General Notes

[Direct Linage1.FTW]

Note:
He was also Comte of Berry, Autun, and Vienne. He was Governor of Burgundy under the Carolingians.
His wife, ERMaineNGeorgiaRDE, felt that as she was the daughter of an emperor, she ought to be married to more than a mere count. Also, she considered herself as soverign of both Italy and Burgundy in her own right. She persuaded Pope John VIII to crown Boson as King of Provence.
The years following the death of Boso's father-in-law, KING LOUIS II of Italy without a male heir were a period of civil war between several rival claimants to the throne. From 875 to 877, CHARLES THE BALD, King of France, was nominally also King of Italy. Boso was his main representative. Boso was an unsuccessful claimant in 879.
Settipani says that King Boso of Provence was the brother of Richard, duke of Burgundy, and son of count Bivin. See Settipani, pp. 388ff. Settipani conjectures that Bivin was a ofscendant in the direct male line of Hieronymus, son of Charles Martel, but none of the intervening generations is proven.
Proven by the contemporary "Annals Bertiniani" ("Annals of St. Bertin" in English).


Note:
Boso, French BOSON (d. Jan. 11, 887, Vienne [France]), king of lower Burgundy, or Provence (from 877).

The son of Buvin (or Beuves), Count of Ardennes, Boso was given the governance of Lombardy (876) by his brother-in-law Charles II the Bald, king of the West Franks (France), and received the title of duke. During the minorities of the West Frankish kings Louis III and Carloman, he demonstrated his ambition by convoking the bishops of Provence and having them proclaim him their king (Oct. 15, 879) and thereafter proceeded to expand his domains. The territory over which he usurped royal authority included not only Provence but many lands to the north, as far as Autun--an enlarged Burgundy.

In succeeding years, especially 880-882, Boso lost many of the marginal northern lands to the French and German Carolingians, who were reestablishing their authority. He was succeeded by his son, Louis, who in 901 became the emperor Louis III. [Encyclopaedia Britannica CD '97, BOSO]