Hugh 'the White' CAPET, of France

Notes:

Hugh Capet (c. 940

Hugh married Adelaide of Poitou OF AQUITAINE about 969. Adelaide (daughter of William III 'the Towhead' OF AQUITAINE and Adaela DE NORMANDY) was born in 950 in Guienne, France; died in 1006. [Group Sheet]

1. Avoise CAPET was born in 970; died in 1031.
2. Robert II 'the Pious' KING OF FRANCE was born on 27 Mar 970 in Orleans, Loiret, Orleanais Centre, France; died on 20 Jul 1031 in Melun, France; was buried in St. Denis Basilica, Paris, France.
3. Alice CAPET was born in 974; died in Jan 1079.
4. Adelaide CAPET was born in 976; and died.
5. Gisela CAPET was born in 978; and died.

Hugh married Hedwige OF SAXONY in 939 in Mainz Oder, Ingelheim, Rhineland, Germany. Hedwige (daughter of Henry I 'the Fowler' KING OF SAXONY and Matilda OF RINGLEHEIM) was born about 910; died on 10 May 965 in Aachen, Rhineland, Germany. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Hadwig was Hugh's 3rd wife and sister of Otto.

Robert married Beatrice OF VERMANDOIS about 895. Beatrice (daughter of Count Hurbert I OF SENLIS AND VERMANDOIS and Bertha OF MORVOIS) was born in 880 in Vermandois, Aisne, Picardy, France; died after Mar 931. [Group Sheet]

Henry married Matilda OF RINGLEHEIM about 911. Matilda (daughter of Duke Dietrich 'Theudebert' OF SAXONY) was born in 892; died on 14 Mar 968. [Group Sheet]

Robert married Adelaide de Tours OF AQUITAINE. Adelaide (daughter of Count Hugo OF TOURS) was born about 819 in Indre-et-Loire, Touraine Centre, France; died on 15 Sep 866. [Group Sheet]

Hurbert married Bertha OF MORVOIS. Bertha (daughter of Robert IV 'the Strong' OF FRANCE, Count of Anjou and Adelaide de Tours OF AQUITAINE) was born in 862 in Morvois, France; died in 900. [Group Sheet]

Otto married Hedwig OF GERMANY. [Group Sheet]

Rupert married Wiltrud D'ORLEANS in 808. Wiltrud (daughter of William DE TOULOUSE and Guibour OF HORNBACH) was born in 793; and died. [Group Sheet]

Pepin married Rothaide DE BOBBIO. Rothaide (daughter of Walla DE BOBBIO and Rotlinde DE GELLIONE) was born about 820 in France; died in 858. [Group Sheet]

Robert married Adelaide de Tours OF AQUITAINE. Adelaide (daughter of Count Hugo OF TOURS) was born about 819 in Indre-et-Loire, Touraine Centre, France; died on 15 Sep 866. [Group Sheet]

Ludolf married Oda. Oda died in 912. [Group Sheet]

Rupert married Theodrata about 766. Theodrata died in 789. [Group Sheet]

William married Guibour OF HORNBACH. Guibour was born in 785; and died. [Group Sheet]

Bernard married Cunigunda de Laon DE PARMA. Cunigunda (daughter of Guibour OF HORNBACH) was born in 797; and died. [Group Sheet]

Walla married Rotlinde DE GELLIONE. Rotlinde (daughter of William DE GELLIONE and Gilbour OF HORNBACH) was born about 785; died after 820. [Group Sheet]

Rupert married Wiltrud D'ORLEANS in 808. Wiltrud (daughter of William DE TOULOUSE and Guibour OF HORNBACH) was born in 793; and died. [Group Sheet]

of married of Carinthia LITWINDE, of Carinthia. [Group Sheet]

Pippin married Mistress. [Group Sheet]

Bernard married de LAON. de (daughter of Charibert DE LAON and Giselle BERTRADA, de Merovingia) was born in 722; and died. [Group Sheet]

William married Gilbour OF HORNBACH. Gilbour (daughter of Comte Lambert DE HORNBACH) was born in 760 in Prussia; and died. [Group Sheet]

Rupert married Theodrata about 766. Theodrata died in 789. [Group Sheet]

William married Guibour OF HORNBACH. Guibour was born in 785; and died. [Group Sheet]

Rutpert married Williswint Achelheim OF WORMSGAU about 730. Williswint was born about 710; and died. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Charlemagne, in Latin is Carlous Magnus (Charles the Great), King of the Franks (768-814), and Emperor of the Romans (800-814), who led his Frankish armies to victory over numerous other people and established his rule in most of western and central Europe. He was the best-known and most influential king in Europe in the Middle Ages.

Charlemagne, Charles the Great. With the consent of the great nobles, Charlemagne, Charles the Great, became King of France and Holy Roman Emperor of the West from 771 to 814, following the death of his brother. He was born April 2, 742, probably at Aix-La-Chapelle. When only twelve years old we find him commissioned to receive and welcome the pontiff who came to implore his father's aid against the barbarians that threatened Rome. He probably accompanied his father in his campaigns at an early age, but the first time that we really see him in the field, is on the renewal of the war with the rebellious Duke of Aquitaine.

Upon the death of Pepin, in 768, Charlemagne and his younger brother Carloman succeeded to equal portions of one of the most powerful of European kingdoms, bounded by the Pyrenees, the Alps, Mediterranean, and the ocean. But this would hardly enabled the monarchs, even had they been united, to resist successfully the incursions of the barbarous tribes on the German frontiers of France, which had commenced with the first establishment of the Frankish dominion in Gaul; and which were kept alive by the constant pouring forth of fresh hordes from the overpopulated north. The situation of Charlemagne was rendered yet more perilous by the massive enmity of his brother, and the rebellion of Hunald, the turbulent Duke of Aquitaine. But fortunately Charlemagne had a genius equal to the difficulties of his situation; though his brother refused to aid him, he defeated Huald; and no less illustrious by his clemency than by his valor and military skill, he forgave the vanquished rebel.

Desiderius, the King of Lombardy, had made large encroachments upon the states of the Roman Pontiff, whose cause was taken up by Charlemagne. This led to feuds, which Bertha, his mother, endeavored to appease by arranging a marriage between her son and the daughter of the Lombard. But Charlemagne soon took a disgust to the wife thus imposed upon him, and repudiated her, that he might marry Hildegarde, the daughter of a noble family in Swabia. Thus he married Hildegarde of Swabia (Linzgau), Countess, born in 757/758, died April 30, 782/3.

In 771 Carloman died, and Charlemagne was elected to the vacant throne, to the exclusion of his nephews, whose extreme youth made then incapable of wearing the crown in such troubled times. Gilberge, the widow of Carloman, immediately fled, and sought refuse with Desiderius, the common retreat for all who were hostile to the Frankish monarch.

From that time, sole ruler during a reign of forty-three years, he waged incessant wars on all his borders, subduing rebellions, extending his domains and at the same time advancing Christianity. In 772 he began a thirty-year war with the determined Saxons, after the successful opening of Charlemagne was called to the assistance of Pope Hadrian I. against Desiderius, King of the Lombards. Charlemagne marched two armies over the Alps and conquered Lombardy in 774; returned and beat the Saxons again and hastened into Spain, in 778, to help the Arabian rulers of that country against the Osman Caliph of Cordova. It was in this war that Roland, the hero of romance, fell in the pass of Roncesvalles.

In 799 the Romans revolted against Pope Leo III., and were again brought into subjection by Charlemagne. In return, while he was praying on the steps of St. Peter's Church, he was crowned by Leo with the iron crown of the Western Empire, successor of the Roman Caesars, unexpectedly to him, as he pretended, on Christmas Day, 800, amidst the popular acclamations, "Long life and victory to Charles Augustus, crowned by God, great and pacific Emperor of the Romans!"

The extensive domain of Charlemagne was rendered secure only by ceaseless vigilance and warfare. The short intervals of peace which ere allowed him, he employed in endeavoring to educate and civilize his people. He made a tour through his dominions, causing local and general improvement, reforming laws, advancing knowledge, and building churches and monasteries. Christianity being one of the chief means to which he trusted for the attainment of his grand objects. In this he was no less successful than he had before been in war. With exception of the Eastern empire, France was now the most cultivated nation in Europe, even Rome herself sending thither for skillful workmen, while commerce, roads, and mechanics must have been much advanced, as we may infer from the facility with which marble columns and immense stone crosses were often carried through the whole extent of France upon carriages of native construction. Luxury, too, with its attendant arts had made considerable strides. Vases of gold and silver richly carved, silver tables highly wrought, bracelets, rings, and table cloths of fine linen, might be seen in the houses of the nobles. The people must have been dexterous in working iron, for their superiority in this respect is shown by the severe laws forbidding the exportation of arms.

Charlemagne drove back the Arabs, reduced the Huns, and effectually protected his long line of coast from the attempted invasion of the Northmen. It is said, that upon one occasion he arrived at a certain port just as the pirates were preparing to land; but the moment they learned of the presence of the monarch, they immediately fled in great terror at the mere mention of his name.

It was always an object of first importance with Charlemagne to support the papal authority, as holding out the only means of spreading Christianity, which he justly considered the most effectual instrument he could employ to enlighten and civilize the world.

Charlemagne securely laid the foundations of his empire. He was vigilant, judicious, and energetic, both as a ruler and commander. He fostered agriculture, trade, arts, and letters with untiring zeal, clearing forests, draining swamps, founding monasteries and schools, building cities, constructing splendid palaces, as at Aix, Worms, and Ingelheim, and drawing to his court scholars and poets from all nations, being himself proficient in science, as well as all hardy accomplishments.

Charlemagne was tall and a commanding presence, and could speak and write Latin as well as his native German. He fostered all learning and the fine arts, studying rhetoric and astronomy. He reigned over France, half of Germany, and four-fifths of Italy. The Caliph Haroun-al-Rashid sent an embassy to the court of Charlemagne with gifts in token of good will. Attacked with pleurisy he died after a short illness, in the seventy-second year of age, and the forty-seventh of his reign, on January 28, 814. Some years later Charlemagne was canonized by the church.

Charles married Princess Hildegarde OF SAVOY in 771 in Aachen, Rhineland, Germany. Hildegarde (daughter of Duke Gerold I COUNT DE VINGOU and Emma 'Mother of Kings' OF ALLEMAINIA) was born in 758 in Aachen, Rhineland, Germany; died on 30 Apr 783. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Wife #1 - Hildegard of Savoy. She was 13 when she married Charlemagne, died at age 26 after having 9 children.

Notes:

Latin - Carolus Martellus, German Karl Martell, mayor of the palace of Austrasia (the Eastern part of the Frankish Kingdom) from 715 to 741. He reunited and ruled the entire Frankish realm and stemmed the Muslim invasion in 732. His byname, Martel, means "the hammer". Charles was the illegitimate son of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace of Austrasia. By this period the Merovingian kings of the Frankish realm were rulers in name only. The burden of rule lay upon the mayors of the palace, who governed Austrasia, the eastern part of the Frankish kingdon, and Neustria, its western portion. Neustria bitterly resented its conquest and annexation in 687 by Pepin, who, acting in the name of the king, had reorganized and reunified the Frankish realm.

The assination of Pepin's only surviving legitimate son in 714 was followed a few months later by the death of Pepin himself. Pepin left as heirs three grandsons, and until they came of age, Plectrude, Pepin's widow, was to hold power. As an illegitimate son, Charled Martel was entirely neglected in the will. But he was young, strong and determined, and an intense struggle for power at once broke out in the Frankish kingdom.

Both Charles and Plectrude face rebellion througout the Frankish kingdom when Pepin's will was made known. The king, Chilperic II, was in the power of Ragenfried, mayor of the palace of Neustria, who joined forces with the Frisians in Holland in order to eliminate Charles. Plectrude imprisoned Charles and tried to govern in the name of her grandchildren, but Charles escaped, gathered an army, and defeated the Neustrians in battles at Ambleve near Liege (716) and at Vincy near Cambrai (717). His success made resistance by Plectrude and the Austrasians useless; they submitted, and by 719 Charles alone governed the Franks as mayor.

Assured of Austrasia, Charles now attacked Neustria itself, finally subduing it in 724. This freed Charles to deal with hostile elements elsewhere. He attacked Aquitaine, whose ruler, Eudes (Odo), had been an ally of Ragenfrid, but Charles did not gain effective countrol of southern France until late in his reign. He also conducted long campaigns, some as late as the 730s, against the Frisians, Saxons, and Bavarians, whose brigandage endangered the eastern frontiers of his kingdom. In order to consolidate his military gains, Charles supported St. Boniface and other missionaries in their efforts to convert tribes on the eastern frontier to Christianity.

Ever since their arrival in Spain from Africa in 711, the Muslims had raided Frankish territory, threatening Gaul and on one occasion (725) reaching Burgundy and sacking Autun. In 732 Abd ar-Rahman, the govenor of Cordoba, marched to Bordeaux and defeated Eudes. The Muslims then proceeded north across Aqutaine to the city of Poitiers. Eudes appealed to Charles for assistance, and Charles' cavalry managed to turn back the Muslim onslaught at the Battle of Poitiers. The battle itself may have been only a series of small engagements, but after it there were no more great Muslim invasions of Frankish territory.

In 733, Charles began his campaign to force Burgundy to yield to his rule. In 735 word arrived that Eudes was dead, and Charles marched rapidly across the Loire River in order to make his power felt around Bordeaux. By 739, he had completely subdued the petty chieftains of Burgundy, and he continued to fend off Muslim advances into Gaul during the decade. Charles' health began to fail in the late 730s, and in 741 he retired to his palace at Quierzy-sur-Oise, where he died soon after. Before his death he divided the Merovingian kingdom between his two legitimate sons, Pepin and Carloman. He continued to maintain the fiction of Merovingian rule, refraining from transferring the royal title to his own dynasty.

Charles married Duchess Rotrude de Moselle OF AUSTRASIA about 710 in Liege, Belgium. Rotrude (daughter of Leutwinus OF AUSTRASIA) was born in 690 in Moselle, Lorraine, France; died in 724. [Group Sheet]

Charibert married Giselle BERTRADA, de Merovingia. Giselle (daughter of Roi Chlotar KING DE MEROVINGIA) was born about 695; and died. [Group Sheet]