Henry I (946 – 15 October 1002), called the Great, was

Duke of Burgundy Duke of Burgundy (french: duc de Bourgogne) was a title used by the rulers of the Duchy of Burgundy, from its establishment in 843 to its annexation by France in 1477, and later by Holy Roman Emperors and Kings of Spain from the House of Habsburg ...

from 965 to his death and

Count of Nevers The counts of Nevers were the rulers of the County of Nevers, which became a French duchy in 1539, with the rulers of the duchy calling themselves dukes. History The history of the County of Nevers is closely connected to the Duchy of Burgundy ...

through his first marriage. He is sometimes known as Odo-Henry or Otto-Henry (in French ''Eudes-Henri''), since his birth name was "Odo" and he only adopted "Henry" on being elected duke of Burgundy.

Life

He was a younger son of

Hugh the Great Hugh the Great (16 June 956) was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris. Biography Hugh was the son of King Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der E ...

Duke of the Franks The title Duke of the Franks ( la, dux Francorum) has been used for three different offices, always with "duke" implying military command and "prince" implying something approaching sovereign or regalian rights. The term "Franks" may refer to an ...

, and

Hedwig of Saxony Hedwige of Saxony (also ''Hedwig'', german: Hadwig von Sachsen; – after 958), a member of the Ottonian dynasty, was Duchess consort of the Franks by her marriage to the Robertian duke Hugh the Great. Upon her husband's death in 956, she act ...

and thus the younger brother of King

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...

.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten'', Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 10 As Odo, he entered the church at a young age and was a cleric at the time of the death of his brother

Otto Otto is a masculine German given name and a surname. It originates as an Old High German short form (variants ''Audo'', '' Odo'', ''Udo'') of Germanic names beginning in ''aud-'', an element meaning "wealth, prosperity". The name is recorded f ...

, Duke of Burgundy, on 22 February 965. He was elected by the Burgundian counts to succeed his brother and they gave him the name Henry. However Otto-Henry only held three counties of his own, his vassals holding the remaining six that comprised the core of that held by

Richard the Justiciar Richard, Duke of Burgundy (858–921), also known as Richard of Autun or Richard the Justiciar, was Count of Autun from 880 and the first Margrave and Duke of Burgundy. He eventually attained suzerainty over all the counties of Burgundy save Mâ ...

who died in 921. In 978, Henry participated in the invasion of Lotharingia and the defence of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

from a counter-raid. In 972, he married Gerberga, the widow of Adalbert II of Italy, who had sought refuge at

Autun Autun () is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the early Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum to give a Ro ...

. Through Gerberga, he had a stepson named Otto-William. This marriage allowed Henry to rule the County of Nevers. He married a second time to Gersenda, daughter of William II of Gascony. As Henry had no child, Otto-William became a legitimate contender to inherit the

Duchy of Burgundy The Duchy of Burgundy (; la, Ducatus Burgundiae; french: Duché de Bourgogne, ) emerged in the 9th century as one of the successors of the ancient Kingdom of the Burgundians, which after its conquest in 532 had formed a constituent part of the ...

. So did Henry's nephew, the king

Robert II of France Robert II (c. 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious (french: link=no, le Pieux) or the Wise (french: link=no, le Sage), was King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted h ...

. This resulted. in a war of succession (from 1003 to 1005) between Otto-William and Robert II. Otto-William eventually gave up the Duchy but kept in the Western Frankish Kingdom, the county of

Mâcon Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as ...

, the county of

Beaune Beaune () is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and the center of Burgundy wine production and business. The annua ...

and the advowson for the abbey of St-Benigne in

Dijon Dijon (, , ) (dated) * it, Digione * la, Diviō or * lmo, Digion is the prefecture of the Côte-d'Or department and of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in northeastern France. the commune had a population of 156,920. The earlies ...

Family

Henry died without any sons of his own two wives. He adopted Otto-William making him a possible heir of the

. Odo-Henry had at least one illegitimate child by an unknown mother: * Odo of Beaune († after August 25, 1005), viscount of Beaune.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henry I, Duke of Burgundy Robertians Dukes of Burgundy 946 births 1002 deaths 10th-century rulers in Europe 11th-century rulers in Europe