County palatine of Burgundy

Who rules

Name

Otto I of Hohenstaufen

Title

Count palatine of Burgundy (comes palatinus Burgundie)

Since

granted by his father Frederick Barbarossa: the sources give 1184 (his mother's death) or 1188-1189 (the division of 1188 confirmed at the Haguenau diet of 1189)

Born

June or July 1170, so 29

Family

Staufen. Fourth son of Frederick Barbarossa and Beatrice, heiress of the county of Burgundy; brother of the late Henry VI and of Philip of Swabia.

Confidence

high

de.wikipedia, fr.wikipedia and en.wikipedia on Otto I; they disagree on the grant date and on the manner of his death.

Threats

• Stephen II of Auxonne and the duke of Burgundy behind him.
• Richard of Montbeliard and the Ferrette kin, out for blood.
• Murder: he has killed enough men to be killed himself.
• No son: two small daughters, a French-born widow, and a county the Welf party and the duke of Burgundy both covet.

Consort

Margaret of Blois (born about 1170), daughter of Count Theobald V of Blois and Alix of France: granddaughter of Louis VII and Eleanor of Aquitaine, half-niece of Philip Augustus, sister of Louis of Blois; widow of Hugh III of Oisy, castellan of Cambrai and lord of Montmirail. Married Otto in 1190.

Heirs and children

Two daughters: Joan (Jeanne), born 1191, aged 8, heiress; Beatrice, born 1193, aged 6. No son. No male Staufen of the county besides Otto.

Officers

A first bailiff (bailli) of Burgundy was appointed in 1192 (fr.wikipedia); his name and the officers on 1 January 1200 are not pinned.

Court winter 1199 in 1200

Not pinned; Otto is at Besancon by 13 January 1200.

Treaties marriages wars

Luxembourg: given to Otto by Henry VI in 1196, renounced to Theobald of Bar in 1197. Open feud with Stephen II of Auxonne, who in 1197 made Auxonne a fief of Duke Odo III, opening the county to the duke, and with Richard of Montfaucon, count of Montbeliard, son of the man Otto killed; both backed Otto IV against the advice of Archbishop Amedee of Besancon, and in 1199 Richard and his brother Walter took the archbishop prisoner, were excommunicated and made their peace the same year. Feud with the bishop of Strasbourg since 1196 (Philip's campaign of July 1199 forced the bishop to submit).

Blood feud with the house of Ferrette.

Rome and interdict

Imperial ground, outside Philip Augustus's realm: the interdict decreed at Dijon does not touch the county, though the interdict is to be proclaimed from Vienne, beyond Philip's reach, in mid-January. The archbishop of Besancon, Amedee de Dramelay, is a Staufen man.

Throne dispute

Otto is Philip of Swabia's brother and his mainstay in the kingdom of Burgundy; his enemies Stephen of Auxonne and Richard of Montbeliard are Otto IV's men.

Coinage

The money current at Besancon is the archbishop's estevenant; the count's own minting in 1200 is not pinned.

The host

The count's castle garrisons and vassals; his brother's royal backing. Several great vassals are in arms against him. No numbers in the sources.

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

In 1200

1. 13 January 1200Otto I dies at Besancon and is buried in the forecourt of Saint-Etienne. en.wikipedia (infobox) and the usual accounts say he was assassinated, killer and motive unrecorded; fr.wikipedia says he died after a year of incurable languor. The GM brief treats it as a murder.Depends on: Nothing in play changing Otto's movements or guard in the first fortnight of January. Stopped by: A warning, a change of residence, or the campaign ruling for the illness version (then the timing still holds).
2. from January 1200Joan, aged 8, succeeds under the guardianship of her mother Margaret of Blois (regent 1200-1208 per en.wikipedia; fr.wikipedia dates her government from 1202). Stephen of Auxonne and Richard of Montbeliard can be expected to press their advantage; Philip of Swabia, as head of the house, has a say in the heiress's marriage.Depends on: Otto's death on 13 January. Stopped by: Otto surviving; a strong regency backed by Philip of Swabia or by Margaret's French kin.

Later, on the likely course

1. later courseMargaret remarries Walter II of Avesnes (date not pinned); Joan dies in 1205 and Beatrice becomes heiress; Beatrice marries Otto of Andechs, duke of Merania, at Bamberg on 21 June 1208, the day Philip of Swabia is murdered there.Depends on: The regency surviving and the Staufen choosing the match. Stopped by: A different marriage for the heiresses; a seizure of the county by Stephen of Auxonne or the duke of Burgundy.

Where the sources disagree

• The campaign notes and the brief call Otto's death a murder on 13 January 1200; fr.wikipedia (Othon Ier de Bourgogne) instead says he died after about a year of 'incurable languor'. en.wikipedia keeps 13 January 1200 and says assassinated. Rule which.

Evidence: Otto's crimes and feuds are attested in modern accounts (Allemand-Gay 1988); dates of grant and regency and the manner of death differ between sources.