The Battle of Soissons was fought on 15 June 923 between an alliance of Frankish insurgent nobles led by

Robert I Robert I may refer to: *Robert I, Duke of Neustria (697–748) *Robert I of France (866–923), King of France, 922–923, rebelled against Charles the Simple *Rollo, Duke of Normandy (c. 846 – c. 930; reigned 911–927) * Robert I Archbishop of ...

, elected king in an assembly the year prior, and an army composed of Lotharingians,

Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Fran ...

, and

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

forces under King

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

's command. The battle took place at Soissons, near Aisne. Robert was killed, but his army won the war. Charles was imprisoned by

Herbert II of Vermandois Herbert II (died 23 February 943), Count of Vermandois, Count of Meaux, and Count of Soissons. He was the first to exercise power over the territory that became the province of Champagne. Life Herbert was the son of Herbert I of Vermandois. He w ...

and held captive until his death in 929.

Rudolph, Duke of Burgundy Rudolph (french: Rodolphe), sometimes called Ralph (; c. 890 – 14/15 January 936), was the king of France from 923 until his death in 936. He was elected to succeed his father-in-law, Robert I, and spent much of his reign defending his realm fr ...

, Robert's son-in-law, succeeded him as ruler of

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

Background

After

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

's death, the Carolingian royal authority began to decline due to the constant invasions of the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

, civil wars and strife with vassals, mainly the

Robertians The Robertians (sometimes called the Robertines in modern scholarship) are the proposed Frankish family which was ancestral to the Capetian dynasty, and thus to the royal families of France and of many other countries. The Capetians appear first ...

. Since its beginning, the political situation of Charles's reign was fragile. Frankish nobility was unwilling to accept his authority. One of his few allies was

Baldwin II of Flanders Baldwin II ( 865 – 10 September 918) was the second margrave (or count) of Flanders, ruling from 879 to 918. He was nicknamed the Bald (''Calvus'') after his maternal grandfather, Emperor Charles the Bald. Rule Baldwin II was born around 86 ...

. Charles' attempts to restore Carolingian power over

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

, the homeland of his ancestors and first wife

Frederonne Frederuna (or Frederonne, Fridarun; french: Frédérune or ; 887–917) was the Queen consort of France by marriage to king Charles III of France. She was born in Goslar, Hanover to Dietrich Theodorich von Ringelheim, Duke of Saxony and his wife ...

, led him to be chosen as

King of Lotharingia The rulers of Lorraine have held different posts under different governments over different regions, since its creation as the kingdom of Lotharingia by the Treaty of Prüm, in 855. The first rulers of the newly established region were kings of ...

in 911 and to a conflict of interest with the local nobility such as

Gilbert of Lorraine Gilbert (or Giselbert) (c. 890 – 2 October 939) was son of Reginar and the brother-in-law of the Ottonian emperor, Otto I. He was duke of Lotharingia (or Duchy of Lorraine, Lorraine) until 939. Gilbert was also lay abbot of Echternach, Stablo-Ma ...

. After 918 the aristocracy of West Francia began to show its disagreement with Charles' governance. The main reason was the increasing power of

Hagano Hagano was a petty nobleman (''mediocris'') who achieved influence in Lotharingia and West Francia during the rule of Charles the Simple (898–922). He was a relative of Charles' first wife, Frederuna, and was originally from Lotharingia. Though ...

, a Lotharingian noble who was the king's favorite counselor. In 920 a group of Frankish nobles led by

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, brother of the previous king

Odo Odo or ODO may refer to: People * Odo, a given name; includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Franklin Odo (born 1939), Japanese-American historian * Seikichi Odo (1927–2002), Japanese karateka * Yuya Odo (born 1990), J ...

, abducted Charles. They tried to force him to dismiss Hagano, but Archbishop Herveus of Reims convinced the insurgents to free the king. The military uprising of the Frankish magnates broke out in 922. Charles had removed from his aunt

Rothilde Rothilde (Latin: ''Rothildis''; 871 – 928/929) was a lady born into the royal family of Western Francia. Biography Rothilde was a daughter of the King of the Franks, Charles the Bald, son of Louis the Pious. Her mother was Charles’ second s ...

, daughter of

Charles II the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...

, the benefit of the abbey of Chelles and transferred it to Hagano. This act directly affected the Robertians' interests, since Rothilde was the mother-in-law of Robert's son,

Hugh the Great Hugh the Great (16 June 956) was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris. Biography Hugh was the son of King Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der E ...

. In an assembly at Soissons on June 29, the rebellious nobles deposed Charles and elected Robert as their king. Archbishop Walter of Sens crowned him the next day in

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

.Pierre Riche.''The Carolingians: A Family Who Forged Europe''. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993. pp. 249–250

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Soissons, Battle of (923) 923 10th century in France Battles involving France Battles of the Middle Ages 10th century in West Francia 920s conflicts