Count of Vienne
Encyclopedia
The Count of Vienne was the ruler of the Viennois, with his seat at Vienne
Vienne, Isère
Vienne is a commune in south-eastern France, located south of Lyon, on the Rhône River. It is the second largest city after Grenoble in the Isère department, of which it is a subprefecture. The city's population was of 29,400 as of the 2001 census....

, during the period of the Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire
Carolingian Empire is a historiographical term which has been used to refer to the realm of the Franks under the Carolingian dynasty in the Early Middle Ages. This dynasty is seen as the founders of France and Germany, and its beginning date is based on the crowning of Charlemagne, or Charles the...

 and after until 1030, when the county of Vienne was granted to the Archdiocese of Vienne.

Girart de Roussillon
Girart de Roussillon
Girart de Roussillon, also called Girard, Gérard II, Gyrart de Vienne, and Girart de Fraite, was a Burgundian chief who became Count of Paris in 837, and embraced the cause of Lothair I against Charles the Bald...

 ruled Provence from Vienne in the mid-ninth century. His successor in Vienne was Boso I of Arles
Boso of Provence
Boso was a Frankish nobleman from the Bosonid-family, who was related to the Carolingian dynasty, who rose to become King of Provence ....

, who tried to carve out a kingdom of his own in Provence from Vienne in 878–879.

Hugh of Arles was the first known Count of Vienne from sometime before 905 until 926, when he was in Italy claiming the Iron Crown of Lombardy
Iron Crown of Lombardy
The Iron Crown of Lombardy is both a reliquary and one of the most ancient royal insignia of Europe. The crown became one of the symbols of the Kingdom of Lombards and later of the medieval Kingdom of Italy...

. In his absence, Louis the Blind
Louis the Blind
Louis the Blind was the king of Provence from January 11, 887, King of Italy from October 12, 900, and briefly Holy Roman Emperor, as Louis III, between 901 and 905. He was the son of Boso, the usurper king of Provence, and Ermengard, a daughter of the Emperor Louis II. Through his father, he was...

, King of Provence, transferred Vienne to his own son, Charles-Constantine
Charles-Constantine
Charles-Constantine was the Count of Vienne, son of Louis the Blind, King of Provence, and the Holy Roman Emperor.-Name and maternity:...

. In September 928, Hugh met with Herbert II of Vermandois and invested Herbert's son Odo with Vienne in opposition to Charles-Constantine. Charles, however, succeeded in reoccupying Vienne by 931 with the aid of Rudolph of France
Rudolph of France
Rudolph was the Duke of Burgundy between 921 and 923 and King of Western Francia from thereafter to his death. Rudolph inherited the duchy of Burgundy from his father, Richard the Justiciar...

, to whom he gave his fealty. Briefly dispossessed by Hugh Taillefer, an ally of King Hugh, Charles succeeded retaking Vienne in 931 with the aid of Rudolph and his men.

Until 23 June 962, Charles-Constantine ruled Vienne, the former capital of the extinct kingdom of his father. After his death on that date, Vienne was inherited by his daughter Constance and passed to her husband, Boso II of Arles. Boso's descendants accumulated many counties in Provence and succeeded eventually in making themselves margraves of Provence.

In 1030, Vienne was ceded to the archbishop, however, and he immediately divided the lordship into two counties. He elevated Guigues III of Albon
Guigues III of Albon
Guigues le Vieux, count of Albon, called Guigues III was the first Count of Albon from 1079, when the County of Vienne, then in the possession of the Archdiocese of Vienne, was divided between him and Humbert I of Savoy, who received Maurienne.He was the son of Guigues II of Albon and Adelaide of...

, one of his powerful vassals, to the status of count and he granted Maurienne
County of Savoy
The Counts of Savoy emerged, along with the free communes of Switzerland, from the collapse of the Burgundian Kingdom of Arles in the 11th century....

 as a county to Humbert of the White Hands
Humbert I of Savoy
Umberto I was the first Count of Savoy from 1032, when the County of Vienne, which had been sold to the Archdiocese of Vienne, was divided between the County of Albon and the Maurienne...

. Nevertheless, a county of Vienne continued to exist in a much diminished form. From 1085 to 1261, it was held by the Counts of Mâcon. In the latter year, the last countess, Alice, sold it, along with Mâcon, to the Crown after the death of her husband, Jehan de Braine
Jehan de Braine
Jehan de Braine was, jure uxoris, the Count of Mâcon and Vienne from 1224 until his death. He was a younger son of Robert II of Dreux and his second wife, Yolanta de Couci. His wife was Alix, granddaughter of William V of Mâcon. Jehan was also a trouvère and a Crusader. He followed Theobald I of...

, in 1240.

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