Chalons house

Initially, the surname Chalon was the rulers of the county of Burgundy Chalon (or Chalon-sur-Saon). The last ruler of the county, Jean I the Wise (1190-1267) came from one of the branches of the Burgundian count house . His father, Etienne III ( 1165 - 1241 ), Count of Oson , was the great-grandson of Etienne I the Brave ( 1057 - 1102 ), Count of Macon and Vienne. And his mother, Beatrice de Chalon ( 1174 - 1227 ), was the daughter of Count Guillaume II (c. 1120 - 1202 ), who inherited the county of Chalon after the abdication of his father in 1192 .

Having become a count after the death of his mother in 1228 , Jean the Wise already in 1237 . in order to control the politics of the count of Burgundy, Otto II Meransky, he exchanged his ancestral counties Chalon and Oson for Senoria Salen and a number of other possessions to his nephew, Duke of Burgundy Hugo IV. The new possessions brought him great wealth thanks to his salt marshes, and also allowed him to intervene more actively in burgundy affairs. In addition, these possessions allowed him to collect tolls, since it was through them that the road from Italy to France passed. In addition, Jean did his best to increase his holdings by buying out rights to various lands (he had more than fifty of them in Burgundy). In addition, he became the most powerful feudal lord in the region.

Jean left numerous offspring from three marriages. Three branches of the clan went from three of the sons of Jean the Wise.

Burgundy Branch

The ancestor of this branch was the eldest of the sons of Jean the Wise - Hugo (d. 1267). In 1236 , his father married him to Alice Meranskaya , daughter of Count Otton II Meransky . After the death of Count Otto III of Burgundy in 1248, the county of Burgundy passed to his sister Alice, the wife of Hugo. Hugo's reign was rather hectic. Since 1250, Hugo constantly had conflicts with his father, who wanted to rule Burgundy on behalf of his daughter-in-law. In 1258, the population of Besançon rebelled against Archbishop Guillaume. The uprising was supported by Jean and Hugo, as a result of which it swept all Burgundy county. In 1259, the uprising was condemned by Pope Alexander IV , who called on the king of France, Louis IX, and the Duke of Burgundy, Hugo IV , to intervene. The uprising ceased in 1260 .

Hugo died while his father was still alive. Jean the Wise became regent of the county of Burgundy under the infant Otton IV (d. 1303), but soon died. The county of Burgundy until 1279 was under the control of the widow of Hugo, Alice Meranskaya, who remarried in 1268 - to Philip of Savoy. The possessions of Jean the Wise were divided by his living sons at that time.

After the death of Alice Meranskaya in 1279, the county of Burgundy came under the control of Otto IV. The beginning of his reign was in rivalry with his uncle, Jean de Chalon-Arles. Otton was a supporter of the king of France, and Jean - the Holy Roman Empire, whose ruler at that time was Rudolph I of Habsburg . In 1289, the emperor took advantage of the conflict between the Count of Basel and the Count of Montbeliard Reno of Burgundy (brother of Otto IV), deciding to subjugate the county to his influence. Supported by Jean de Chalon-Arles, Rudolph's twenty-thousand-strong army invaded the county, capturing Montbeliard and besieging Besancon , where Otton and Renault took refuge. But Rudolph was never able to capture the city, but he devastated the neighborhood of the city. But Otton was forced to submit to the emperor. At the same time, Besancon received a special status and freedom of administration, while he was removed from the subordination of the archbishop. Jean de Chalon-Arles, thanks to the support of the emperor, became mayor of Besançon in 1293 , and the next year became Viscount of Besançon.

In search of protection against the claims of Rudolph, Otton IV in 1291 married his second marriage to Mago ( 1268 - 1329 ), daughter of Robert II , Earl of Artois. Thanks to this, he became close to the French royal court. Later, he signed a secret treaty with the king of France, Philip IV , under which he undertook to extradite the eldest daughter, Jeanne , for the second son of the king - Philippe , as a dowry he undertook to transfer the counties of Burgundy. The male offspring of Mago and her husband were deprived of the opportunity to inherit Burgundy. In compensation, the French government reaffirmed Magot's rights to the county of Artois, which she inherited in 1302 after the death of her father. This led to her feud with her nephew, Robert III d'Artois , who also claimed the county. Under the same agreement, the second daughter, Blanca , was engaged to the king’s youngest son, Carl . Otton's only son, Robert , died in 1315, leaving no offspring.

Another son of Hugo de Chalon, Reno (d. 1322), inherited Salen, and in 1282 inherited the county of Montbeliard through marriage. His son, Otenin, was mentally retarded and after his death, the county of Montbeliard inherited the daughter of Renault, Agnes.

Of the remaining sons of Hugo, Jean left offspring (d. C. 1302/1303). After the death of his grandson Jean, Senor de Montague, in 1373 the branch died out.

Chalon-Auxerre Branch

Its ancestor was Jean de Chalon (1243-1309), seigneur de Rofort, who received land in the south of the county. In addition, after marriage to Alice, the granddaughter of Duke Hugo IV, he inherited the county of Auxerre . Their son Guillaume after the death of his mother in 1290, inherited Auxerre. In addition, in 1293 he also got the county of Tonner, which was bequeathed to the Countess Margarita, who had no heirs. Their descendants owned Auxerre until 1370 , when Jean IV de Chalon-Auxerre , who controlled the county of Auxerre on behalf of his father, Jean III , sold this county to the king of France for 31,000 livres. As a result, the county of Auxerre was included in the royal domain. Only Tonner County was preserved as part of the house’s possessions. In 1379, the younger brother of Jean IV, Louis I , inherited it. But the son of Louis I, Louis II (d. 1422) in 1410 was implicated in the scandal with the abduction of Jeanne de Perello, the court lady of the Duke of Burgundy, Jean the Fearless , who confiscated Tonner, transferring him under the control of Arthur de Rishmon .

The last representative of the branch along the male line was Hugo, brother of Louis II, who died in 1424 at the Battle of Verney . In 1435, Tonner was returned to the sister of Louis II and Hugo, eventually moving through marriage to Usson's house .

Chalon-Arles Branch

Its ancestor was Jean de Chalon-Arles (1259–1315), who inherited his father's possessions in the south of the Jura, in the center of Burgundy, as well as Besancon. One of his descendants, Jean (d. 1418), through marriage in 1393, inherited the Principality of Oran . His descendants bore the title of Princes of Orange .

The last representative of the house was Philibert de Chalon (d. 1530), after whose death the principality passed to the Dilenburg branch of the Nassau dynasty , called the Oran dynasty .

• Histoire de Chalon sur Saône (Fr.) (unavailable link) . Date of treatment January 26, 2009. Archived on February 6, 2009.
• COMTES de CHALON, SIRES de SALINS (BOURGOGNE-COMTE) (English) (unavailable link) . Foundation for Medieval Genealogy. Date of treatment January 18, 2009. Archived January 23, 2009.
• Hebrew dynasty: Chalon branch (English) (unavailable link) . GENEALOGY.EU. Date of treatment January 19, 2010. Archived May 18, 2009.