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Robert the Strong | |
|---|---|
| Count of Worms Count of Orléans Count of Anjou Count of Tours Count of Blois | |
 Robert the Strong's image in a genealogy of French kings (c. 1384) | |
| Count of Worms,Orléans,Anjou,Tours andBlois | |
| Tenure | In Worms:c. 836/837 – 2 July 866 In Orléans:c. 861 – 2 July 866 In Anjou:c. 862 – 2 July 866 In Tours: 851 – 2 July 866 In Blois: 834 – 2 July 866 |
| Predecessor | Guntram (in Worms) William (in Orléans) Title established (in Anjou) Vivian (in Tours) William of Blois (in Blois) |
| Successor | Odo |
| Born | c. 830 Worms,Carolingian Empire |
| Died | 2 July 866(866-07-02) (aged 35–36) Battle of Brissarthe |
| Noble family | Robertians |
| Spouses | N. sister of count Adalhelm, possiblyEmma, orAdelaide of Tours |
| Issue | Odo (or Eudes) Robert I of France |
| Father | Robert III of Worms (most probably) |
| Mother | Waldrada of Worms (most probably) |
Robert the Strong (French:Robert le Fort; c. 830 – 866) was the father of two kings of West Francia:Odo (or Eudes) andRobert I of France. His family is named after him and called theRobertians. In 853, he was namedmissus dominicus byCharles the Bald, King ofWest Francia. Robert the Strong was the great-grandfather ofHugh Capet and thus the ancestor of all theCapetians.
The parentage of Robert the Strong is obscure.[1] While very little is known about the beginnings of the Robertian family, speculative proposals have been made. According to one proposal, Robert was a son ofRobert III of Worms.[2][3] Far more speculatively, mainly based on the use of the name Robert, or similar names, it has been proposed for example that his family had its origins in theHesbaye region in present-day eastern Belgium, or perhaps descended from the family ofChrodegang of Metz. However, these proposals are unproven.[4]
According to the Worms proposal, during the reign ofLouis the German inEast Francia, the Robertian family emigrated from East Francia toWest Francia. After their arrival in his realmCharles the Bald rewarded the family defecting from his enemy by assigning to Robert thelay abbacy ofMarmoutier in 852.[1]
In 853, king Charles granted the position ofmissus dominicus in the provinces ofMaine,Anjou, andTouraine to Robert, giving himde facto control of the ancientducatus Cenomannicus, a large duchy centred onLe Mans and corresponding to the ancient realm ofregnum Neustriae. Robert's rise came at the expense of the established family of theRorigonids and was designed to curb their regional power and to defend Neustria fromViking andBreton raids.[citation needed]
In 858 Robert joined a rebellion against Charles the Bald. With the Bretons underSalomon he led theFrankish 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 andErispoe,King of Brittany, and by the investment of Charles' son,Louis the Stammerer, with theregnum Neustriae, all which significantly curtailed the powers of both Salomon and Robert. Charles had given Robert the counties ofAutun andNevers inBurgundy; 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.[citation needed]
Robert's Neustrians chased Louis the Stammerer from Le Mans in 858. Later that year, Louis the German reachedOrléans and received delegations from the Breton and Neustrian leaders, as well as fromPepin II of Aquitaine. In 861, Charles made peace with Robert and appointed himCount of Anjou. Thereafter, Robert successfully defended the northern coast against a Viking invasion.[citation needed]
In 862 Charles granted Louis the Stammerer, his son, the lay abbacy ofSaint 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.[citation needed]
In 862 two Viking fleets converged on Brittany; one had recently been forced out of theSeine by Charles the Bald, the other was returning from aMediterranean expedition. Salomon hired the Mediterranean fleet to ravage the Loire valley in Neustria.[5] 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.[citation needed]
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 RobertLay abbot of the influential abbeySt. Martin atTours.[6]
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.[citation needed]
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On 2 July 866, Robert was killed at theBattle of Brissarthe while defending Francia against a joint Breton-Viking raiding party led bySalomon, King of Brittany and the Viking chieftainHastein. During the battle the Viking commander was entrapped in a nearby church. Robert removed his armour to start to besiege the church; the Vikings then launched a surprise attack and Robert died in the subsequent melee.[6] He left behind a nine-year-old son, Odo (who would later be King of France), as his heir. His heroic successes against the Vikings led to his characterization as "a secondMaccabaeus" in theAnnales Fuldenses.[citation needed]
Regarding the number of Robert's marriages, and identities of his spouses, several solutions have been proposed in scholarly literature.[7][8]
ChroniclerRegino of Prüm (d. 915) stated that maternal uncle (Latin:avunculus) of Robert's sonOdo was count Adalhelm. If taken literally, Regino's statement would mean that Odo's mother and Roberts wife was a sister of Adalhelm,[9] but some researchers have proposed alternative genealogical solutions, suggesting that Adalhelm was Odo's paternal uncle, and thus Robert's brother, rather than brother-in-law,[10][11][3] while others have suggested that Adalhelm was married to Robert's sister, rather than the other way around.[12]
Some scholars have also proposed that Robert (b. around 830) was during his last years of life (d. 866) married toAdelaide of Tours,[6] who was a decade older (b. around 820), and married (since late 830s) toConrad the Elder, Count of Argengau (d. after 862). Since Robert's son Odo becameCount of Paris in 882,[13] proving himself as an able military leader and thus at least in his twenties, it is assumed that Robert was already married during 850s. That would exclude the possibility of Adelaide being Odo's mother and Robert's wife at that time.[9] Robert's younger son and namesakeRobert was born c. 866, when Adelaide was already in her late forties. Attempting to resolve the question of Adelaide ever being married to Robert, some researchers have pointed out that their assumed marriage was in fact based on some misunderstandings in the Chronicle of St-Bénigne.[7][14][15]
Based on the new interpretation of data from theLiber memorialis of theRemiremont Abbey, some researchers have suggested that later entries on certainRobert andAdelaide from 907 are in fact referring to Robert's son - then count and future kingRobert (d. 923) and his first wife Adelaide, and it was also suggested that the name of Robert's wife might have beenEmma.[16]
From one or two wives, Robert had at least two sons:
| Preceded by | Duke of Maine 851–856 | Succeeded by |
| New title | Margrave of Neustria 861–866 | Succeeded by |
| Count of Anjou 861–866 | Succeeded by | |
| Preceded by | Count of Nantes 861–866 | Succeeded by |
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