Conrad I of Burgundy

Template:Template other Conrad I, called the Peaceful (Template:Langx; Template:Langx; Template:Langx; c. Template:Trim – 19 October 993), was King of Burgundy (ruling a political unit also called the Kingdom of Arles) from 937 until his death in 993.

File:Denier of Conrad the Peaceful.webp

Denier of Conrad, with cross pattée and tower surmounted by cross, with Latin text CONRADVS and LUCDVNVS (Lyon).

Life

A member of the Elder House of Welf, Conrad was the son of King Rudolph II, the first ruler over the united kingdom of Upper and Lower Burgundy since 933, and his consort Bertha, a daughter of Duke Burchard II of Swabia.Template:Sfn Some sources call him Conrad III, since he was the third Conrad in his family: his great-grandfather was Duke Conrad II, whose father was Count Conrad I.

Conrad succeeded his father as King of Burgundy in 937, with his future brother-in-law, the German king Otto I (later Holy Roman Emperor), exercising the regency during Conrad's minority reign. Under Otto's regency, Conrad began a close collaboration with the Germanic kings. Burgundy also gained a central role in Otto I's Italian policy due to the Great Saint Bernard Pass. Conrad extended Burgundy's control over important monasteries, including Lure Abbey, Payerne Priory, Romainmôtier Priory and Moutier-Grandval Abbey.

According to the chronicler Ekkehard IV, in a story that is probably apocryphal, when Conrad learned that both the Magyars and the Saracens of Fraxinetum were marching against him, he sent envoys to both armies warning them of the other. The envoys offered Burgundian aid to each invader against the other and then informed them of the other's whereabouts. When the Magyars and Saracens met, the Burgundians held back and only attacked when the opposing forces were spent. In this way, both invading armies were destroyed and the captives sold into slavery.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Conrad died on 19 October 993 and was buried at the Abbey of Saint-André-le-Bas, Vienne.

Marriage and children

Conrad married firstly, Adelaide of Bellay. They were parents to at least one daughter:Template:Sfn

• Gisela (d. 21 July 1006), married Henry II, Duke of BavariaTemplate:Sfn

He married Matilda by 966,Template:Sfn daughter of Louis IV of France and Gerberga of Saxony.Template:Sfn They had at least four children:

• Bertha (964 – 16 January 1016), married Odo I, Count of Blois, and then Robert II of FranceTemplate:Sfn
• Matilda (born 969), possibly married Robert, Count of Geneva
• Rudolph III, King of Burgundy (971 – 6 September 1032)Template:Sfn
• Gerberga (born 965), married Herman II, Duke of SwabiaTemplate:Sfn

By his concubine, Aldiud, he had a son:

• Burchard, Archbishop of LyonsTemplate:Sfn