General Notes

Name Suffix:<NSFX> of Paris
Name Prefix:<NPFX> Count
Robert I
b. c. 865
d. June 15, 923, Soissons, Fr.
younger son of Robert the Strong of Neustria, and briefly king of France(922-923), or West Francia. His decisive victory over the Northmen atChartres (911) led to a treaty settling one group of these fiercewarriors in Normandy.


Robert faithfully served his older brother, King Eudes, during Eudes'sreign (888-898). Though on Eudes's death he became one of the mostpowerful Frankish lords, inheriting all the family lands between theSeine and the Loire rivers, he swore fealty with other magnates to thenew king, the Carolingian Charles III the Simple. Nevertheless, he wasalready served in his domains by viscounts, officials usually regarded asinstruments of regal power. From 911 onward, his role became moredecisive: his defeat of the Northmen at Chartres paved the way for theTreaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, by which Charles assigned them territoryin Normandy.


Robert's military success greatly enhanced his prestige, and dissensionbetween him and the King became undisguised. When Charles III imprudentlyoffered preferment exclusively to lords from Lorraine, the Neustrianlords, led by Robert, broke into open revolt. They elected Robert king atReims in June 922. In a battle near Soissons a year later, Charles's armywas routed, but Robert was killed. His grandson was Hugh Capet, founderof the Capetian dynasty.