RUDOLF

died Jan. 14/15, 936, Auxerre, Fr. duke of Burgundy (921936) and later king of France (923936), who, after a stormy career typical of the general political instability that characterized the age, succeeded in consolidating his authority shortly before he died. Rudolf was the son-in-law of Robert I, briefly king of France, with whom in 922 he led a rebellion that ousted Charles III the Simple, the Carolingian ruler of France. When Robert was killed in battle the following year, Rudolf was elected king and was crowned at Soissons. His reign was little more than an unending series of battles. He was at first not recognized by many of the magnates; in addition, he had to face the attacks of the Northmen and even of the Hungarians. In 925 he lost Lorraine to Henry I of Germany and in 928 was obliged to cede Laon to Herbert, count of Vermandois, who had earlier been a principal supporter but now exploited his possession of the person of Charles the Simple to blackmail the king. Rudolf's position improved significantly, however, after the death of Charles in 929 removed a rallying point for the opposition; soon, only Herbert held out against him. Rudolf had just forced his foe's capitulation when he fell ill and died. also called Rudolf Of Rheinfelden, or Rudolf Of Swabia, German Rudolf Von Rheinfelden, or Rudolf Von Schwaben died Oct. 15, 1080, Merseburg, Ger. German anti-king, opponent of Henry IV. Rudolf was granted the duchy of Swabia in 1057 by the dowager empress Agnes of Poitou, regent for her infant son Henry IV. She also appointed him administrator of the kingdom of Burgundy and gave him her daughter Matilda in marriage (1059). Rudolf at first supported Henry IV and was, in fact, largely responsible for Henry's victory over the Saxons at the Unstrut River in 1075. The next year, however, when Pope Gregory VII excommunicated Henry and absolved his subjects from their oaths of allegiance, Rudolf turned against the king. Promising to respect the elective character of the monarchy and to renounce any royal right to the investiture of prelates, he was elected king by an assembly of dissident princes in March 1077 and two months later was crowned at Mainz. The townspeople of Mainz, however, who sympathized with Henry, rioted, and Rudolf was compelled to flee and make his way to Saxony, where he was supported by the majority of the lay and ecclesiastical nobles. After invading Rudolf's duchy of Swabia, Henry, at the end of May 1077, held a diet at Ulm that deprived Rudolf of his duchy on a charge of treason. Rudolf's effective power was thereafter confined to Saxony. He fought Henry at the indecisive battle at Mellrichstadt (1078) and, more successfully, at Flarchheim (1080). Recognized at last as king by Pope Gregory, early in 1080, Rudolf on October 15 of that year won a victory over Henry at the Elster River but, in the process, received a mortal wound in the battle.