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OF NEUSTRIA Hugh Magnus "The Great"
Birth: 898 Paris, France
Death: 16 Jun 956 Dourdan, France
Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_the_Great
Hugh the Great (898 – 16 June 956) was the Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris.
He was the son of King Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois, daughter of
Herbert I, Count of Vermandois.[1] He was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France. His
eldest son was Hugh Capet who became King of France in 987.[2] His family is known
as the Robertians.[3]
In 922 the barons of western Francia, after revolting against the Carolingian king
Charles the Simple (who fled his kingdom under their onslaught), elected Robert I,
Hugh's father, as King of Western Francia.[4] At the death of Robert I, in battle at
Soissons in 923, Hugh refused the crown and it went to his brother-in-law, Rudolph of
France.[4] Charles, however, sought help in regaining his crown from his cousin
Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, who instead of helping the king imprisoned him.[4]
Herbert then used his prisoner as an advantage in pressing his own ambitions, using
the threat of releasing the king up until Charles' death in 929.[5] From then on Herbert
II of Vermandois struggled with king Rudolph and his vassal Hugh the Great.[4] Finally
Rudolph and Herbert II came to an agreement in 935.[4]
At the death of Rudolph, King of Western Francia, in 936, Hugh was in possession of
nearly all of the region between the Loire and the Seine, corresponding to the ancient
Neustria, with the exceptions of Anjou and of the territory ceded to the Normans in
911.[6] He took a very active part in bringing Louis IV (d'Outremer) from the Kingdom
of England in 936.[7] In 937 Hugh married Hedwige of Saxony, a daughter of Henry
the Fowler of Germany and Matilda, and soon quarrelled with Louis.[8]
In 938 King Louis IV began attacking fortresses and lands formerly held by members of
his family, some held by Herbert II of Vermandois.[9] In 939 king Louis attacked Hugh
the Great and William I, Duke of Normandy, after which a truce was concluded lasting
until June.[10] That same year Hugh, along with Herbert II of Vermandois, Arnulf I,
Count of Flanders and Duke William Longsword paid homage to the Emperor Otto the
Great, and supported him in his struggle against Louis.[11] When Louis fell into the
hands of the Normans in 945, he was handed over to Hugh in exchange for their
young duke Richard.[12] Hugh released Louis IV in 946 on condition that he should
surrender the fortress of Laon.[13] In 948 at a church council at Ingelheim the
bishops, all but two being from Germany, condemned and excommunicated Hugh in
absentia, and returned Archbishop Artauld to his See at Reims.[14] Hugh's response
was to attack Soissons and Reims while the excommunication was repeated by a
council at Trier.[14] Hugh finally relented and made peace with Louis IV, the church
and his brother-in-law Otto the Great.[14]
On the death of Louis IV, Hugh was one of the first to recognize Lothair as his
successor, and, at the intervention of Queen Gerberga, was instrumental in having him
crowned.[14] In recognition of this service Hugh was invested by the new king with
the duchies of Burgundy and Aquitaine.[15] In the same year, however, Giselbert,
duke of Burgundy, acknowledged himself his vassal and betrothed his daughter to
Hugh's son Otto-Henry.[15] On 16 June 956 Hugh the Great died in Dourdan.[1]
Family[edit]
Hugh married first, in 922, Judith, daughter of Roger Comte du Maine & his wife
Rothilde.[1] She died childless in 925.[1]
Hugh's second wife was Eadhild, daughter of Edward the Elder, king of the Anglo-
Saxons, and sister of King Æthelstan.[1] They married in 926 and she died in 938,
childless.[1]
Hugh's third wife was Hedwig of Saxony, daughter of Henry the Fowler and Matilda.
She and Hugh had:
Beatrice married Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine.[a][1]
Hugh Capet.[16]
Emma.(c.?943-aft. 968).[16]
Otto, Duke of Burgundy, a minor in 956.[15]
Odo-Henry I, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1002).[15]
Parents
____ Robert I ( 866 - 15 Jun 923)
OF VERMANDOIS Beatrice (ABT 868 - AFT 26 Mar 931)
Siblings
____ Adele (ABT 885 - )
OF NEUSTRIA Hugh Magnus "The Great" ( 898 - 16 Jun 956)
Marriage To OF SAXONY Hedwig (ABT 915 - 14 Mar 965)
m. ABT 937 his 3rd
Notes
Parents
____ Henry (Heinrich) I "the Fowler" ( 876 - 2 Jul 936)
VON RINGLEHEIM Mathilda (Mechtilde) (ABT 894 - 14 May 968)
Children by OF SAXONY Hedwig ABT 915 - 14 Mar 965
OF FRANCE Beatrice ( 939 - 23 Aug 987)
CAPET Hugh ( 941 - 24 Oct 996)
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