Matilda of France


Matilda of France, a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was Queen of Burgundy from about 964 until her death, by her marriage with King Conrad I.

Life

She was born in late 943 to King Louis IV of France, ruler of West Francia, and his wife, Gerberga of Saxony, sister of the East Frankish king Otto I. At the time of her birth, the Carolingian rule had already weakened: King Louis attempted to stable his reign by the marriage with 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. 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.

Issue

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