Rudolph III of Burgundy

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Rudolf III of Burgundy (called Rudolf der Faule in German, and Rodolphe le Fainéant meaning sluggard or do-nothing or - le Pieux the Pious in French) (born 993; died September 6, 1032) was the last King of an independent Burgundy. He was the son of Conrad, King of Burgundy and the last male member of the Burgundian group of the Elder Welfs family.

Life

Rudolf's reign was marked with turbulence. Unable to placate the increasingly powerful nobility, he also had to deal with encroachments of power on the part of Otto-William, Count of Besançon until 995, and duke of Burgundy thereafter, as well as Henry II, king of Germany. Henry succeeded in forcing Rudolf to name him as his successor in 1016. When Henry died, the new king, Conrad II, also forced Rudolf to make him his heir. Rudolf died in 1032, at the age of thirty-nine, with no surviving issue; Conrad claimed the Kingdom of Burgundy and incorporated it as a third kingdom alongside Germany and Italy within the Holy Roman Empire.

Sources

• Gwatkin, H.M., Whitney, J.P. (ed) et al. The Cambridge Medieval History: Volume III. Cambridge University Press, 1926.

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