Hugh was the son of King Robert I of France and
Béatrice of Vermandois, a descendant of
Charlemagne. He was born in
Paris,
Île-de-France,
France. His eldest son was
Hugh Capet who became
King of France in 987. His family is known as the
Robertians. In 922, the barons of
Western Francia, after revolting against the
Carolingian King
Charles the Simple (who fled his kingdom under their onslaught), elected Robert I, Hugh's father, as king of Western Francia. At the death of Robert I, in battle at
Soissons in 923, Hugh refused the crown and it went to his brother-in-law
Rudolph. From then on Herbert II of Vermandois struggled with King Rudolph and Duke Hugh. He took a very active part in bringing King
Louis IV (''d'Outremer'') from the
Kingdom of England in 936. Historians have wondered why the powerful Hugh the Great called the young Louis to throne instead of taking it himself, as his father had done fifteen years earlier. In the first place, he had many rivals, especially
Hugh, Duke of Burgundy (King Rudolph's brother), and
Herbert II, Count of Vermandois, who probably would have challenged his election. But above all, it seems that he was shocked by the early death of his father.
Richerus explains that Hugh the Great remembered his father who had died for his "pretentions" and this was the cause of his short and turbulent reign. In 937, Hugh's second wife, Eadhild, died. Later that year, he married
Hedwige of Saxony, a daughter of King
Henry the Fowler of Germany and
Matilda. Soon after this, his third marriage, he was drawn into a prolonged quarrel with Louis IV. In 938, King Louis IV began attacking fortresses and lands formerly held by members of his family, some held by Herbert II of Vermandois. In 939, King Louis attacked Hugh the Great and Duke
William Longsword of Normandy, after which a truce was concluded, lasting until June. That same year, Hugh, along with Count Herbert II of Vermandois, Count
Arnulf I of Flanders and Duke William Longsword paid homage to the
Emperor Otto the Great, and supported him in his struggle against Louis. When Louis fell into the hands of the
Normans in 945, he was handed over to Hugh in exchange for their young duke Richard. Hugh released Louis IV in 946 on condition that he should surrender the fortress of
Laon. In 948 at a church council at
Ingelheim the bishops, all but two being from Germany, condemned and excommunicated Hugh
in absentia, and returned Archbishop
Artauld to his See at Reims. Hugh's response was to attack Soissons and Reims while the excommunication was repeated by a council at
Trier. In the same year, however, Duke
Gilbert of Burgundy acknowledged himself his vassal and betrothed his daughter to Hugh's son
Otto-Henry.--> ==Family==