General Notes

Alias:<ALIA> Hugh the /Great/
REFN: 3939AN
REFN: P3940
Capet, Hugh the Great of Neustria, Count of Paris
Born: CIR 895, Paris, France
Died: 16 JUN 956, Deurdan, Dourdan, France
Notes:
Its is not c lear from the sources which wife is the mother of which
children.
He also ma rried a daughter of Count of Maine.
Father: , Robert I of France, King of Fran ce
Mother: De Vermandois, Beatrice, b. 880
Child 1: , Beatrice, b. 938
Child 2: Paris, Emma of
Child 3: , Odo (Otto) of Burgundy, Duke of Burgundy, b. CIR 945
Child 4: , Otto-Henry the Great of Burgundy, Duke of Burgundy, b. CIR 948
Child 5: , Herbert of Auxerre, Bishop of Auxerre
Married 926 to , Edhilda
C hild 6: Capet, Hugh, King of France, b. ABT 938
Married to , Hadwig
Hugh the Great (d. 956) was duke of the Franks and count of Paris, s
on of King Robert I of France and nephew of King Odo. His eldest son was H
ugh Capet who became King of France in 987.
Hugh's first wife was Eadhild, daughter of Edward the Elder, king of Engla
nd, and sister of King Athelstan. At the death of Rudolph, duke of Burgund
y, in 936, Hugh was in possession of nearly all the region between the Loi
re and the Seine, corresponding to the ancient Neustria, with the excepti
on of the territory ceded to the Normans in 911. He took a very active pa
rt in bringing Louis IV (d'Outremer) from the Kingdom of England in 936, b
ut in the same year Hugh married Hedwige of Saxony, a daughter of Henry t
he Fowler of Germany and Matilda of Ringelheim, and soon quarrelled with L
ouis.
Hugh even paid homage to Otto, and supported him in his struggle against L
ouis. When Louis fell into the hands of the Normans in 945, he was hand
ed over to Hugh, who released him in 946 only on condition that he shou
ld surrender the fortress of Laon. At the council of Ingelheim (948) Hu
gh was condemned, under pain of excommunication, to make reparation to Lou
is. It was not, however, until 950 that the powerful vassal became reconci
led with his suzerain and restored Laon. But new difficulties arose, and p
eace was not finally concluded until 953.
On the death of Louis IV, Hugh was one of the first to recognize Lotha
ir as his successor, and, at the intervention of Queen Gerberga, was instr
umental in having him crowned. In recognition of this service Hugh was inv
ested by the new king with the duchies of Burgundy (his suzerainty over wh
ich had already been nominally recognized by Louis IV) and Aquitaine. B
ut his expedition in 955 to take possession of Aquitaine was unsuccessfu
l. In the same year, however, Giselbert, duke of Burgundy, acknowledged hi
mself his vassal and betrothed his daughter to Hugh's son Otto. At Giselbe
rt's death (April 8, 956) Hugh became effective master of the duchy, but d
ied soon afterwards, on the 16th or 17th of June 956.
In the Divine Comedy Dante meets the soul of Duke Hugh in Purgatory, lamen
ting the avarice of his descendants.