RUDOLF, son of CONRAD II [Welf] Comte d'Auxerre & his wife Waldrada --- (-25 Oct 911). Regino names "Ruodolfus filius Chuonradi, nepos Huggonis abbatis" when recording his occupation of the land between "Iurum et Alpes Penninas…at apud sanctum Mauritium"[103]. He succeeded his father in the latter's territories, with the title "marchio". Emperor Karl III "der Dicke" granted property "in comitatu Waldense" to "vassallo Rudolfi…marchionis" by charter dated 15 Feb 885[104]. He was proclaimed RUDOLF I King of Upper Burgundy at the abbey of Saint-Maurice in Valais in Jan 888 by the nobility of the ancient duchy of Transjurania, his territory consisting of Savoie, Valais, Jura, Franche-Comté and adjacent Swiss territories[105]. He attempted to have himself recognised as king in Lotharingia and was crowned at Toul in Spring 888 by Arnaud Bishop of Toul, but by Jun 888 he was obliged to leave Lorraine and Alsace unconquered[106]. Herimannus records the death in 912 of "Roudolfus rex Burgundiæ"[107]. The Annales Lausannenses record the death "911 VIII Kal Nov" of "Ruodolfus rex"[108].
m ([880/85]) as her first husband, WILLA, daughter of --- (-before 924). She is named "Willa regina" in the grant to Cluny by "Adeleydis comitissa soror Rodulfi" dated 14 Jun 929[109]. Her marriage date is estimated from King Rudolf being recorded as having children in 888[110], although the primary source on which this is based has not been identified and in any case it is not certain that Willa was the mother of those children. Her origin is unknown. Chaume[111] and Hlawitschka[112] suggest that she was Willa, daughter of Boson King [of Provence], the former considering that she was the daughter of King Boson's second marriage while the latter prefers his first wife as her mother. Settipani considers that, if Willa was the daughter of King Boson, it is likely that she was the daughter of his first marriage because of the existence of King Rudolf´s children in 888[113], although as noted above this argument is of little use if Willa was not their mother. Willa's suggested Burgundian origin appears based mainly on the fact that Conrad I King of Burgundy called Charles-Constantin Comte de Vienne "consanguineus noster" in two charters dated 28 Mar 943 and 18 May 943[114], the relationship being explained if Willa's suggested Burgundian origin was correct. However, such a relationship would also be confirmed if the Comte de Vienne was the son of King Louis [de Provence] by Adelais, whose Burgundian origin is suspected but not certain (see above), rather than the Byzantine princess about whose marriage with King Louis there is much uncertainty (see PROVENCE). As suggested above, a completely different possibility is that Willa was King Rudolf's second wife (which Chaume assumes), the king's children having been born from an unrecorded earlier marriage. This would be more consistent with Willa's second marriage in 912, when her second husband would have been about 30 years old, while Willa would have been over 50 if her first children had been born in the early 880s. In conclusion, there appears to be too much uncertainty to speculate sensibly on Willa´s origin. Willa married secondly (912) as his first wife, Hugues d'Arles Comte de Vienne, who later succeeded as Ugo I King of Italy. "Hugo comes et marchio" names "patris mei Teutbaldi et matris meæ Berthe…et uxoris quondam meæ Willæ…et præsentis conjugis meæ Hildæ atque fratrum et sororum mearum" in a donation by charter dated 924[115], although the primary source which confirms that the bride was the widow of King Rudolf has not yet been identified. Her date of death is fixed by this charter dated 924.
King Rudolf I & his wife had four children