#bosonides

[histoireettralala]

Constance d'Arles: resilient and determined

Hugh Capet, unsuccessful in his search for a Byzantine princess, arranged for his son Robert "the Pious" (so named for later acts of piety, rather than marital fidelity) to marry Rozala, the daughter of Berengar II of Italy and Countess of Flanders from her first marriage. She was considerably older than Robert, who divorced her within one year of his father's death. He had been living openly with Bertha of Burgundy (d.1035), Countess of Burgundy, and also a widow. However, Bertha was Robert's cousin: Pope Gregory V refused to sanction their marriage on the grounds of consanguinity, and excommunicated Robert. Robert repudiated Bertha around 1004; she remained unmarried and a force to be reckoned with.

In 1001, Robert married Constance of Arles (d.1034). She was a formidable, ambitious woman and their marriage, unsurprisingly, was difficult. Bertha's family opposed her, and Robert's advisors despised Constance because she favored southern customs and her Provençal family. When Hugh of Beauvais, close advisor to the king, suggested that Robert repudiate her in 1007, he was murdered by knights of Constance's kinsman, perhaps at her order. Her ambitions alienated the chroniclers of her day, who blamed her for several of the king's decisions and accused her of outrageous actions. In the account of a heresy trial of her former confessor, Constance struck out his eye with her staff. In 1010, Robert went to Rome, accompanied by his former wife Bertha, to seek permission to divorce Constance and remarry Bertha. His request was denied, he returned to Constance and together they had several children, with and against whom she plotted revolt against their father. At Constance's urging, their eldest son, Hugh Magnus, was crowned co-king with his father in 1017; after Hugh's death in 1025, Robert and Constance quarreled over which of their surviving sons should inherit. Despite his mother's protests, their second son, Henri, was crowned in 1027. Fulbert of Chartres wrote in a letter that he was frightened away from the consecration of Henri "by the savagery of his mother, who is quite trustworthy when she promises evil." Constance continued to encourage her sons to rebel, Robert agreed to their demands, and made peace until his death in 1031. Soon after that, Constance was at odds with both sons, Henri and Robert; she seized her dower lands and refused to surrender them to Henri's wife, Anna. Henri fled to Normandy, where he received aid, weapons and soldiers from his brother, returning to besiege their mother. However, Constance, ever wily and resilient, escaped, surrendering only when Henri swore to slaughter all the inhabitants of a town.

Despite this litany of malicious actions, contemporary critics of Constance also comment favorably on her concern for the royal treasury and her wise counsel to her husband. Her Provençal "foreignness" isolated her, and she struggled to balance her allegiance to both her natal and marital family. Seen in this light, many of her more notorious actions can be attributed to the absence of familial support and very real fears of repudiation. Penelope Adair argues convincingly that, given the limited resources at hand, Constance's efforts to preserve the royal treasury and her objections to alienation of royal property were "the well-founded concerns of a clear-sighted and determined royal consort."

Theresa Earenfight - Queenship in Medieval Europe

#x #xi #theresa earenfight #queenship in medieval europe #constance d'arles #bosonides #hugues capet #robert ii #rozala d'italie #berthe de bourgogne #hugues de beauvais #hugues de france #henri i #robert de bourgogne #fulbert de chartres #anne de kiev

[venicepearl]

Imaginary portrait of Emma of Italy, wife of King Lothair of France

#Emma of Italy #House Bosonid #Illustration #art #arte

[medievalart]

Today in history: Richilde of Provence, empress and queen of Western Francia dies (845- June 2, 910)

* member of Bosonid family (king Boso’s sister)

* 870: Married Charles the Bald

* 870-877: Queen consort of Western Francia

* 875-877: Empress of the Holy Roman Empire

* 877-879: “Regent” on the behalf of his son Louis the Stammerer (d. 879)

* 879: Tried to put his brother Boso on throne instead of Louis III and Carloman II but failed. Backed also Boso’s plans for independent Kingdom of Provence.

* 884: Attempted a political comeback after Louis and Carloman had died. Retired to Provence where she died a few years later.

( Grandes Chroniques de France , 14th / 15th cenury)

source: Wikimedia Commons

#Richilde of Provence #empress #queen #West Francia #Provence #9th century #medieval #history #illumination #Today in history

[historiabeztabu]

Papież Jan XII zmarł podczas seksu z zamężną kobietą

Papież Jan XII zmarł podczas seksu z zamężną kobietą

Oktawian ze Spoleto (Ottaviano di Spoleto) urodził się prawdopodobnie około 937 roku, choć niektóre źródła sugerują, że mogło to nastąpić nawet 7 lat wcześniej. Przyszły papież był owocem związku przyrodniego rodzeństwa z arystokratycznego rodu hrabiów Tusculum – Alberyka II, samozwańczego księcia Rzymu i Aldy Bosonide. Ich wspólną matką była sławna Marozja – kobieta, która w okresie…

View On WordPress

#historia #historia świata

[venicepearl]

Emma of Italy

#Emma of Italy #House Bosonid #X Century #Illustration #engraving

[medievalart]

Boso, king of Provence  (841-887)

* Member of Bosonid Family and related to Carolingian dynasty

* brother-in-law of Charles the Bald, king of West Francia

* 872: Regent of Kingdom of Aquitania on behalf of Lous the Stammerer (Charles’ son)  

* 876: Missus dominicus (= palace inspector) of Italy. Married Emengard of Italy, the only surviving daughter of late emperor Louis II

* 877: Count of Provence and viceroy of Italy

* 879: Louis the Stammerer died. Boso renounced his allegiance to new Frankish kings and declared Provence an independent kingdom

* 12th century fresco depicting Boso (left) at  Charlieu Abbey, Burgundy)

  Source: Wikimedia commons

Photo: Odejea (own work)

Licencing: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported, 2.5 Generic, 2.0 Generic and 1.0 Generic license.

#Provence #king Boso #9th century #medieval #history #king #art #fresco #12th century