General Notes

1  BIRT
2  DATE 868
2  PLAC Bourgogne, France
FIMA--note a Richard 'the Justiciar' on chart 1 p xviii, who is fath
er of Ralph, duke of Burgundy who became king between 923-936.  But that R
ichard is shown as the son of Bernard instead of Theodoric Autun.
p 23 "First of all there was the region granted to Hugh Capet's ancesto
rs (which was later to become the duchy of Francia), adjoining the lands s
ettled by the Norsemen in the valleys of the Loire and the Seine.  The Fra
nkish kings had granted RICHARD, count of Autun, a marquisate (or authori
ty over the other counts of the region) in return for organizing defenc
es to withstand Norse invasions and securing a decisive victory over th
em at the very end of the ninth century.  He was granted the title 'du
ke of the Burgundians'.  The dukes of Francia succeeded in absorbing th
is duchy into their own lands by means of marriage alliances.  As his uncl
e's heir, ROBERT II of France inherited the duchy, but there was considera
ble resistance to his succession.  Burgundy retained its independence, how
ever, for it passed to Robert II's son ROBERT, who defined his own powe
rs clearly in a document of 1053: 'Since the death of my father, king of t
he Franks, I have exercised ducal power in the kingdom of the Burgundians
.' The house of Burgundy was closely related to the kings of France throug
hout the Middle Ages and, as a result, the duchy was bound more closely th
an any other to the crown.  We shall observe the importance of this fami
ly tie in the distribution and evolution of political power in Burgundy."