Boson I. (La Marche)

Boson I the Old (also Boso , French: Boson le Vieux ; † before 974) was an Aquitaine lord of a castle in medieval France at the end of the 10th century. He is the progenitor of the House of Périgord , which provided the Counts of La Marche and Périgord . He himself is not yet attested with the title of Count, but he can still be considered the first Count of La Marche.

According to the chronicle of Saint-Maixent , Boson was the son of a Sulpice, who in turn was the son of a Count Gottfried von Charroux , which is why the noble house he descended from is also called "House Charroux". It is possible that Gottfried was the patron saint ( advocati ) of this abbey, an office that is also attributed to his descendants.

Around the year 950 Boson controlled the border region (French: la Marche ) of the Limousin to the neighboring Berry to the north . He had built the castle of Bellac around which he and his descendants intended to build their own domain, the historic province of Marche . The Vice Count of the Limousin , Gerald , was his worst enemy against whom he won the neighboring Count of Périgord to the south by marrying his daughter as an ally. Around the year 974 Boson began the open fight against the Vice Count by attacking his castle La Brosse in northern Limousin. He hoped in vain to get the approval of his overlord, Duke Wilhelm IV Iron Arm of Aquitaine . Vice Count Gerald and his son Guido led a counterattack that forced Boson to break off the siege.

Boso died before 974, but his sons continued the fight. He was married to Emma, ​​a daughter of Count Wilhelm I of Périgord . Five of the couple's children are known:

• Elias I († probably 975 in Villebois ), Count of Périgord
• Aldebert I († 997 before Gençay ), Count of La Marche and Périgord - ancestor of the Counts of La Marche
• Boson II. († between 1003/1012), Count of La Marche and Périgord - progenitor of the Counts of Périgord
• Gauzbert (†?), Was blinded by the Duke of Aquitaine and became a monk in 977
• Martin († 1000), Bishop of Périgueux since 992

literature

• Georges Thomas: Les comtes de la Marche de la maison de Charroux , in: Mémoires de la Société des sciences naturelles et archéologiques de la Creuze 23 (1927), pp. 561-700
• Robert-Henri Bautier: Les origines du comté de la Marche , in: Mélanges d'archéologie et d'histoire offerts à M. Henri Hemmer par ses collègues et ses amis (1979), pp. 10-19
• Thomas Head: The Development of the Peace of God in Aquitaine (970-1005) , in: Speculum 74 (1999), pp. 662-663

Individual evidence

1. ^ Angoulême, La Marche, Perigord. February 9, 2013, accessed February 22, 2013 . 
2. ↑ Chronicon sancti Maxentii Picravensis, Chroniques des Eglises d'Anjou , ed. by P. Marchegay and E. Mabille (1869), p. 396 .
3. ↑ Aimon von Fleury , Miracula s. Benedicti II §16, ed. by Eugène de Certain (1858), pp. 118-120; Ademar von Chabannes , Chronicon III §25, ed. by Jules Chavanon (1897), pp. 146-148.

predecessor	Office	successor
-	Count of La Marche around 950–974	Aldebert I.