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Birth:          ABT  884 
Death:          23 Feb  943 St. Quentin

Notes
b 880/890 but some records show 884
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_II,_Count_of_Vermandois
Herbert II (died 23 February 943), Count of Vermandois, Count of Meaux, and Count of 
Soissons. He was the first to exercise power over the territory that became the 
province of Champagne.
Herbert was the son of Herbert I of Vermandois.[1] He was apparently well aware of 
his descent from Charlemagne.[2] Herbert inherited the domain of his father and in 
907, added to it the Abbey of St. Medard, Soissons. He took the position of Lay abbot 
entitling him to the income of those estates.[1] His marriage with a daughter of king 
Robert I of France brought him the County of Meaux.[3]

In 922, when Seulf became Archbishop of Rheims, in an effort to appease Herbert II 
Seulf solemnly promised him he could nominate his successor.[4] In 923, Count 
Herbert took the bold step of imprisoning King Charles III, who died still a captive in 
929.[a][3] Then, on the death of Seulf in 925, with the help of King Rudolph, he 
acquired for his second son Hugh (then five years old) the archbishopric of Rheims.[5] 
Herbert took the additional step of sending emissaries to Rome to Pope John X to gain 
his approval, which that pope gave in 926.[4] On his election young Hugh was sent to 
Auxerre to study.[2]

In 926, on the death of Count Roger of Laon, Herbert demanded this countship for 
Eudes, his eldest son.[6] He took the town in defiance of King Rudolph leading to a 
clash between the two in 927.[2] Using the threat of releasing King Charles III, who he 
held captive, Herbert managed to hold the city for four more years.[2] But after the 
death of Charles in 929, Rudolph again attacked Laon in 931 successfully defeating 
Herbert.[2] The same year the king entered Rheims and defeated archbishop Hugh, 
the son of Herbert.[7] Artaud became the new archbishop of Reims.[7] Herbert II then 
lost, in three years, Vitry, Laon, Château-Thierry, and Soissons.[8] The intervention of 
his ally, Henry the Fowler, allowed him to restore his domains (except Rheims and 
Laon) in exchange for his submission to King Rudolph.

Later Herbert allied with Hugh the Great and William Longsword, duke of Normandy 
against King Louis IV, who allocated the County of Laon to Roger II, the son of Roger 
I, in 941. Herbert and Hugh the Great took back Rheims and captured Artaud.[9] 
Hugh, the son of Herbert, was restored as archbishop.[9] Again the mediation of the 
German King Otto I in Visé, near Liège, in 942 allowed for the normalization of the 
situation.

Death and legacy[edit]

Herbert II died on 23 February 943 at Saint-Quentin, Aisne (the capital of the county 
of Vermandois).[1] His vast estates and territories were divided among his sons.[10] 
Vermandois and Amiens went to the two elder sons while Robert and Herbert, the 
younger sons, were given the valuable holdings scattered throughout Champagne.[10] 
On Robert's death his brother's son Herbert III inherited them all. Herbert III's only son 
Stephen died childless in 1019–20 thus ending the male line of Herbert II.[10]

Family[edit]

Herbert married Adele, daughter of Robert I of France.[11] Together they had the 
following children:
Eudes of Vermandois, Count of Amiens and of Vienne, (c.?910–946)[1]
Adalbert I, Count of Vermandois (c.?915–987), married Gerberge of Lorraine[1]
Adela of Vermandois (910–960), married 934 Count Arnulf I of Flanders[1]
Herbert 'the Old' (c.?910–980), Count of Omois, Meaux and Troyes, and abbot of St. 
Medard, Soissons, married 951 Eadgifu of Wessex daughter of Edward the Elder King 
of England and widow of Charles III King of France.[b][1]
Robert of Vermandois, Count of Meaux and Châlons († 967)[1]
Luitgarde of Vermandois (c.?915-20–978), married 940 William I, Duke of Normandy;[1] 
married secondly, c.?943–44, Theobald I of Blois[c][12] Their son was Odo I, Count of 
Blois.[10]
Hugh of Vermandois (920–962), Archbishop of Reims[1]
Guy I, Count of Soissons (d. 986).

Parents
____ Herbert I ( 840 -  907)
DE MORVOIS Beatrice (Bertha) (ABT  855 - )

Siblings
OF VERMANDOIS Beatrice (ABT  868 - AFT 26 Mar  931)
____ Herbert II (ABT  884 - 23 Feb  943)
DE VERMANDOIS Cunegundis (ABT  892 - 12 Dec  949)
DE VERMANDOIS Adela (ABT  895 - )

Marriage To ____ Adele (ABT  885 - )
    m. BEF  907 

Notes
her 2d

Parents
____ Robert I ( 866 - 15 Jun  923)
OF VERMANDOIS Beatrice (ABT  868 - AFT 26 Mar  931)

Children by ____ Adele ABT  885 - 
OF VERMANDOIS Robert (ABT  912 - Aug  967)
DE VERMANDOIS Luitgarde (ABT  914 - 9 Feb  978)
DE VERMANDOIS Adele (Alice) (Alix) (ABT  915 - ABT  960)
____ Adalbert (Albert) I "the Pious" (ABT  917 - 8 Sep  987)
DE VERMANDOIS Gui (ABT  920 - AFT 13 Jun  989)

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