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Birth:           820 France
Death:          2 Jul  866 Brissarthe, Anjou, France
Cause of Death: slain

Notes
also Marquis of Anjou, Blois, Auxerre and Nevers
Marquis of Neustria
Lay Abbot of Tours
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_the_Strong
Robert the Strong (c.?830 – 2 July 866), also known as Rutpert, also known as Robert 
IV of Worms, was Margrave in Neustria. His family is named after him and called the 
Robertians. In 853 he was named missus dominicus by Charles the Bald, King of West 
Francia. He was the father of two kings of West Francia Odo (or Eudes) and Robert I 
of France. Robert the Strong was the great-grandfather of Hugh Capet and thus the 
ancestor of all the Capetians.
Origins and rise to power[edit]

Robert was a son of Robert III of Worms.[1] While very little is known about the 
beginnings of the Robertian family, historians have been able to adduce evidence that 
the family of nobles had its origins in Hesbaye (approximately present-day Belgium), or 
perhaps had descended from the family of Chrodegang of Metz—and that Robert was 
the son of Robert III of Worms.

During the reign of Louis the German in East Francia, the Robertian family emigrated 
from East Francia to West Francia. After their arrival in his realm Charles the Bald 
rewarded the family defecting from his enemy by assigning to Robert the lay abbacy of 
Marmoutier in 852. And in 853 he granted the position of missus dominicus in the 
provinces of Maine, Anjou, and Touraine to Robert, giving him de facto control of the 
ancient ducatus Cenomannicus, a large duchy centred on Le Mans and corresponding 
to the ancient realm of regnum Neustriae. Robert's rise came at the expense of the 
established family of the Rorigonids and was designed to curb their regional power 
and to defend Neustria from Viking and Breton raids.

Revolt[edit]

In 858 Robert joined a rebellion against Charles the Bald. With the Bretons under 
Salomon he led the Frankish nobles of Neustria and invited Louis the German to 
invade West Francia and receive their homage. The revolt had been sparked by a 
marriage alliance between Charles and Erispoe, Duke of Brittany, and by the 
investment of Charles’ son, Louis the Stammerer, with the regnum Neustriae, all which 
significantly curtailed the powers of both Salomon and Robert. Charles had given 
Robert the counties of Autun and Nevers in Burgundy; and in 856 Robert had 
defended Autun from Louis the German. But following Erispoe's assassination in 
November 857, he and Salomon rebelled against Charles.

Robert’s Neustrians chased Louis the Stammerer from Le Mans in 858. Later that year, 
Louis the German reached Orléans and received delegations from the Breton and 
Neustrian leaders, as well as from Pepin II. In 861, Charles made peace with Robert 
and appointed him Count of Anjou. Thereafter Robert successfully defended the 
northern coast against a Viking invasion.

In 862 Charles granted Louis the Stammerer, his son, the lay abbacy of Saint Martin of 
Tours—a worthy benefice but small in comparison with the kingdom he had received in 
856, and lost in 858. The young Louis rebelled and, befriended by Salomon who 
supplied him with troops, mounted war against Robert.

In 862 two Viking fleets converged on Brittany; one had recently been forced out of 
the Seine by Charles the Bald, the other was returning from a Mediterranean 
expedition. Salomon hired the Mediterranean fleet to ravage the Loire valley in 
Nuestria.[2] Robert captured twelve of their ships, killing all on board save a few who 
fled. He then hired the former Seine Vikings to attack Salomon’s realm for 6,000 
pounds silver.

Robert’s apparent purpose was to prevent the Vikings from serving Salomon. [a] He 
presumably collected a large amount in taxes for a (non-tributary) Danegeld to pay for 
keeping the Vikings out of Neustria.[b] But peace between the Franks and the Vikings 
did not last long: in 863 Salomon made his peace, but the Vikings, now deprived of 
enemy lands to loot, proceeded to ravage Neustria. Charles now made Robert Lay 
abbot of the influential abbey St. Martin at Tours.[3]

Robert warred with Pepin II in his later years. In 863 he again defended Autun from 
Louis the German; he campaigned in Neustria in 865 and again in 866, shortly before 
his death, dealing with Bretons and Vikings ravaging the environs of Le Mans.

Death and legacy[edit]

On 2 July 866, Robert was killed at the Battle of Brissarthe while defending Francia 
against a joint Breton-Viking raiding party led by Salomon, King of Brittany and the 
Viking chieftain Hastein. During the battle the Viking commander was entrapped in a 
nearby church.[3] Robert removed his armour to start to besiege the church; the 
Vikings then launched a surprise attack and Robert died in the subsequent melee.[3] 
His heroic successes against the Vikings led to his characterization as "a second 
Maccabaeus" in the Annales Fuldenses.

Family[edit]

Robert married Adelaide of Tours, daughter of Hugh of Tours.[3] They had:
Odo of France, King of Western Francia[1]
Robert I of France, King of Western Francia.[1]

Parents
VON WORMSGAU Rutpert (Robert) III (ABT  790 - AFT  834)
D'ORLEANS Waldrada (Wiltrud) (ABT  795 - )

Siblings
____ Robert the Strong (Robert le Fort) (Rutpert IV) ( 820 - 2 Jul  866)

Marriage To OF TOURS Adelaide (Aelis) (ABT  820 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
OF TOURS Hugues II "Le Mefiant" (ABT  765 - ABT Oct  836)
____ Ava (Bava) (Aba) (ABT  779 - )

Children by OF TOURS Adelaide (Aelis) ABT  820 - 
DE PARIS Regilinde (ABT  865 - )
____ Robert I ( 866 - 15 Jun  923)

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