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____ Boso (Bozon)
Birth: ABT 890
Death: ABT 938
Notes
d 936/940
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boso,_Margrave_of_Tuscany
Boso (Italian: Bosone; died after 940?) was a Burgundian nobleman who spent much
of his career in Italy, where he became Margrave of Tuscany about 932. He ruled
semi-autonomously and was a benefactor of the churches of his region. He lost his
office in 936 and probably returned to Burgundy.
Years in Provence[edit]
Boso was the second son of Count Theobald of Arles and Bertha, illegitimate daughter
of King Lothair II.[1] His elder brother Hugh was born in 880/1.[1] His family belonged
to the highest ranks of the aristocracy of the Carolingian Empire and were related by
marriage to the Carolingian dynasty and the Bosonids, the ruling family of Provence.[1]
After Theobald's death (895), Boso's mother remarried to Adalbert the Rich, then
margrave of Tuscany.[1] Boso and Hugh inherited their father's counties. After the
Emperor Louis III was blinded by his foes in 905, Hugh assumed the regency in
Provence and the county of Arles, while Boso took over the county of Avignon.[1] In
907, Hugh and Boso entered Italy with an army in support of their mother.[a] In 926,
after Hugh had become King of Italy, he appointed Boso regent of Provence.[1] In 931
he brought Boso to Italy at the same time as he made his son, Lothair, co-ruler in order
to strengthen his position against the powerful margrave Lambert of Tuscany.[1]
Lambert was the reputed son of Adalbert and Bertha and half-brother of Hugh and
Boso. According to Liutprand of Cremona, the rumours of the time had it that Bertha,
unable to conceive, in order to safeguard her second husband's succession, had
feigned pregnancy and presented as her own two sons, Lambert and Guy, who were
actually the children of others.[1][b]
Early years in Italy[edit]
In his earliest documented presence in Italy, Boso is found intervening on behalf of
the Patriarchate of Aquileia on 17 October 931.[1] The first document recording his
rank of "margrave" (marchio) dates to 1 July 932, when he persuaded the king to
make a donation to the church of Saint Martin in Lucca.[1]
According to Liutprand of Cremona, when Hugh forbade Lambert of Tuscany to call
himself a half-brother of the king, the margrave challenged Hugh to a judicial duel,
which he won. In order to obtain the march of Tuscany for himself, Boso convinced
Hugh to arrest Lambert; who was subsequently blinded in prison.[1] A more likely
explanation than Liutprand's is that Lambert refused give up his quasi-independence
and as a result Tuscany was taken from him.[1][2]
Margrave of Tuscany[edit]
Few notices from Boso's rule in Tuscany have survived. Most deal with his
interventions with the king on behalf of the churches of Lucca and Arezzo.[1] The last
reference to Boso as margrave of Tuscany comes from 17 September 936, when he
sent representatives to oversee an exchange of property by the diocese of Lucca.[1]
Later that year, Hugh removed his brother from the march and placed his own
illegitimate son, Hubert, there instead.[1][2]
Liutprand claims that Boso was arrested on suspicion of plotting against the king at
the instigation of his wife, Willa.[3][c] Another possible explanation is that he
continued to act as autonomously as Lambert had and Hugh removed him in favour of
a more pliant margrave.[1][2] Boso had married his daughter Willa, named for her
mother, to Berengar of Ivrea, one of the most powerful margraves in the kingdom. This
aristocratic axis may have seemed like a threat to Hugh, precipitating Boso's
downfall.[1][4]
Later years[edit]
In 940 a certain "illustrious count Boso" (inclitus comes Boso) made a donation to the
monastery of Saint-Barnard-de-Romans. This is probably the same person as the
margrave of Tuscany, since the monastery is known to have been patronised by Hugh
and there were family possessions in the region.[1] By his wife, Willa, perhaps a
daughter of Rudolph I of Upper Burgundy, Boso left behind four daughters: Richilda,
Gisla, Willa and Bertha. This last married first Boso, son of Duke Richard of Burgundy,
and second Raymond, the duke of Aquitaine.[1] It was to her that Hugh bequeathed
his huge personal wealth and his Provençal possessions.[1][5]
Parents
DE ARLES Theobald (Thibaud) (ABT 850 - BEF 895)
OF LORRAINE Bertha (ABT 863 - 8 Mar 925)
Siblings
OF PROVENCE Hugh (ABT 880 - 10 Apr 947)
DE ARLES Teutberga (ABT 881 - BEF 30 Sep 948)
____ Boso (Bozon) (ABT 890 - ABT 938)
Marriage To OF TUSCANY OR OF BURGUNDY Willa (ABT 900 - )
m.
Notes
Parents
OF BURGUNDY Rudolph (ABT 880 - )
----- ----- ()
Children by OF TUSCANY OR OF BURGUNDY Willa ABT 900 -
OF ARLES Willa (ABT 918 - AFT 966)
OF TUSCANY Bertha (ABT 920 - )
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