Historical Figures

Charles III the Simple(879 - 929)

Posthumous son of Louis II dit le Bègue and Adelaide de Frioul. Simple did not mean foolish, but honest. Too young to reign at the death of his brothers, he was dispossessed of his crown by Emperor Charles III the Fat. After the deposition of Charles, the nobles of the kingdom elect the Count of Paris Eudes I as King of France. On January 28, 893, Charles was crowned, in Reims, king of France, but he could not effectively reign until after the death of Eudes, and in 898, he was again crowned king of France. In 911, by the treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, passed with the Viking chief Rollon, Normandy becomes a duchy given to the Normans, the Norman problem is thus resolved. It is however powerless against the feudal dynasties which are constituted, in particular Raoul of Burgundy and Robert of France. Charles lost the Battle of Soissons in 923, against Robert of France. Raoul of Burgundy takes the crown. Charles will take refuge with his vassal Herbert de Vermandois who holds him prisoner, and locks him in a tower where he dies after 6 years of captivity.

Eudes (Capetian family) Robert I (Capetian family)