Willa of Burgundy explained

Type:monarch
Willa of Burgundy
Succession:Margravine of Tuscany
Reign:932 - 936
Predecessor:Marozia
Successor:Willa of Spoleto
House:Elder House of Welf
Spouses:Boso, Margrave of Tuscany
Issue:Willa of Tuscany
Bertha of Arles
Richilda
Gisela
Father:Rudolph I of Burgundy
Mother:Willa of Provence
Death Date:after 936
Religion:Catholic Church

Willa of Burgundy (– after 936) was a member of the Elder House of Welf. By birth she was a daughter of Rudolph I of Burgundy, king of Upper Burgundy. Through marriage Boso Willa became countess of Avignon and Arles, and then margravine of Tuscany.

Family

Willa’s parents were Rudolph I of Burgundy, king of Upper Burgundy and Willa of Provence, daughter of Boso of Provence. Willa’s siblings included Adelaide, wife of Emperor Louis the Blind, and Rudolph II of Burgundy, who succeeded their father as king of Burgundy. After Willa’s father’s death in 912, her mother married Hugh of Italy.[1]

Marriage

In 912 Willa married Boso, count of Arles and Avignon.[2] Boso was the son of Theobald of Arles and Bertha, a daughter of King Lothair II.[3] His older brother, Hugh of Italy, was married to Willa’s mother. In 926, when Hugh became king of Italy, he made Boso regent of Provence. According to Liutprand of Cremona, at Willa’s and Boso’s urging, in 931 Hugh accused his half-brother Lambert of Tuscany of conspiring against him, and deposed him.[4] Hugh invested his brother Boso as margrave of Tuscany in Lambert’s place, and Willa became margravine of Tuscany. According to Liutprand of Cremona, Willa’s ambition led Boso to rebel against Hugh in 936.[5] Willa was sent into Burgundy, and Hugh replaced Boso as margrave of Tuscany with his own son, Hubert.[6]

Willa’s date of death is not known.

Children

With Boso, Willa had several children, including:[7]

Notes

  1. Bouchard, 'Burgundy', pp. 340-1.
  2. https://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000870_00330.html?sortIndex=010%3A050%3A0003%3A010%3A00%3A00#ES Liutprand of Cremona, Antapodosis, IV.7, p. 317.
  3. http://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/bosone-di-toscana_(Dizionario-Biografico)/ Keller, ‘Bosone di Toscana’
  4. https://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000870_00331.html?sortIndex=010%3A050%3A0003%3A010%3A00%3A00#ES Liutprand of Cremona, Antapodosis, IV.10 p. 318.
  5. https://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000870_00331.html?sortIndex=010%3A050%3A0003%3A010%3A00%3A00#ES Liutprand of Cremona, Antapodosis, IV.11 pp. 318-9.
  6. Wickham, Early Medieval Italy, p. 178.
  7. https://www.dmgh.de/de/fs1/object/display/bsb00000870_00331.html?sortIndex=010%3A050%3A0003%3A010%3A00%3A00#ES Liutprand of Cremona, Antapodosis, IV.10 p. 318.

References