Rudolf III. (Burgundy)

The Kingdom of Burgundy in the 10th century

Rudolf III. (* around 970 ; † September 6, 1032 ) was King of Burgundy from 993-1032 .

Since the middle of the 10th century, the counts in Burgundy increasingly withdrew from the king. They submitted to other counts or made them their followers. The Burgundian kings tried to compensate for the lack of support by establishing closer ties to the Ottonian rulers. The ties were strengthened through several marriages. However, the Ottonians remained in the stronger position.

Rudolf III. was the son of the Burgundian King Konrad III. With Gerberga , Berta and Gisela he had three sisters. His sister Gisela was also the mother of the East Franconian-German King Heinrich II. As a result, Rudolf was an uncle of Heinrich. Like his father, Rudolf was elected and crowned in Lausanne . In 993/994 a tour followed. Rudolf effectively only ruled from the land on the central Rhone to the area around Lake Geneva . Rudolf's attempt to carry out confiscations shortly after assuming power led to the rebellion of the regional nobility. He was defeated by his opponents in the war. Only with the support of Otto III. and Adelheids could be restored to his royal authority. Rudolf was married to an Agiltrud for the first time. She died childless in February 1011. On June 28, 1011 he married Irmingard. As a fiancé, he gave her the city of Vienne with Pipet Castle , the counties of Vienne and Sermorens and numerous properties between Vienne and Lake Geneva on April 24, 1011 . The wedding took place on June 28, 1011. As a wife she also received further donations.

Rudolf could exercise royal rights in 17 of 35 dioceses. As the first Burgundian king, Rudolf began to give counties to bishops. In 996 Rudolf transferred the county inside and outside of Tarentaise to the Archbishop of Tarentaise , in 999 the Bishop of Sitten received the county in Valais and in 1011 the county of Vaud was transferred to the Bishop of Lausanne . In 1023 the Archbishop of Vienne received the county inside and outside the city of Vienne. According to the older state of research, Rudolf wanted to consolidate his kingship. It was considered a "self-defense measure of the central authority against the increasing independence of secular vassals". However, the awards took place in regions (Vienne, Lausanne or Sitten) that were still directly subordinate to the king. According to recent research, the nobility should not be weakened, but the position of the dioceses close to the king should be strengthened. The award illustrates the close cooperation and should reward the loyalty of the bishops.

In 1016 a dispute arose between Rudolf and Count Otto-Wilhelm over the appointment of the Archbishop of Besançon . Rudolf's second marriage had also been childless for five years. Due to the foreseeable childlessness of Rudolf Otto-Wilhelm could have asserted his claim to the successor. Rudolf then submitted to Heinrich II. He was the closest male relative of the Burgundian king. A meeting of the two rulers is documented for the first time in 1006. Basel was ceded by Rudolf to Heinrich II. Basel was probably a bargaining chip to secure his inheritance claim. Rudolf tried to secure the support of Henry II against the regional greats . In May 1016, the successor of Henry II was confirmed in Strasbourg , including the Burgundian greats. Heinrich then led an unsuccessful campaign against Otto Wilhelm. The big ones then submitted to Rudolf and asked forgiveness for their rebellions. Even contemporaries suspected that the nobility was trying to ward off the influence of a strong royal power.

In February 1018, Heinrich's right of inheritance to Burgundy was recognized again in Mainz. Rudolf handed over the crown and scepter to Heinrich. This not only renewed the relationship of loyalty and association, but the empire became a transpersonal factor. Although Rudolf got the emblem back, he only had them by the grace of Henry II. After 1018 Rudolf was only a shadow king and held back from local conflicts. With the death of Heinrich II in 1024, the question of inheritance was open again for Rudolf. The successor Conrad II himself had no family ties to the Burgundian king. However, Konrad wanted to enter into the full rights of his predecessor Heinrich and occupied Basel in 1025. At the end of 1026, a rapprochement between Rudolf and Konrad became clear. At Easter 1027 Rudolf was present at the imperial coronation of Conrad II in Rome. In August 1027, peace was made between Rudolf and Konrad in Basel and Konrad took over the full rights of his imperial predecessor.

Rudolf died on September 6, 1032 and was buried in the cathedral of Lausanne . With his death the line of the Burgundian Guelphs came to an end. As the last king of Burgundy, Rudolf was viewed by his contemporaries as a weak king. For Wipo , Rudolf was effeminate and for the Reichenau monk Hermann , the 30 years of royal rule meant laziness and chaos. He judged Rudolf's death: “Rudolf, the lazy king of Burgundy, died; The crown and emblems of his empire were brought to Emperor Konrad by Seliger. ”According to Thietmar von Merseburg , Rudolf only holds“ names and crowns ”and the regional greats such as Otto-Wilhelm are the real rulers ( dominus in right ). The criticism of the Merseburg bishop was aimed particularly at the lack of disposal over the bishopric. The king could not appoint bishops in his kingdom. Rather, the bishops came to power through the regional nobility and obeyed him more than the king. His wife Irmingard cultivated his memory in pious foundations until 1057. Further memories of Rudolf faded in the Middle Ages.

After Rudolf's death, Konrad had to assert the Burgundian inheritance in years of disputes against the claims of Count Odo von Blois . 1038 Konrad let his son Heinrich III. to be raised to King of Burgundy

swell

• Thietmar von Merseburg : Chronicle (= selected sources on German history in the Middle Ages. Freiherr-vom-Stein-Gedächtnisausgabe. Vol. 9). Retransmitted and explained by Werner Trillmich . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1957 (several new editions).
• Theodor Schieffer with the assistance of Hans Eberhard Mayer (arrangement): Regum Burgundiae e stirpe Rudolfina diplomata et acta. = The documents of the Burgundian Rudolfinger (= Monumenta Germaniae Historica . Department 3: Diplomata. 2A). Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Munich 1977, ISBN 3-921575-06-0 , ( digitized ).

literature

• Eduard Hlawitschka : Rudolf III. In: Lexicon of the Middle Ages . Volume 7: Planudes to City (Rus'). Lexma-Verlag, Munich 1995, ISBN 3-7608-8907-7 , Sp. 1077. (partly out of date).
• Hermann Kamp : Burgundy. History and culture (= Beck series. 2414). Beck, Munich 2007, ISBN 978-3-406-53614-4 , p. 37 ff.
• Rudolf Schieffer :  Rudolfinger. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 22, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2005, ISBN 3-428-11203-2 , pp. 198-200 ( digitized version ).
• Bernd Schneidmüller : The Guelphs. Reign and memory (819–1252) (= Kohlhammer-Urban-Taschenbücher. Vol. 465). Kohlhammer, Stuttgart et al. 2000, ISBN 3-17-014999-7 , pp. 92-105.
• Karl Ubl : The childless king. A test case for the differentiation of the political in the 11th century. in: Historical magazine . Vol. 292, No. 2, 2011, pp. 323–363, here: pp. 331–335, doi : 10.1524 / hzhz.2011.0013 .
• Stefan Weinfurter : Heinrich II. (1002-1024). Rulers at the end of time. Pustet, Regensburg 1999, ISBN 3-7917-1654-9 , p. 220.

Remarks

1. ^ Hermann Kamp: Burgundy. History and culture. Munich 2007, p. 37 f.
2. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller: The Welfs. Reign and memory (819–1252). Stuttgart 2000, p. 93.
3. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller: The Welfs. Reign and memory (819–1252). Stuttgart 2000, p. 97.
4. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller: The Welfs. Reign and memory (819–1252). Stuttgart 2000, p. 95.
5. ↑ Karl Ubl: The childless king. A test case for the differentiation of the political in the 11th century. In: Historical magazine. 292 (2011), pp. 323-363, here: p. 333.
6. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller: The Welfs. Reign and memory (819–1252). Stuttgart 2000, p. 96 f.
7. ^ Hans-Dietrich Kahl : The incorporation of Burgundy to the medieval empire. In: Swiss numismatic review. 48 (1969), pp. 13-105, here: p. 21, ( digitized version ).
8. ↑ Karl Ubl: The childless king. A test case for the differentiation of the political in the 11th century. In: Historical magazine. 292 (2011), pp. 323-363, here: p. 334.
9. ↑ Karl Ubl: The childless king. A test case for the differentiation of the political in the 11th century. In: Historical magazine. 292 (2011), pp. 323-363, here: p. 332.
10. ^ Stefan Weinfurter: Heinrich II. (1002-1024). Rulers at the end of time. Regensburg 1999, p. 220.
11. ^ Franz-Reiner Erkens : Konrad II. (Around 990-1039). Rule and empire of the first Salier emperor. Regensburg 1998, p. 68.
12. ^ Stefan Weinfurter: Heinrich II. (1002-1024). Rulers at the end of time. Regensburg 1999, p. 221.
13. ^ Stefan Weinfurter: Heinrich II. (1002-1024). Rulers at the end of time. Regensburg 1999, p. 222.
14. ^ Thietmar von Merseburg, Chronicon VII 30; Alpert von Metz, De diversitate temporum II 14.
15. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller: The Welfs. Reign and memory (819–1252). Stuttgart 2000, p. 104.
16. ↑ Hermann von Reichenau , Chronicon, ed. by Georg Henrich Pertz , in: MGH SS 5, Hannover 1844, pp. 74–133, here p. 121. ( digitized version) Translation from: Bernd Schneidmüller: Die Welfen. Reign and memory (819–1252). Stuttgart 2000, p. 105.
17. ↑ Karl Ubl: The childless king. A test case for the differentiation of the political in the 11th century. In: Historical magazine. 292 (2011), pp. 323-363, here: p. 333.
18. ↑ Bernd Schneidmüller: The Welfs. Reign and memory (819–1252). Stuttgart 2000, p. 98.

predecessor	Office	successor
Conrad III.	King of Burgundy 993-1032	Konrad II.