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Upper Burgundy | |
|---|---|
| 888–933 | |
 Upper Burgundy and other Burgundian regions, at the end of 9th and the beginning of 10th century Upper Burgundy | |
| Common languages | Vulgar Latin Old French Old High German |
| Government | Kingdom |
| Historical era | Early Medieval |
• Established | 888 |
• Disestablished | 933 |
Upper Burgundy (Latin:Burgundia superior;French:Bourgogne supérieure) was ahistorical region in the early medievalBurgundy, and a distinctiverealm known as theKingdom of Upper Burgundy, that existed from 888 to 933, when it was incorporated into the reunited Kingdom of Burgundy, that lasted until 1032. During those periods, the region of Upper Burgundy was encompassing the entireJuran Burgundy (French:Bourgogne jurane), including theCounty of Burgundy (modern region ofFranche-Comté). TheKingdom of Upper Burgundy was established in 888 by theWelf kingRudolph I within the territory of formerMiddle Francia. Under his son and successor, kingRudolph II, Upper Burgundy was reunited with Lower Burgundy in 933 to form theKingdom of Burgundy, that existed until 1032.[1][2][3][4][5]
The adjective 'upper' in the name of the region designates itsgeographical location in the upstream sections of theRhône river basin. That part of historical Burgundy is thus distinct from theLower Burgundy (located further downstream), and also from the neighboringDuchy of Burgundy (located to the west of theSaône river). Upper Burgundy is also referred asJuran Burgundy, orJurassian Burgundy, since it was encompassing regions on the both sides of theJura Mountains. The more specific terms such asTransjuran Burgundy (fr.Bourgogne transjurane, lat.Transiurania) orUltrajuran Burgundy are also used for all of those regions of Upper Burgundy that are located to the southeast of the Jura Mountains (Latin:trans orLatin:ultra in the sense of being located 'beyond' the Juran mountain range).[6]
Transjurania originally was a duchy of theCarolingian Empire, covering theCentral Plateau from the Jura Mountains up to theGreat St Bernard Pass in theWestern Alps. It thereby roughly corresponded to westernSwitzerland, i.e. the parts west of theBrünig-Napf-Reuss line, including theRomandy with the cities ofGeneva,Lausanne andSion, as well as the cantons ofAargau,Bern andValais and adjacent parts of the FrenchdépartementsHaute-Savoie andAin, as well as theAosta Valley which today belongs to Italy. Together with the Burgundian comital estates aroundBesançon andDole on theDoubs river northwest of the Jura range, the Transjuran territories became part of the short-lived Middle Frankish realm of EmperorLothair I upon the 843 partition by theTreaty of Verdun.
Upon the second partition by theTreaty of Prüm and Emperor Lothair's death in 855, his second sonLothair II subsumed his portion of Upper Burgundy into his Middle Frankish kingdom ofLotharingia, while his younger brotherCharles received Cisjuran Burgundy and the Kingdom of Provence. When Charles died in 863, Lothair II also gained some northern districts of the deceased's kingdom. The Provence territory in the south passed to the eldest brother KingLouis II of Italy.
The Transjuran duchy was then ruled byHucbert, a scion of theBosonid dynasty, the younger son of CountBoso the Elder ofArles, and through his sisterTeutberga brother-in-law to King Lothair II. Hucbert, however, fell out of favour after Lothair II divorced Teutberga, was defeated at the Battle ofOrbe in 864 and replaced by CountConrad II of Auxerre from theElder House of Welf (Rudolfings), who from 866 ruled Transjurania as amargrave. When Lothair II died without heirs in 869, his Lotharingian realm was divided into a West and East Frankish part between his unclesCharles the Bald andLouis the German by the 870Treaty of Meerssen. Upper Burgundy was to be politically close toEast Francia.[7]
EmperorCharles the Fat, son of Louis the German, by 884 had once again reunited all Carolingian territories, except for the Lower BurgundianKingdom of Provence established byBoso of Vienne in 879. When Charles was deposed and died in 888, the Carolingian Empire disintegrated again. The nobles and leading clergy of Upper Burgundy assembled at theAbbey of St. Maurice, Agaunum and elected and crowned the Transjuran margraveRudolph I as King, thus creating a distinctive realm, centered on upper Burgundy.[8]
At first, King Rudolph I tried to re-unite the Lotharingian realm of late Lothair II, but strong opposition by the East Frankish kingArnulf of Carinthia forced him to focus on his territory of Transjurania and the western Franche-Comté estates. Arnulf acknowledged Rudolph's rule in Upper Burgundy, but finally declared his illegitimate sonZwentibold King of Lotharingia in 895.
Rudolph was married withGuilla of Provence (Willa), probably a daughter of the Lower Burgundian king Boso. After his death in 912, he was succeeded by his sonRudolph II. His widow secondly married CountHugh of Arles, who succeeded as King of Lower Burgundy in 924.
Rudolph II attempted to enlarge his realm by attacking the adjacent territories of theGerman stem duchy ofSwabia in the northwest. He advanced towards theUpper Rhine river and in 916 occupied the city ofBasel. However, he again lost the Swabian estates ofThurgau andZürichgau when he was defeated by the forces of DukeBurchard II in the 919 Battle ofWinterthur. To make peace, he married Burchard's daughterBertha.
From this point, Rudolph II began to campaign in theKingdom of Italy, allied with the rebellious margraveAdalbert I of Ivrea and defeated EmperorBerengar I atFiorenzuola in 923. The next year, he was crowned Italian king. His rule was, however, contested by insurgent nobles, and they summoned his stepfather, the Lower Burgundian king Hugh of Arles, who marched against Italy. In the tense situation, Rudolph's father-in-law Duke Burchard II of Swabia hurried to help, but was killed atNovara by the henchmen of Archbishop Lambert ofMilan. Hugh had Rudolph expelled from Italy and gained theIron Crown of Lombardy atPavia in 926.
In 933 Rudolph II finally came to terms with Hugh: he waived all claims to Italy and in return gained Hugh's Lower Burgundian kingdom, thus re-uniting the two territories.[9] Rudolph's descendants from the Elder House of Welf,Conrad the Peaceful (937–993) andRudolph III (993–1032), succeeded him in this unitedKingdom of Burgundy. By 982, western regions of Upper Burgundy were organized as theCounty of Burgundy, that later became known as theFree County (Franche-Comté).[10]
Upon the extinction of the Welf line in 1032, Burgundy was incorporated by EmperorConrad II as the third constituent kingdom of theHoly Roman Empire, afterGermany and Italy, having defied claims raised by CountOdo II of Blois. Thereupon theKing of the Romans andHoly Roman Emperor assumed the title of a Burgundian king. The title of a Burgundian 'rectorate', referring to the former Transjuranian margraviate, was re-created for the Swabian ducalHouse of Zähringen by KingLothair II of Germany in 1127.
Line extinct, Burgundian kingdom united with the Holy Roman Empire
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