Gerberga of Mâcon


Gerberga of Mâcon was, by her successive marriages, queen of Italy, margravine of Ivrea, and duchess of Burgundy.

Ancestry

There has been some debate about Gerberga’s ancestry. It is generally thought that Gerberga’s parents were Lambert of Chalon and Adelaide, daughter of Gilbert, Duke of Burgundy, and widow of Robert of Vermandois. Yet, because Gerberga’s son, Otto-William, later succeeded to the county of Mâcon, some scholars have mistakenly argued that Gerberga must have been descended from the counts of Mâcon rather than from Lambert of Chalon.

Marriages

Gerberga’s first husband was King Adalbert of Italy. They married around 956, and had at least two children together, Otto-William and Gisela, who married Anselm I of Savona.
After Adalbert's death in 971/5, Gerberga married for a second time, to Henry I, Duke of Burgundy, the younger brother of King Hugh Capet. Gerberga and Henry had no children together. Since Henry had no son of his own, he adopted Gerberga’s son, Otto-William, and left him the county of Burgundy.