Henry I, Duke of Burgundy

Henry I (946 – 15 October 1002), called the Great,[lower-alpha 1] was Count of Nevers and Duke of Burgundy from 965 to his death. He is sometimes known as Odo-Henry or Otto-Henry (in French Eudes-Henri), since his birth name was "Odo" and he only adopted "Henry" on being elected duke of Burgundy.

He was a younger son of Hugh the Great, Count of Paris, and Hedwig of Saxony and thus the younger brother of King Hugh Capet.[1] As Odo, he entered the church at a young age and was a cleric at the time of the death of his brother Otto, Duke of Burgundy, on 22 February 965.[2] He was elected by the Burgundian counts to succeed his brother and they gave him the name Henry. However Otto-Henry only held three counties of his own, his vassals holding the remaining six that comprised the core of that held by Richard the Justiciar who died in 921.[3]

In 972, he married Gerberga of Mâcon, the widow of Adalbert II of Italy,[1] who had sought refuge at Autun. Through Gerberga, he had a stepson named Otto William. He married a second time to Gersenda, daughter of William II of Gascony. He died without any sons of his own by his first two wives[1] and was succeeded by his stepson, Otto-William.[4] This resulted in a short war of succession between the adherents of Otto-William and those of Robert II of France, leading eventually to the partition of Burgundy between the County of Burgundy and the Duchy of Burgundy in 1004.[5]