NameEudes I Borel “the Red” , Duke of Burgundy
Birth1058
Death23 Mar 1103
Misc. Notes
Eudes I of Burgundy, surnamed Borel and called the Red, (1058–23 March 1103) was duke of Burgundy between 1079 and 1103. Eudes was the second son of Henry of Burgundy and Sybille of Barcelona. He became Duke of Burgundy following the abdication of his older brother, Hugh I, who retired to become a Benedictine monk. Eudes married Maud of Burgundy (1065 - 1101), daughter of William I, Count of Burgundy and Stephanie de Longwy.
An interesting incident is reported of this robber baron by an eyewitness Eadmer, biographer of Anselm of Canterbury. While Saint Anselm was progressing through Eudes's territory on his way to Rome in 1097, the bandit, expecting great treasure in the archbishop's retinue, prepared to ambush and loot it. Coming upon the prelate's train, the duke asked for the archbishop, who they had not found. Anselm promptly came forward and took the duke by surprise, saying "My lord duke, suffer me to embrace thee." The flabbergasted duke immediately suffered the bishop to embrace him and offered himself as Anselm's humble servant.
He was a participant in the ill-fated Crusade of 1101.