Hugh the Great

Hugh the Great ( 16 June 956) was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris. He was the most powerful magnate in France. Son of King Robert I of France and Beatrice of Vermandois, Hugh was Margrave of Neustria. He played an active role in bringing King Louis IV of France back from England in 936. Seeking an alliance with the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great, he married Otto's younger sister Hedwig of Saxony in 937. They were the parents of Hugh Capet. Hedwig's sister, Gerberga of Saxony, was Louis' wife. Although he often fought against Louis, he supported the accession of Louis and Gerberga's son, Lothair of France.

Biography Hugh was the son of King Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois, a descendant of Charlemagne. He was born in Paris, Île-de-France, France. His eldest son was Hugh Capet who became King of France in 987. His family is known as the Robertians.

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. 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. From then on Herbert II of Vermandois struggled with King Rudolph and Duke Hugh. He took a very active part in bringing King Louis IV (d'Outremer) from the Kingdom of England in 936. Historians have wondered why the powerful Hugh the Great called the young Louis to throne instead of taking it himself, as his father had done fifteen years earlier. In the first place, he had many rivals, especially Hugh, Duke of Burgundy (King Rudolph's brother), and Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, who probably would have challenged his election. But above all, it seems that he was shocked by the early death of his father. Richerus explains that Hugh the Great remembered his father who had died for his "pretentions" and this was the cause of his short and turbulent reign.

In 937, Hugh's second wife, Eadhild, died. Later that year, he married Hedwige of Saxony, a daughter of King Henry the Fowler of Germany and Matilda. Soon after this, his third marriage, he was drawn into a prolonged quarrel with Louis IV. In 938, King Louis IV began attacking fortresses and lands formerly held by members of his family, some held by Herbert II of Vermandois. In 939, King Louis attacked Hugh the Great and Duke William Longsword of Normandy, after which a truce was concluded, lasting until June. That same year, Hugh, along with Count Herbert II of Vermandois, Count Arnulf I of Flanders and Duke William Longsword paid homage to the Emperor Otto the Great, and supported him in his struggle against Louis.

When Louis fell into the hands of the Normans in 945, he was handed over to Hugh in exchange for their young duke Richard. Hugh released Louis IV in 946 on condition that he should surrender the fortress of Laon. 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. Hugh's response was to attack Soissons and Reims while the excommunication was repeated by a council at Trier. In the same year, however, Duke Gilbert of Burgundy acknowledged himself his vassal and betrothed his daughter to Hugh's son Otto-Henry. Emma (c. 943after 968). Otto, Duke of Burgundy, a minor in 956. Odo-Henry (Henry I, Duke of Burgundy) (946–1002)