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, Hugh was Margrave of Neustria. He played an active role in bringing King Louis d'Outremer 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 the wife of Louis IV of France. Although he often fought with 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. 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. Charles sought help in regaining his crown from Hugh's cousin Count Herbert II of Vermandois, who instead of helping the king imprisoned him. 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. From then on Herbert II of Vermandois struggled with King Rudolph and Duke Hugh. Finally Rudolph and Herbert II came to an agreement in 935.