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Odo of France

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Odo
Image of the coronation of Odo of France from the Grandes Chroniques de France (13th century)
King of West Francia
Reign888–898
CoronationFebruary 888, Compiègne
PredecessorCharles the Fat
SuccessorCharles the Simple
Bornc. 857 [1]
Died1 January 898 (aged c. 41)
La Fère, West Francia
Burial
Abbey of Saint Denis
SpouseThéodrate of Troyes (m. 882)
HouseRobertian
FatherRobert the Strong
MotherN. sister of count Adalhelm, or Adelaide of Tours

Odo (French: Eudes; c. 857 – 1 January 898) was King of West Francia from 888 to 898. He was the first king from the Robertian dynasty, the parent house of the House of Capet. Before assuming the kingship, Odo was the Count of Paris, since 882. His reign marked the definitive separation of West Francia from the Carolingian Empire, which would never be reunited.[2][3]

Family and inheritance

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Odo was the eldest son of Robert the Strong (d. 866), Duke of the Franks, Margrave of Neustria, and Count of Anjou. Regarding the identity of Odo's mother, chronicler Regino of Prüm (d. 915) stated that count Adalhelm was Odo's maternal uncle (Latin: avunculus), meaning that Odo's mother was count Adalhelm's sister. On the other side, some researchers have proposed that Odo's father Robert was married to Adelaide of Tours,[4][5] but those suggestions are not universally acknowledged in scholarly literature,[6] since it was shown that they were based on some misunderstandings in the Chronicle of St-Bénigne.[7][8]

At the time of his father's death at the Battle of Brissarthe in 866, Odo and his brother Robert were still young, and thus king Charles the Bald appointed Hugh the Abbot (d. 886) to govern over counties previously held by Robert the Strong.[9] Since 882, Odo was the Count of Paris,[10] and gained prominence during the reign of Charles the Fat (884-887).[11]. Odo was also the lay abbot of St. Martin of Tours.[12][13]

In 882 or 883 Odo married Théodrate of Troyes.[14] The eleventh-century chronicler Adémar de Chabannes wrote that they had a son, Arnoul (c.882–898)[citation needed], who died shortly after his father. Guy is named as one of the couple's children in an Alan I's charter dated 28 August 903, but genealogist Christian Settipani has argued that the document is false.[15] The genealogical work Europäische Stammtafeln refers to Raoul as a son of Odo by Théodrate, but its primary source is not known.

Reign

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Denier of King Odo

For his skill and bravery in resisting the attacks of Vikings during the 885–886 Siege of Paris, Odo was chosen by the western Frankish nobles to be their king following the overthrow of Emperor Charles the Fat.[16] He was crowned at Compiègne in February 888 by Walter, Archbishop of Sens.[17]

Odo continued to battle against the Vikings and defeated them at Montfaucon, but was soon involved in a struggle with powerful Frankish nobles who supported the claim of Charles the Simple to the throne.[16][18]

In 890 Odo granted special privileges to the County of Manresa in Osona.[19] Because of its position on the front line against the Moorish aggression, Manresa was given the right to build towers of defence known as manresanas or manresanes. This privilege was responsible for giving Manresa its unique character, distinct from the rest of Osona, for the next two centuries.[citation needed]

To gain prestige and support, Odo paid homage to East Francia's King Arnulf in 888.[20][21] Despite this, in 894 Arnulf declared his support for Charles the Simple, and after a conflict which lasted three years, Odo was compelled to come to terms with his rival and surrender a district north of the Seine to him.[16] Odo died in La Fère on 1 January 898.[a][22]

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A character named Count Odo is portrayed by Owen Roe[23] in the 2013 History Channel series Vikings. This fictional Odo actually saves Paris from a Viking attack, but is killed before ever succeeding in becoming king.[24]

Count Odo appears in The Siege of Paris, the second expansion to the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla.[25]

Notes

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  1. ^ "King Odo became ill at La Fere-sur-Oise, fell into a coma, and died on 1 January 898..."[22]

References

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  1. ^ Medieval France: An encyclopedia: "Odo (ca.857-898), King of the West Franks (r.888-898) "
  2. ^ MacLean 2003, p. 49-55.
  3. ^ Bradbury 2007, p. 28-32.
  4. ^ Riché 1993, p. 196.
  5. ^ Bradbury 2007, p. 24.
  6. ^ Jackman 2008, p. 41-47.
  7. ^ Nelson 1991, p. 144.
  8. ^ HenryProject: Robert le Fort (Rotbertus Fortis, Robert the Strong)
  9. ^ Nelson 1992, p. 209-210.
  10. ^ MacLean 2003, p. 50.
  11. ^ Nelson 1992, p. 256.
  12. ^ Ernest Lavisse, Histoire de France, tome ii. (Paris, 1903)
  13. ^ E. Favre, Eudes, comte de Paris et roi de France (Paris, 1893)
  14. ^ Carl Johan Lamm. Oriental Glass of Mediaeval Date Found in Sweden and the Early History of Lustre-painting. Akad. Förl., 1941. p 41
  15. ^ Christian Settipani. La Préhistoire des Capétiens (Nouvelle histoire généalogique de l'auguste maison de France). P. Van Kerrebrouck, 1993. p 402-403
  16. ^ a b c  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Odo, king of the Franks". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 4–5.
  17. ^ Gwatking, H. M., Whitney, J. P., et al. Cambridge Medieval History: Volume III—Germany and the Western Empire. Cambridge University Press:London(1930)
  18. ^ Bradbury 2007, p. 31-32.
  19. ^ Michel Zimmermann. Western Francia: the southern principalities. In: The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. Edited by Rosamond McKitterick, David Abulafia, Michael C. E. Jones. p 433
  20. ^ Anthony Guggenberger. A General History of the Christian Era: The papacy and the empire. B. Herder, 1909. p 162
  21. ^ Paul Edward Dutton. The Politics of Dreaming in the Carolingian Empire. University of Nebraska Press, 1994. p 229
  22. ^ a b Bradbury 2007, p. 32.
  23. ^ "Owen Roe".
  24. ^ worldhistory.org
  25. ^ "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla -- The Siege of Paris - Review". IGN. 11 August 2021. Retrieved August 13, 2021.

Sources

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Regnal titles
Preceded by King of West Francia
888–898 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Count of Paris
882–888 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Margrave of Neustria
886–888
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