The first great scion of the dynasty was Boso, count of Arles and of other Burgundian counties in the mid-9th century. Boso rose in favour as a courtier of Charles the Bald. He was even appointed viceroy in Italy in 875. After the death of Charles' son Louis the Stammerer, Boso refused to recognise Louis' sons Carloman and Louis III as kings of France, and proclaimed himself king of Provence in 879 at Vienne, with the support of the nobility. Boso strove throughout the rest of his life to maintain his title in the face of Emperor Charles the Fat. He died in 887 and was succeeded by his son, Louis the Blind, under the regency of his wife Ermengard, a daughter of the Emperor Louis II.
Louis was adopted by Charles the Fat and legitimised in his royal title. With this legal basis, he sought to take the place of his Carolingian relatives on the imperial and Italian thrones in 900. He was crowned in Pavia and then in Rome, but could not actually hold on to power there.
Genealogy
Bosonids, Bivinids, and their relatives, with the names of kings and emperors bolded[1]
Constance B. Bouchard, "The Bosonids or Rising to Power in the Late Carolingian Age" French Historical Studies15.3 (Spring 1988), pp. 407–431. JSTOR286367
Sources
^Riché, Pierre (1993). Peters, Edward (ed.). The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe. Middle Ages Series. Translated by Allen, Michael Idomir. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 370.
