Editing Hugh Capet (section)

==Rise of the Robertians==
After the end of the ninth century, the descendants of [[Robert the Strong]] became indispensable in carrying out royal policies. As Carolingian power failed, the great nobles of West Francia began to assert that the monarchy was elective, not hereditary, and twice chose Robertians ([[Odo, Count of Paris|Odo I]] (888–898) and [[Robert I of France|Robert I]] (922–923) as kings, instead of Carolingians.

Robert I, Hugh the Great's father, was succeeded as King of the Franks by his son-in-law, [[Rudolph of France|Rudolph of Burgundy]]. When Rudolph died in 936, Hugh the Great had to decide whether he ought to claim the throne for himself. To claim the throne would require him to risk an election, which he would have to contest with the powerful [[Herbert II, Count of Vermandois]], father of [[Hugh of Vermandois (bishop)|Hugh, Archbishop of Reims]], and allied to [[Henry the Fowler]], King of Germany; and with [[Hugh the Black|Hugh the Black, Duke of Burgundy]], brother of the late king. To block his rivals,<ref>James, pp 183–184; Theis, pp 65–66.</ref> Hugh the Great brought [[Louis IV of France|Louis d'Outremer]], the dispossessed son of [[Charles the Simple]], from his exile at the court of [[Athelstan of England]] to become king as Louis IV.<ref>Fanning, Steven; Bachrach, Bernard S. (eds & trans.) ''The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 916–966'' (New York; Ontario, Can: University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. 28</ref>

This maneuver allowed Hugh to become the most powerful person in France in the first half of the tenth century. Once in power, Louis IV granted him the title of ''dux Francorum'' ("Duke of the Franks"). Louis also (perhaps under pressure) officially declared Hugh "the second after us in all our kingdoms". Hugh also gained power when [[Herbert II, Count of Vermandois|Herbert II]] of [[Vermandois]] died in 943, because Herbert's powerful principality was then divided among his four sons.

Hugh the Great came to dominate a wide swath of central France, from [[Orléans]] and [[Senlis]] to [[Auxerre]] and [[Sens]], while the king was rather confined to the area northeast of Paris ([[Compiègne]], [[Laon]], [[Soissons]]).