Dalmas I of Semur explained

Dalmas I of Semur (French: Dalmace Ier de Semur, c. 980/985 - 1048) was a Burgundian nobleman.

He was the eldest son of Geoffroy I of Semur (c. 942 - c. 1000), lord of Semur-en-Brionnais, and his first wife, a daughter of Dalmace II, Viscount of Brioude (c. 935/950 - 985). Dalmas I died in 1048, at the hands of his son-in-law.

Early life

He had one brother, (c. 981/985 - c. 1040) and four half-siblings:

The contemporaries of Dalmas I thought him a man of great qualities and dubbed him "the Great." By all accounts, he had a passion for justice and was a fervent Christian. Unlike many of the local nobles, he refused to participate in the plundering of the Benedictine Abbey of Cluny. This looting was condemned by Pope Benedict VIII, who excommunicated many of the vandals.

Murder

Dalmas's son-in-law was Robert I of Burgundy, a man with a violent and explosive temper. It is certain that Robert killed Dalmas in a dispute, but its root cause remains uncertain. It is unclear which method was used to kill Dalmas, but Hildebert de Lavardin, a contemporary, reported that the Duke killed his father-in-law "propia manu," which has led some historians to suppose Dalmas lost his life in battle over the territory around Auxerre. However, given that Dalmas's son Josserand was also killed by "two of the Duke's soldiers" while trying to break up a fight between Robert and his father, it seems the scene of the murder may have been more intimate.[1] [2] [3] It has also been theorized - based on figures on the tympanum on the gates of Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois, built sometime after 1250 - that Dalmas was poisoned during a banquet attended by his son-in-law.[4] The construction of Notre-Dame de Semur-en-Auxois was funded by Robert I, and some wonder whether he did so in order to assuage his guilt and atone for killing his wife's father.

Marriage and children

He married Aramburge, sometimes called Aramburga, who was Comtesse de Bourgogne et de Vergy. The two of them had several children:

References

  1. Histoire des ducs de Bourgogne de la race capétienne, T. I, .
  2. Le même historien, suivant une interprétation due à Maillard de Chambure (Histoire et description de l’église de N.-D. de Semur-en-Auxois
  3. M.C.A.C.O., Ier série, I, 1832-1833, .
  4. P. de Truchis, « Notre-Dame de Semur », in Guide du congrès archéologique d’Avallon, 1907 ; Kleinclausz, Quomodo, No. 2,
  5. Chazot, Généalogie histor. in-4°, tIV, .
  6. J. Richard a su démontrer qu'elle ne s'était pas retirée à Marcigny fondée par son frère ni à Beaune où il n'existait, dans ce temps, aucune maison moniale.
  7. Abbé F. Cucherat, Semur-en-Brionnais, ses barons, ses établissements..., dans Mémoires de la Société Eduenne, t.XV (1887) et t. XVI. (1888).
  8. Bibliothèque Cluniae col.430, B.
  9. Gallia Christ. dans les évêques d'Auxerre.
  10. Généalogie inédite par M. Reffye, cité dans F. Cucherat, Semur en Brionnais..., dans Mémoires de la Société Eduenne, t.XV (1887) et t.XVI (1888), .
  11. On ne sait rien de Cécile et Evelle filles données par messieurs de Reffeye et de Montmegin, l'abbé François Cucherat pense qu'il s'agit de Cécile qui est la tante et la marraine de la jeune Cécile de Semur, fille de Geoffroy III et de Hermengarde, que l'on trouve en 1123 au Catalogue des Dames de Marcigny (Cluny au XIe siècle, 2e éd., I, 24).