Ermengarde (also Hermengarde, Ermengarda, Irmengarde, Irainsanda,Lullin and le Fort, Régeste Genevois, no. 158 EimildisGeorges de Manteyer (1908), La Provence du premier au douzième siècle : études d'histoire et de géographie politique, Volume 1, Picard, 988 pages, .) (– after 20 September 1057) was a medieval noblewoman. Through her first marriage, to Rotbold II, Count of Provence, she was countess of Provence, and from 1011 to 1032 Ermengarde was the last queen of independent Burgundy by virtue of her second marriage to Rudolf III of Burgundy.
Life Ermengarde's origins are obscure, and the identity of her relatives is unknown. Several scholars have, however, suggested that Ermengarde was related to Humbert I of Savoy. In the nineteenth century, several scholars hypothesised that Ermengarde's first husband was Manasses, count of Savoy, with whom she had a son, Humbert of Savoy.Menabrea, De la marche des études historiques en Savoie et en Piémontname, p. 68; Dessaix, La Savoie historique, p. 64. Laurent Ripart, by contrast, suggests that Ermengarde may have been the sister of Humbert of Savoy, who was part of the entourage of Rudolf III of Burgundy.Ripart, Les fondements idéologiques du pouvoir, I, p. 54. For Humbert's relationship with Rudolf III, see also Previté-Orton, Early History, pp. 9, 13ff.,26, 38, 47ff. Alternatively, François Demotz argues that Ermengarde was a member of the Sigiboldides (or Siboldi) dynasty, who were also part of Rudolf III's entourage.Demotz, 'Aux origines des Humbertiens'.
Countess of Provence Ermengarde married Rotbald II of Provence before 1002, when they made a donation to Montmajour Abbey.Magnani, 'Monastères et aristocratie'. The couple is mentioned in the Carta liberalis in 1005. Also in 1005, they were present for the election of the new abbot at the Abbey of St Victor, Marseille, alongside Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou and her sons William III Taillefer, Count of Toulouse, and William II, Count of Provence.de Framond, 'La succession des comtes de Toulouse,' p. 473.
With Rotbald, Ermengarde had two sons and a daughter:de Manteyer, Les chartes du pays d'Avignon, pp.139-140; de Manteyer, 'La Provence du premier au douzième siècle' p.269; Berge, Les erreurs de l'Histoire, p. 51. Hugh, bishop of Lausanne (r. 1018–1037).Alternatively, some historians argue that Hugh was an illegitimate son of Rudolf III of Burgundy: Peter Conradin von Planta, 'Hugues de Bourgogne,' in Dictionnaire historique de la Suisse. William III of ProvenceSchwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln, Tafel 187. Emma, who married William III Taillefer, Count of Toulouse, and thus brought the margravial title in Provence to the House of Rouergue.Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln, Tafel 187; H. Bouche, La Chorographie ou Description de Provence et l'histoire chronologique du meme pays (Paris, 1736), p. 864
Queen of Burgundy After Rotbald's death (d. before 1011), Ermengarde married again. Her second husband, whom she married in 1011, was Rudolf III of Burgundy.Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln, Tafel 187; Ripart, 'Le diocèse de Belley'. Ermengarde and Rudolf were married until his death in 1032, but they had no children together.Sorrel, Histoire de la Savoie, pp. 118-119. On 24 April 1011 Rudolf issued two diplomas granting Ermengarde extensive property, including the town of Vienne, the royal castle of Pipet, the counties of Vienne and Sermorens, and all his possessions between Vienne and Lake Constance, as her dower.Lullin and le Fort, Régeste Genevois, no. 151 (24 April 1011); FOR 267 (24 April 1011); see also Chroniques d'Archives 9 (2011), pp. 11-12; Previte-Orton, Early History of the House of Savoy, p. 105. In August 1011, Ermengarde intervened in Rudolf's diploma, granting Henry, bishop of Lausanne, rights over the county of Vaud.REG 0/0/1/153 (25 August 1011). The couple issued one diploma together, a donation to the monastery of Cluny in 1019.Lullin and le Fort, Régeste Genevois, no. 58 (15 Jan 1019). and Ermengarde intervened in many of Rudolf's other acts, including donations to the monastery of Saint-Martin de Savigny,no. 55 (1016x1018). and the Abbey of St. Maurice, Agaunum.no. 156 (15 February 1017).
Acting independently, Ermengarde made a donation to Cluny for the sake of Rudolf's soul, Lullin and le Fort, Régeste Genevois, no. 191 (1029x1049) and endowed the monastery of Saint-Martin de Savigny in 1031. Lullin and le Fort, Régeste Genevois, no. 182 (1 January 1031).
Succession of Burgundy At Strasbourg in 1016, Rudolf III did homage to Emperor Henry II. At the same time, Ermengarde entrusted her sons Hugh and William to Henry II's care. Henry called Hugh and William his "beloved vassals (dilectus sibi militibus), and granted them the fiefs of Otto-William, Count of Burgundy, who had rebelled against Henry.S. Weinfurter, Heinrich II. (1002-1024) Herrscher am Ende der Zeiten, p. 221. After Rudolf's death in September 1032, Ermengarde and her son Hugh arranged for the transfer of the crown of Burgundy and the Holy Lance to Emperor Conrad II. In January 1033, Ermengarde, and her advocate (and possible relative) Humbert of Savoy, and others, do homage to Conrad II at Zurich.Lullin and le Fort, Régeste Genevois, no. 185 (1 January 1033). The actions of Ermengarde and Humbert of Savoy ensured the permanent bond between Burgundy and Germany.W. Trillmich, Kaiser Konrad II. und seine Zeit, pp. 283, 288.
Notes
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