Otto, Count of Maçon, was the son of the King of Italy, yet lived in France. Kidnapped and saved, he warred with the King of France, inherited other titles and made a nuisance of himself.

He is my 26 x great-grandfather.

Guglielmo-Otto of Ivrea was born sometime between 958¹ and 962². He is the son of Adalberto II, associate-King of Italy and Gerberge de Chalon.

He used both the name Guglielmo and the name Otto². It’s possible Guglielmo is a link to his mother’s ancestors².

His mother’s second husband, Henry the Duke of Burgundy, adopted him².

Titles

In 981, he succeeded as Count of Maçon, through his first wife^{1 2}.

In 986, his stepfather installed him as Count of Nevers, and declared him his heir to the duchy of Burgundy².

As a result when, on 15 October 1002³, his stepfather died, he took the title of Duke of Burgundy^{1 2}. King Robert II of France deprived him of this inheritance when he invaded Burgundy using troops lent to him by Duke Richard II of Normandy². (Richard and Guglielmo were family. They both were grandsons of Rollo the Viking). Otto continued to claim this title till 1015 when he renounced his claims².

He also held the title Count of Burgundy², but there’s no record of what this title brought him.

Family

He married twice. His first wife was Ermentrude, the widow of Aubrey, the Count of Maçon, sometime before 981^{1 2 3}. Together they had 5 children^{2 3}:

• Guy
• Mathilde
• Gerberge
• Renaud
• Agnes

He then married a lady called Adelais, sometime before 1016^{2 3}.

Notable events

As a boy, someone kidnapped Otto from Lombardy. It was “with no small cunning by a certain monk“ that he ended up back with his family².

He often fought his uncle, Bishop of Auxerre, over control of Maçon.

On 28 October 1019 he donated property by charter to Fruttuaria monastery, in Turin, for the souls of his family.

Death

He died either on 11 December 1025² or in 21 October 1026^{1 3}, or on 11 October 1027² in Dijon².

They buried him in the Abbaye de Saint-Benigne in Dijon^{1 2}.

Lineage

This person is my 26 x great-grandfather.

References

1. Stuart, R.W. (1995). Royalty for Commoners[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
2. Fmg.ac. (2023). BURGUNDY DUCHY NOBILITY – MÂCON & BEAUJEU. [online] Available at: http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/BURGUNDIAN%20NOBILITY.htm[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]
3. Constance Brittain Bouchard (2009). Sword, miter, and cloister : nobility and the Church in Burgundy, 980-1198. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press[↩][↩][↩][↩][↩]