the capital of the Mâconnais district. Mâcon is home to over 35,000 residents, called Mâconnais.-Geography:...

, who claimed late Beatrice's heritage, but also with the Counts of Montbéliard

County of Montbéliard

The County of Montbéliard , also known as County of Mömpelgard , was a feudal county of the Holy Roman Empire based around the city of Montbéliard in the present-day Franche-Comté region of France...

, the French Duke Odo III of Burgundy and Duke Berthold V of Zähringen

Berthold V, Duke of Zähringen

Berchtold V of Zähringen was Duke of Zähringen until his death, succeeding his father Berchtold IV in 1186.- History and legacy :...

. In the course of negotiations in 1195, he killed Count Amadeus of Montbèliard

Amadeus II of Montfaucon

Amadeus II of Montfaucon was Count of Montbéliard and Lord of Montfaucon from 1163 until his death. He was the son of Richard II of Montfaucon and Sophie of Montbéliard....

 with his own hands, followed by the assassination of Alsatian

Alsace

Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...

 Count Ulric of Ferrette

Ferrette

Ferrette is a commune in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.It is situated close to the Swiss border. Its main attraction is the Château de Ferrette.-County of Ferrette:...

 in 1197 and the execution of a brother of Konrad von Hüneburg, Bishop of Strasbourg, in 1198.

When Count Henry IV of Luxembourg died without heirs in 1196, his county escheated to the Emperor and Henry VI enfeoffed his brother Otto. Count Theobald I of Bar, who had married Ermesinde, daughter of late Count Henry IV, negotiated the renunciation of Luxembourg with Otto the next year.

Meanwhile Count palatine Otto's regional conflicts had become a severe threat to the power politics of his Hohenstaufen relatives. After Philip of Swabia

Philip of Swabia

Philip of Swabia was king of Germany and duke of Swabia, the rival of the emperor Otto IV.-Biography:Philip was the fifth and youngest son of Emperor Frederick I and Beatrice I, Countess of Burgundy, daughter of Renaud III, count of Burgundy, and brother of the emperor Henry VI...

 had been elected King of the Romans

King of the Romans

King of the Romans was the title used by the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire following his election to the office by the princes of the Kingdom of Germany...

 in 1198, rivaling with the Welf duke Otto of Brunswick

Otto IV, Holy Roman Emperor

Otto IV of Brunswick was one of two rival kings of the Holy Roman Empire from 1198 on, sole king from 1208 on, and emperor from 1209 on. The only king of the Welf dynasty, he incurred the wrath of Pope Innocent III and was excommunicated in 1215.-Early life:Otto was the third son of Henry the...

, he tried to settle the numerous quarrels picked by his brother. In 1200 Otto was assassinated at Besançon

Besançon

Besançon , is the capital and principal city of the Franche-Comté region in eastern France. It had a population of about 237,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area in 2008...

, his death came in useful to many political actors.

Otto was buried at St Stephen's Cathedral, today the site of the Citadel of Besançon

Citadel of Besançon

The Citadel of Besançon in Franche-Comté, France, is one of the military architect Vauban's masterpieces. The Citadel occupies eleven hectares on Mount Saint-Etienne, one of the seven hills that protect Besançon, the capital of Franche-Comté...

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Family

Otto had married Margaret

Margaret, Countess of Blois

Margaret of Blois was countess of Blois from 1218 to 1230.She was daughter of Theobald V of Blois and Alix of France...

, daughter of Count Theobald V of Blois

Theobald V, Count of Blois

Theobald V of Blois , also known as Theobald the Good , was Count of Blois from 1151 to 1191. He was son of Theobald II of Champagne and Matilda of Carinthia...

, in 1190. After her husband's death her brother-in-law King Philip enfeoffed her with the Burgundian county, as regent for her minor daughter Joanna

Joan I, Countess of Burgundy

Joanna I, Countess of Burgundy , also called Joanna of Hohenstaufen, was Countess of Burgundy, daughter of Otto I, Count of Burgundy and Margaret of Blois....

. Upon Joanna's death in 1205, Otto's second daughter, Beatrice

Beatrice II, Countess of Burgundy

Beatrice II, Countess of Burgundy was Countess of Burgundy and Duchess consort of Merania. She was a member of the Swabian Hohenstaufen dynasty, the daughter of Count Otto I of Burgundy and Margaret of Blois, thereby a granddaughter of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa.She was born in 1191, younger...

, became countess and Philip married her to Duke Otto I of Merania

Otto I, Duke of Merania

Otto I was Duke of Andechs and Merania and was born, in 1180, to Berthold IV von Dießen, Duke of Andechs and Merania, and Agnes of Rochlitz. He was also Otto II, Count Palatine of Burgundy by his marriage to Beatrice II of Burgundy....

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Ancestry