Eudes
King of West Francia · 888-898 · died on 3 January 898
Count of Paris, Odo was the son of Robert the Strong, ancestor of the Robertians. In 885-886 he distinguished himself as one of the heroes of the great siege of Paris by the Northmen: despite the famine and the ravaged countryside, he organized the defence of the city. The siege was only lifted when Charles the Fat, summoned as reinforcement, negotiated the besiegers’ departure in exchange for a tribute.
In 888, on the death of Charles the Fat, deposed for his powerlessness, the kingdom’s great men elected Odo king of the Franks: he was the first non-Carolingian king in the royal succession of West Francia. He constantly had to repel the Northmen and face the ambitions of Charles the Simple, the young Carolingian heir.
His reign, exhausted by raids and rivalries, ended in 898: at his death, the crown passed to Charles the Simple. The Robertians, ancestors of the Capetians, had nonetheless demonstrated their capacity to reign.
In the tree of power
- Era: Robertians
- Predecessor: Charles III le Gros (884-887)
- Successor: Charles III le Simple (898-923)