General Notes

Robert THE STRONG (LE FORT) (d. Sept. 15, 866, Brissarthe, Fr.), count of Anjou and of Blois, appears as rector of the abbey of Marmoutier in 852, and as one of Charles the Bald's missi dominici in 853; but soon afterward he was among those who rebelled against Charles and invited the king's half-brother, Louis the German, to invade West Francia.
In 860 Robert came to terms with Charles, who made him count of Anjou and of Blois and entrusted him with the defense of that part of his kingdom which lay between the Seine and the Loire, a district which had suffered greatly from the ravages of the Normans and the Bretons. A great victory over the Northmen in 865 was followed by the King's grant to Robert of full control over Neustria early the next year. He was killed in battle at Brissarthe in Oct. 866, leaving two sons, Odo or Eudes, and Robert, both of whom became kings of the Franks. The memory of Robert's exploits brought great prestige to his family. His sons, Eudes and Robert I, both became kings of West Francia (or France); and the Capetian kings (from 987) were his direct descendants. [Encyclopaedia Britannica CD '97; Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1961 ed., Vol. 19, p. 348: ROBERT THE STRONG]