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Rh in renouncing the Lombard crown and coming to an understanding with his rival in order to seek the satisfaction of his ambition in another direction.

The wide region lying to the south of Burgundy, between the Alps, the Mediterranean and the Cevennes, had been for several years without a ruler, and was in such a state of confusion and uncertainty as was likely to tempt King Rodolph to seek his advantage there.

In the middle of the ninth century (855) a kingdom had been formed there for the benefit of Charles, third son of the Emperor Lothar. On the death of the young king (863) the inheritance had been divided between his two brothers, and was soon after occupied by Charles the Bald, who entrusted its administration to his vassal Boso (870). The latter, who was of Frankish origin, was among the most influential personages of the Western Kingdom; his sister, Richilda, had been first the mistress and later the wife of the king; he himself, apparently, was an ambitious man, energetic, skilful, and unscrupulous. In 876 he married Ermengarde, daughter of the Emperor Louis II, and secured the favour of Pope John VIII who, on the death of Charles the Bald in October 877, even thought for a moment of drawing him to Italy. Later, on the death of Louis the Stammerer, Boso openly revolted and ventured on having himself crowned king at Mantaille (15 October 879).

Before this date, Boso had been in possession of Provence and of the counties of Vienne and Lyons, and he now obtained recognition as king in the Tarentaise as well as in the Uzège and Vivarais districts and even in the dioceses of Besançon and Autun. But his attempt was premature; the united Carolingians, Louis III and Carloman, supported by an army promptly despatched by Charles the Fat, invaded the country in 880; the war was a tedious one, but at last in September 882 Vienne yielded, and Boso, driven from the Viennois, remained in obscurity till his death (11 January 887).

For more than three years the fate of the "kingdom of Provence" remained in suspense. From the beginning of 888 the public records are dated "in such a year after the death of Boso" or "after the death of Charles" (the Fat). The kingdom of Burgundy had been formed, yet neither Rodolph, its king, nor Odo, King of France, nor Arnulf, King of Germany, all too fully engaged elsewhere, ever thought of laying claim to the vacant throne of Provence.

But if Arnulf were unable to undertake the occupation of the kingdom of Provence, at least it was plainly his interest to further the setting up of a king who would recognise his overlordship and might also serve as a counterpoise to the ambitious and encroaching Rodolph. Now Boso