Emma of France

The Rise of the Robertians Emma was a member of the Robertians, a Frankish aristocratic family in West Francia which eventually gave rise to the Capetian dynasty, whose members ruled France from the accession of Hugh Capet in 987 until 1328. The Robertians' rise to prominence began with Emma’s grandfather, Robert the Strong. Descended from Austrasian nobility, he was a royal military commander and administrative official favored by the Carolingian emperor and king of West Frankish king, Charles the Bald. He defended royal lands in Neustria, as well as several other parts of the region, and was involved in defending against Viking attacks. Despite brief moments of rebellion, he ultimately was made lay abbot of the monastery of St-Martin at Tours, an office that signaled and enhanced his political status within the realm. Although the identity of his wife is contested, he is believed to have been married to a woman named Adelaide, the daughter of Count Hugh of Tours, with whom he had two sons (Odo and Robert) before his death defending Francia against the Vikings north of Angers at Brissarthe in 866. Two significant focuses of Odo's reign lay in balancing Carolingian and Robertian leadership and preventing further Viking attacks. When Odo died a decade later with no heirs, Charles the Bald's grandson, Charles the Simple, was recognized as his successor. Parents and Early Life King Robert I had two daughters. The first is often called Adela by scholars, but her actual name remains unknown. She is the daughter of Robert I’s first wife and she married Herbert II of Vermandois. Robert I’s second daughter was Emma. Scholars are divided over whether she was the child of Robert’s first wife, or his second wife, Beatrix of Vermandois. Due to the age gap between her and her younger brother, Hugh the Great, who was the son of Beatrix, scholars have largely inferred that she was Robert I’s by his first wife. As a result, the kingdom became a kind of “conglomeration” of independent principalities, rather than a united territory. Despite his powerful position, Robert I exhibited very little interest in gaining the throne, and actively supported Charles the Simple's claim to it. In 920, Robert I joined forces with Charles's opponents, a move met with much criticism; his contemporaries called him a tyrant and usurper, and claimed he was envious of Charles’ power. After defeating Charles in 920 and again in 922, Robert I was elected king by an assembly of West Frankish magnates on 29 June 922. This second non-Carolingian ruler would reign for only a year, and was killed in a battle against Charles at Soissons in 923.Despite Robert's death, Charles the Simple was unable to regain his throne, and was taken into captivity, where he remained until his death in 929. Instead, Emma's husband Raoul was designated by the magnates as the next king of West Francia in 923. As the son-in-law of Robert I, and the son and successor of Duke Richard "the Justiciar" of Burgundy, Raoul marked a transition of sorts between the Robertians and the Carolingians. He was viewed as a “compromise candidate” between the stronger lords, Hugh the Great and Herbert II of Vermandois, who were better prepared to accept him than each other. Notably, contemporaries credited Emma with his successful claim to the throne: Ralph Glaber, a Burgundian monk, reports that when Hugh wrote to Emma asking who should be king, she wrote back stating that she would “rather embrace her husband’s knees than her brother’s”. Ralph thus was elected at Soissons on 13 July 923, and crowned by Archbishop Walter of Sens at the ancient abbey of St-Medard. == Marriage to Raoul ==

Particularly in times of insecurity and rivalry for the throne, a wife often served as a king's most loyal and trustworthy ally. A wife such as Emma, powerful and clever, was therefore the ideal partner for a new ruler like Raoul, who many considered a usurper due to his lack of direct relation to previous rulers. Marriage to the “beautiful and intelligent’ Emma offered significant advantages. Not only did Emma provide Raoul significant support in terms of political allies, but she also proved a capable military and political strategist. == Military campaigns, 927-933 ==

Emma was active in a number of military campaigns and political maneuvers. As the historian Simon MacLean writes, one of her influential contemporaries, the scholar Flodoard of Reims, “mentions Emma’s direct involvement in the politics and military affairs of her kingdom as if it were normal, without gendered criticism,” implying that women wielding such substantial political power was at this point normalized in Francia. Laon was a strategically important stronghold in the north of Francia, built atop a large, steep hill; it also was one of Raoul’s favourite royal residences. Therefore, Raoul, who had already allowed Herbert his seizure of Rheims, granted Laon to Count Roger’s son instead. Herbert II, insulted, launched an offensive against Raoul at Laon, and in 927 proclaimed Charles the Simple king at St. Quentin. During their reign, the king, following successful military expeditions, had entrusted Emma more and more frequently with custody of the fortified towns which he had taken. Therefore, over the winter of 927-8, Raoul placed Emma in control of Laon; she defended the city adroitly, and Herbert was eventually obliged to capitulate. In 928, however, when the king left Laon for Burgundy, Emma refused to accompany him out of the city. At the time, Hugh the Great and Herbert II of Vermandois had allied against Raoul; Emma’s refusal to leave Laon thus may have been prompted either by a sense of loyalty to her brother, or by a desire to resist his advances and protect her husband's interests in the north. Only after Raoul negotiated a peace with the two rebels did she depart for Burgundy, leaving Laon behind for Herbert II to seize. Avallon, 931 Three years later, Emma led a campaign to seize the fortress of Avallon from Giselbert, the count of the Burgundian city of Autun, prompting Giselbert’s defection from Raoul’s kingdom (MacLean). Raoul supported Emma's initiative, as the center of his power in Burgundy lay in the counties of Autun, Avallon, and Lassois. At the same time, this campaign also appears to have been a continuation of a longstanding family conflict between the families of Giselbert and Hugh (and thus, by extension, Emma), in which Emma helped to advance her own kindred's goal of eliminating the pesky Giselbert. Château-Thierry, 933 In 933, Emma mounted a successful siege of the Vermandois stronghold of Château-Thierry. In this period, Raoul and Hugh the Great had united against Heribert; therefore, Emma’s marital and familial allegiances were in alignment, making it possible for the siege to enjoy the political and military support of both her husband (whose army she led) and her brother. == Death and legacy ==

Emma died only a few years later; different sources report her death to have occurred in either 934 or 935. Raoul survived her for only a brief time, dying in 936. Neither of their children would succeed them on the throne, and little evidence about them survives in the years following Emma and Raoul's death. Hugh's substantial political and military power eventually led to several conflicts with Louis IV and numerous other powerful men in the kingdom. Louis IV, however, remained king until his death, and Hugh the Great supported his son, Lothar, as the next ruler. When Hugh the Great died, his son Hugh Capet took over his father’s position and proved an ally to Lothar. However, the king's policies antagonized Hugh Capet, which precipitated conflict between the two. Following a vision from Saint Valery, in which the saint told Hugh his family would rule for seven generations, Hugh formed an official alliance against Lothar. While the rebellion was unsuccessful and Hugh and Lothar reluctantly made peace, they never achieved the same partnership they had once exhibited. When Lothar's son, Louis V, became king, he only ruled for one year (986-987) and died childless. While there was some competition for the West Francia throne, Hugh Capet became king with relatively little opposition. Emma’s family, then, found survival in West Francia through her younger brother’s line, and the founding of the Capetian dynasty. ==References==