Matilda of France

Matilda of France (943 – 26 November 981/982), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was Queen of Burgundy from about 964 until her death, by her marriage with King Conrad I.

Matilda of France
Depiction in the Ottonian genealogy, Chronica sancti Pantaleonis (12th century)
Queen consort of Burgundy
Reign964–981/982
Born943
Died26 November 981/982
Burial
Vienne Cathedral
SpouseConrad I of Burgundy (m. 964)
IssueGerberga of Burgundy
Bertha of Burgundy
Rudolph III of Burgundy
DynastyCarolingian
FatherLouis IV of France
MotherGerberga of Saxony

Life

She was born in late 943 to King Louis IV of France (920/921–954), ruler of West Francia, and his wife, Gerberga of Saxony (d. about 984), sister of the East Frankish king Otto I. At the time of her birth, Carolingian rule had already weakened: King Louis attempted to stabilize his reign by marrying an East Frankish princess, while he fought with the reluctant dukes of Normandy and with the forces of his Robertian rival Hugh the Great.

When Matilda's brother, 13-year-old Lothair ascended the French throne in 954, Gerberga acted as regent. In 964 Matilda was married to Conrad, the Welf ruler of the Burgundian Kingdom of Arles since 937.[1] King Conrad strongly relied on the support of Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor since 962, Matilda's maternal uncle and husband of Conrad's sister Adelaide. As her dowry, the young queen brought her husband the city of Vienne, which her brother Lothair had ceded to her.[2]

Issue

Her children were:

Matilda was outlived by her husband, she probably died after 981. She is buried in Vienne Cathedral

References
  1. Burgundy and Provence, 879-1032, Constance Brittain Bourchard, The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024, ed. Rosamond McKitterick and Timothy Reuter, (Cambridge University Press, 1999), 342.
  2. Burgundy and Provence, 879-1032, Constance Brittain Bourchard, The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024, 335.
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