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Lower Burgundy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lower Burgundy was a historical kingdom in Provence, in southeastern France. Lower Burgundy is sometimes called the Kingdom of Arelate or incorrectly the Kingdom of Cisjurane Burgundy. The borders of Lower Burgundy were the Mediterranean Sea to the south, Septimania to the southwest, Aquitaine to the west, the Kingdom of Upper Burgundy to the north, and the Kingdom of Italy to the east.
Lower Burgundy was founded by Boso, Count of Arles in 879, following the death of the West Frankish King Louis the Stammerer. Boso was an incompetent ruler and by 882 the kingdom was reintegrated into the West Frankish realm by one of Louis' sons, Carloman. Lower Burgundy passed to Charles the Fat in 884 following Carloman's death and in 890, following the revolt of Arnulf of Carinthia and the death of Charles in 888, Boso's son Louis the Blind was crowned King of Lower Burgundy.
Louis the Blind was invited into Italy by Adalbert II of Tuscany who wished to keep Berengar of Friuli from gaining control of the Italian peninsula. Louis defeated Berengar and was crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Benedict IV. Berengar defeated Louis the next year, forced him to flee Italy and promise to never return. In 905, Louis again invaded Italy but was defeated and blinded for breaking his oath. Louis lost his titles King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor to Berengar.
Blind, Louis had Hugh of Arles, the Count of Provence, be his regent. Hugh was elected King of Italy in 924 during a Civil War, and he spent the next two years ejecting his opponent, King Rudolph II of Upper Burgundy, from Italy. Louis died 928 and was succeeded by Hugh. After failing to expand his power by a marriage to Marozia (the effective ruler of Rome), Hugh spent the next five years of his reign fighting Magyar raids and Andalusian pirates. In 933, Hugh made peace with Rudolph of Upper Burgundy by giving him the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy.
