CHAP. II. in the midst of these ravages, and the resistance they provoked, the east of France became assimilated to the condition of the west. The churches were spoiled, Rheims itself not escaping; and, what was more felt than Norman plunder, the Frank chiefs took the opportunity to seize upon the deserted monasteries, and convert them into military holdings. The clergy protested, invoked the aid, and hoisted the banner of the old imperial cause, represented either by the Emperor Arnulph of Germany, or by some of the last weak infant princes of the Carlovingian stock. The first striking and effectual resistance to the ravages of the Normans was offered by Paris in 886. The brave effort was made the subject of an epic poem by Abbo, an ecclesiastic of the time, who witnessed the valour and the sufferings of the besieged; but who has so stuffed his narrative with miracles, that it is difficult to give credence to the rest. The Normans, to the number of 30,000, appeared before the city in November. They erected wooden towers, wherewith to attack those which defended the bridges of the city. The assaults of the Normans and their machines were repulsed by Archbishop Gozlyn, and by Hugh Abbot of Tours, two valiant ecclesiastics, who perished during the siege, and by Eudes, Count of Paris. Duke Henry of Austrasia came to the aid of the besieged in the ensuing summer. He proved unable to dislodge the Normans, and is said to have perished in one of their ambuscades. Charles the Fat then undertook to pay the Normans a certain sum, if they would carry their ravages higher up the river. One of the conditions of this pact was, that the Parisians should allow the boats of the Normans to pass their towers and bridges. This they nobly refused, persevering in their resistance, and compelling the Normans to withdraw on far less. advantageous conditions. This defence, and its close, covered Eudes with glory, and Charles the Fat with disgrace. It apparently sent him to his grave; and no Carlovingian heir appearing to claim the succession, numbers of local chiefs assumed the dignity of king, Arnulph in Germany, Berenger in Italy, Conrad in Alpine Burgundy. Provence had already become a separate monarchy. "In these circumstances, the people of Gaul assembled in council, and with unanimity chose for their king, with the sanction of the Emperor Arnulph of Germany, Duke Eudes, son of Robert, a valiant and a clever man, surpassing all others by the beauty of his person, the height of his stature, the greatness of his wisdom and power.' "France," says Abbo, "was rejoiced, although Eudes was a Neustrian; and Burgundy, though it wanted not dukes, still did not refuse to recognise the illustrious Neustrian, who had thus the honour of placing on his head a triple crown." Eudes was far less successful and heroic as a king, than he had been as a count. In the latter capacity all had supported him; but as king, none of his neighbours adhered to him, save the Duke of Burgundy, who proved ever friendly. The Counts of Flanders and of Vermandois in the north, those of Auvergne and Poitou in the south, attacked and distracted him, so that Eudes was still unable to put an end to the incursions of the Normans. At first the Emperor Arnulph came to his aid, at least against the Normans of the Scheldt. These, after extensive ravages, had entrenched themselves upon the Dyle, within marshes across which the German cavalry could not reach them. The Emperor Arnulph made his horsemen dismount, and at their head fought his way into the Norman entrenchment, slaughtering its occupants. The victory of the Emperor told unfavourably for Eudes. The minds and preferences of men were then hesitating between French and German. Foulques, Archbishop of Rheims, had reared young Charles the CHAP. II. II. CHAP. Simple, a posthumous son of Louis the Stammerer, and waited the opportunity to proclaim him king, in order to oppose him to Eudes. Amongst the other misfortunes which befel the latter, was that of a dreadful famine in 889. One of the advantages of a Carlovingian prince was the possession of many habitations and domains attached to them, which successively maintained a court, and even supported an army. Eudes, whose power only extended to Laon and Compiegne, wanted these; and in order to maintain his followers in the famine, he moved southward, with a large army, to war and feed in the countries beyond the Loire. Foulques in his absence brought forth Charles the Simple and proclaimed him king. And, as Richer the monk of Rheims describes it, all the Belgian race and territory adhered to Charles, whilst the Celtic remained true to Eudes. The latter maintained his ground more by compromise than by conquest. And on his death, in 898, his heir and brother Robert, found it most prudent to submit, and acknowledge Charles the Simple as his suzerain. This brought no diminution of his power. Robert still governed the Duchies of Paris and Orleans. Owing to the absence of the Emperor Arnulph in Italy, to his struggles with the barbarians on his far and eastern frontier after his return, and, subsequently, to the distraction of Germany and the weakness of its princes subsequent to Arnulph's death, Charles the Simple succeeded in building up a kind of empire in the old Austrasian provinces. Robert of France, with the neighbouring Counts of Flanders, Vermandois, and Burgundy, far from opposing him, sought to make use of his name, and of the Church's aid, to put an end by conciliation to the hostility of the Normans. Rollo, their leader on the Seine, had sunk from the freebooter into the settled prince. He was master of Rouen, and II. tolerated its bishop and its clergy. These pointed out CHAP. to the Normans the advantages of regular and peaceable possession; as the means to which, they proposed Rollo's acceptance of the investiture of the Duchy of Normandy for himself and his heirs from Charles the Simple. It was, no doubt, as a suzerain better able to play this part, that Robert and his brother dukes had acknowledged Charles the Simple. The monarch, accompanied by Robert, met Rollo on the river Epte, the Norman boundary, to come to an agreement. The freebooter, not contented with Normandy, wanted a neighbouring province to pillage, as well as his own duchy to live in. How else, he asked, should he subsist? The king and Robert offered Flanders. But Rollo preferred Brittany, and he was gratified in his desire. Rollo consented to do homage by proxy, when the well-known occurrence took place of the Norman soldier, whom the newly-made duke had appointed to perform the act of obeisance, raising Charles's foot so rudely as nearly to upset the monarch. Rollo was not the less metamorphosed from the sea-king into the Norman duke. He was afterwards solemnly baptized at Rouen, Robert of France acting as his godfather, and being a party to the solemn treaty, which enrolled the Duke of Normandy amongst that potent aristocracy which had divided amongst them the empire of Charlemagne. Having made the use of Charles the Simple which they desired, and having obtained peace and security from the Normans, they proceeded to get rid of the Carlovingian and his supremacy. Charles was not contented to play the Roi Fainéant. He had a favourite, named Hagano, who taught him to pretend to real empire, and who even induced him to cross the Rhine in order to oppose Conrad. This prince had been elected King of Germany on the extinction of the Carlovingians of that country in 911, the same year in which the СНАР. accord with Rollo had taken place. Such a revolution, accomplished in Germany, prompted Robert to reclaim the crown in France. He united the French and German interests against Charles. This prince's truest and warmest friend, Foulques, Archbishop of Rheims, was slain by some followers of the Count of Flanders, with whom he was at feud. Charles was thus compelled to invoke German aid to support him against the French dukes. But Conrad and his successor, Henry the Fowler, could give but temporary attention to the affairs of France. Charles therefore was driven from the imperial territory of Soissons, Laon, and Rheims, and Robert was crowned in the cathedral of the latter town (922), Herivée, its archbishop, being on his death-bed. In the following year, Charles having secured Norman aid, undertook an expedition to recover Soissons. He was encountered near that town by Robert, who, conspicuous by his white beard, received the thrust of a lance, and fell dead on the field, his son Hugh, and Heribert of Vermandois, at the same time, routing the forces of Charles, and putting him to flight. The death of Robert defeated the aim at that time of raising the Duchy into the kingdom of France, by making it paramount over the imperial lands and provinces around Rheims. Young Hugh, son of Robert, could not at once assume his father's superiority amongst the French dukes; and all the advantages and conquests arising from the expulsion of Charles, fell to Heribert, Count of Vermandois, or of St. Quentin. It was probably to counterbalance his power, that Hugh, instead of placing on his own head the crown of his father, preferred to confer it upon Raoul or Rodolph, Duke of Burgundy. This prince had married Hugh's sister Emma; and Glaber pretends that Hugh consulted Emma, asking her whether she would like to see her husband Rodolph, or her brother Hugh, crowned. Emma is said to have preferred the election of her hus |