Boso BosoBoso became margrave of Tuscany in 931 when his maternal half-brother Lambert was blinded ["... Hoc igitur capto, Bosoni fratri suo Tusciae marcam contradidit; et non multo post Lambertum lumine privavit." Liudprand, Antapodosis, iii, 47, Dümmler (1877), 76]. Boso is last seen in 936, when, having conspired against his brother king Hugo of Italy, he was captured and imprisoned by him ["Hugo rex Italiae ..., repertisque quibusdam fratris sui Bosonis contra se, ut fertur, insidiis, eundem fratrem suun dolo capit atque in custodia mittit." Flodoard, Annales, s.a. 936, 65].
Date of Birth: Unknown.
Place of
Birth: Unknown.
Date of Death: After 936.
Place of
Death: Unknown.
Father:
Thibaud, d. after June 887, count of Arles.
Probable mother: Bertha, d. 8 March 925, daughter of Lothair II, king of Lorraine.
Liudprand states that Boso was a brother of king Hugo of Italy by
the same father ["Boso denique, ex eodem patre regis
Hugonis frater, ..." Liudprand, Antapodosis,
iii, 47, Dümmler (1877), 75], and Hugo
names Thibaud and Bertha as his parents ["... ego Hugo
humilis comes et marchio, ... memoriale patris mei Teutbaldi et
matris meæ Berthæ, ..." RHF 9: 689-690 (#1), see the
page of Bertha]. The words "ex
eodem patre" have caused some to suggest that Boso was
a son of Thibaud by another woman [e.g., Gingins-la-Sarra
(1851-3), 101-2; Dümmler (1876), 185, n. 3], and there is some
reason to believe that Thibaud had an earlier wife [see the page
of Thibaud]. However, as pointed out by Poupardin, Liudprand was
probably just emphasizing the fact that Boso was not a son of
Bertha's second husband Adalberto II of Tuscany [Poupardin
(1901), 207, n. 5], for he had just mentioned Guido and Lambert,
the two known sons of Adalberto and Bertha. In fact, it appears
that Boso was Bertha's son, for he gave the name Bertha to one of
his daughters [Brandenburg (1964), 88, n. 8].
Spouse: Willa, of Burgundian origin,
conjectured to be a daughter of Rudolf I, king
of Burgundy.
["... Willa uxore sua Boso Tusciae provinciae marchio,
..." Liudprand, Antapodosis, iv, 8, Dümmler
(1877), 82; "... regis Hugonis frater Boso, Willa uxore
sua cupidissima ..." ibid., iv, 11, p. 84; "...
Boso ..., uxorem eius, quasi profanum et sceleris totius
auctricem, turpiter de regno Italico precepit expelli, atque in
Burgundiam, de qua oriunda fuerat, duci.", ibid., iv,
12, p. 84] For the conjecture that she was a daughter of
Rudolf I of Burgundy, see the page of Willa.
Children:
["... regis Hugonis
frater Boso, Willa uxore sua ... Haec cum prolem non haberet
virilem, quattuor habuit natas, Bertam, Willam, Richildam et
Gislam. Harum Willa, Berengarii huius, qui nunc superest, vere
marita, ..." Liudprand, Antapodosis, iv, 11,
Dümmler (1877), 84]
Bertha, d. after 18 August 965
m. (1) Boso, d. 935, count (brother
of Raoul, king of France);
m. (2) Raymond, d. 961×5, count of Rouergue,
margrave of Septimania, duke of Aquitaine.
["... rex Hugo ..., Bertae nepti
suae, Bosonis Arelatensis comitis viduae, pecunia derelicta. Quam
etiam brevi spatio intercendente, memoratus Raimundus,
impurissimae gentis princeps inpurior, sibi maritam effecerat;
..." Liudprand, Antapodosis, v, 31, Dümmler
(1877), 117]
Willa, d. after 966, m. before 936, Berengar II, d. 4 August 966, king of Italy, 950-961.
["Eo tempore Berengarius iste,
cuius tyrannide tota nunc luget Italia, Eporegiae civitatis
marchio habebatur. Cui rex Hugo neptim suam, nomine Willam, quam
ex Willa uxore sua Boso Tusciae provinciae marchio, regis frater,
genuerat, coniugem dedit." Liudprand, Antapodosis,
iv, 7, Dümmler (1877), 82]
Richilda.
Gisela.
Brandenburg (1964) = Erich Brandenburg, Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen (Frankfurt, 1964).
Dümmler (1876) = Rudolf Köpke & Ernst Dümmler, Kaiser Otto der Große (Leipzig, 1876).
Dümmler (1877) = Ernst Dümmler, ed., Liudprandi episcopi Cremonensis opera omnia (MGH SRG, Hannover, 1877).
Flodoard, Annales = Ph. Lauer, ed., Les Annales de Flodoard (Paris, 1905).
Gingins-La-Sarra (1851-3) = Frédéric de Gingins-La-Sarra, "Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire des royaumes de Provence et de Bourgogne-Jurane", Archiv für Schweizerische Geschichte 7 (1851): 85-201; 8 (1851): 3-116; 9 (1853): 85-260.
MGH SRG = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum (separate editions).
Poupardin (1901) = René Poupardin, Le royaume de Provence sous les Carolingiens (Paris, 1901).
RHF = Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France.
Werner (1967) = Karl Ferdinand Werner, "Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen bis um das Jahr 1000 (1.-8. Generation)", Karl der Große 4 (1967): 403-483.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 20 September 2008.