Burgundy (Franconia)
The Franconian part of Burgundy came into being after the Second Burgundy Empire was conquered by the Franks in 534 and was one of the three core areas of the Franconian Empire from 561 until it was split up in the 9th century .
First, the three reigning Franconian kings Chlothar I , his brother Childebert I and their nephew Theudebert I divided the Burgundy Empire among themselves, just as the rest of the Franconian Empire was fragmented under the heirs of Clovis I. After Theudebert's son and Childebert died without male descendants, all of Burgundy and the entire Franconian Empire fell to Chlothar in 558.
When it was redistributed among his sons in 561, Burgundy went as a whole to Guntram I , along with other possessions such as the royal seat of Orléans . Burgundy stood out more clearly than an area that was still strongly influenced by Roman traditions, visible for example in the title "Patricius" for the supreme general, who was also mostly Roman. Guntram moved his actual residence in the 570s in the actual Burgundy to Chalon-sur-Saône and founded the Abbey of St-Marcel nearby. He stayed out of the feud between his brothers Chilperich I and his wife Fredegunde on the one hand and Sigibert I and his wife Brunichild on the other hand, but was finally able to enlarge his territory at the expense of Chilperich's son Chlothar II . After his sons died before him, Guntram adopted his nephew Childerich II , ruler in the northeast of the Franconian Empire, and made him the almost exclusive heir in the Treaty of Andelot in 586, which came into effect with Guntram's death in 592.
After Childerich II's early death in 596, his mother Brunichild , who had also had a strong influence on Childerich, took over the reign for his sons Theudebert II and Theuderich II. Their territory was soon divided, Theuderich received Burgundy and the rest of Guntram's inheritance even some parts from Childerich II's original domain. Co-regent in Theuderichs area was the caretaker Warnachar , residence, as last under Guntram, Chalon-sur-Saône. Theuderich soon came into conflict with his brother: in 610 he forced him to cede to him the parts of the empire that belonged to their father's original territory. In 612 Theuderich struck back, defeated Theudebert and had him and his sons killed. Theuderich died that same year, and Brunichild again took over the reign for his son Sigibert II, her great-grandson. Now the nobility rose, especially in the northeast, but Warnachar also turned against Brunichild in favor of Chlothar II, ruler in the northwest. Chlothar had Brunichild, Sigibert and his brothers killed and thus became sole ruler in the Franconian Empire in 613.
Burgundy had established itself as one of the three core parts of the empire, alongside the oldest part in the northeast, Austrasia , and the newer part in the northwest, now called Neustria . Unlike in the 6th century, the name "Burgundy" was now related to the entire sub-kingdom, including the north-western parts of the former Burgundy empire to Orléans. The independence of Burgundy like the other parts of the empire was cemented in 614 in the Edictum Chlotharii that u. a. stipulated that the housemen and other dignitaries of the king had to come from the part of the kingdom in which they held their dignity.
Warnachar remained under Chlothar II Hausmeier of Burgundy until his death in 626/627. His son Godinus sought to succeed him but was killed because of his marriage to his stepmother. At the endeavors of the Burgundian nobility, Chlothar did not appoint a new house man for Burgundy. After Chlothar's death in 629, he was followed by his son Dagobert I , who had previously been a (sub) king in Austrasia, throughout the empire. While Austrasia again enforced its own (sub) king in 633, Burgundy remained in association with Neustria, but retained its independence. This was expressed, for example, in his own army contingent, which for Dagobert was an important support against external enemies. The Great Burgundy appear as dukes (duces) and Patricii (now virtually synonymous with Duke) on. After Dagobert's death in 639, Clovis II followed. Under him, the Franconian Flaochad in 642 in Orléans was the last time a caretaker was employed for Burgundy. Flaochad had to fight for his recognition in Burgundy, but then died of an illness that same year.
After the death of Clovis II in 657, Chlothar III followed. in Burgundy and Neustria, after his death in 673 Childeric II of Austrasia in the entire empire, after his death in 676 Theuderic III. who became permanent ruler of the entire empire in 679 (until his death in 691).
In fact, however, the power lay more and more with the brawlers of Austrasia and Neustria, who sought to extend their power to the entire empire. In 687, Pippin the Middle was finally able to assert himself in the battle of Tertry as the sole caretaker and de facto regent. In 697 he appointed his son Drogo Duke (instead of Hausmeier) of Burgundy. Drogo already had some difficulties in asserting himself against the Burgundian nobility, which had become quite independent. He died in 708 before his father. Pippin's son Karl Martell , who in the turmoil after the death of his father (714) was finally able to assert himself as the caretaker of the entire empire, had to wage campaigns against Burgundian greats in the 730s, as did his son Pippin the Younger immediately after taking office as caretaker of Burgundy, Provence and Neustria 741/742. Among other things, by appointing foreign nobles, the resistance was finally broken altogether; Burgundy remained with Neustria and Australia the core area of the empire, which was united in Pippin's hands in 747.
After the death of Pippin the Younger in 768 (king since 751), Burgundy and some other parts fell to Charles I , after his death in 771 to Charlemagne , who reunited the empire. His successor Ludwig the Pious (from 814) assigned his youngest son Karl the Bald in 829, contrary to the previous succession regulation, among other things, a part of Burgundy, which sparked a civil war. A faction of supporters of imperial unity was formed among the greats of the empire; among them with Agobard , Archbishop of Lyon , also a Burgundian magnate.
The unrest only came to a provisional end with the division of the empire in the Treaty of Verdun in 843: Burgundy now fell to the central empire of Lothar I , but the north-west to the right of the Saône to the western empire of Charles the Bald. From the latter part the Duchy of Burgundy developed .
After the death of Lothar I in 855, the division of the Middle Kingdom continued: the slightly smaller Burgundy and Provence became the dominion of his son Charles of Provence ( division of Prüm ). After Karl's death in 863, the Transjuranic Burgundy ( Hochburgund ) and Provence went to his brother Ludwig II. , The rest to the third brother Lothar II. After Lothar's death in 869, Charles the Bald tried to take over his entire territory, but he had to sign the treaty von Meerssen cedes a part to his brother Ludwig II , King of the Eastern Empire; Among other things, he was left with almost the entire Burgundian part. While the eastern empire was able to seize the entire middle empire north of Burgundy in 879/880, the greats of Provence and Burgundy raised Boso of Vienne to king in 879 , thus separating the former sub-empire of Charles from Provence from the Frankish empire as an independent kingdom of Burgundy .
literature
- Gebhardt, Handbuch der deutschen Geschichte, Union Verlag Stuttgart 1970, 9th edition, Volume 1, pp. 124, 126-133, 138, 145 f., 154 ff., 159, 169, 193f, 200, 208, 217, 245 .