Hugh III (c. 960 – c. 1015) became

Count of Maine This is a list of counts and dukes of Maine. The capital of Maine was Le Mans. In the thirteenth century it was annexed by France to the royal domain. Dukes of Maine (''duces Cenomannici'') * Charivius ( fl. 723) – appears as ''dux'' in a docu ...

on his father Hugh II's death, c. 991.

Life

He was the son of

Hugh II, Count of Maine Hugh II (920–before 992), Count of Maine, son of Hugh I, Count of Maine, and an unknown mother, probably a daughter of Gauzlin II, Count of Maine. He was, like his father, a vassal of his uncle Hugh the Great. After the death of Hugh the Gre ...

and succeeded his father as Count of Maine Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten'', Neue Folge, Band III Teilband 4 (Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, Marburg, Germany, 1989), Tafel 692 He constructed the fortress at Sablé but by 1015 it ended up being held by the viscounts of Maine. He was a supporter of

Richard II, Duke of Normandy Richard II (died 28 August 1026), called the Good (French: ''Le Bon''), was the duke of Normandy from 996 until 1026. Life Richard was the eldest surviving son and heir of Richard the Fearless and Gunnor. He succeeded his father as the ruler of ...

.K.S.B. Keats-Rohan believes they were brothers-in-law, see: K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, Poppa of Bayeux And Her Family, ''

The American Genealogist ''The American Genealogist'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal which focuses on genealogy and family history. It was established by Donald Lines Jacobus in 1922 as the ''New Haven Genealogical Magazine''. In July 1932 it was renamed ' ...

'', Vol. 72 No.4, (July/October 1997), p. 194 & n. 26 Francis Palgrave, ''The History of Normandy and of England'' (London: J.W. Parker & Son, 1864), pp. 123, 125 Allied with

Odo II, Count of Blois Odo II () (983 – 15 November 1037) was the count of Blois, Chartres, Châteaudun, Beauvais and Tours from 1004 and count of Troyes (as Odo IV) and Meaux (as Odo I) from 1022. He twice tried to make himself a king: first in Italy after 1024 a ...

, he fought against the kings

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...

and

Robert II of France Robert II (c. 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious (french: link=no, le Pieux) or the Wise (french: link=no, le Sage), was King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his ...

, but he was forced to acknowledge the

Count of Anjou The Count of Anjou was the ruler of the County of Anjou, first granted by Charles the Bald in the 9th century to Robert the Strong. Ingelger and his son, Fulk the Red, were viscounts until Fulk assumed the title of Count of Anjou. The Robertians ...

as his

suzerain Suzerainty () is the rights and obligations of a person, state or other polity who controls the foreign policy and relations of a tributary state, while allowing the tributary state to have internal autonomy. While the subordinate party is calle ...

. During the siege of

Tillières Tillières () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. History On 15 December 2015, Le Longeron, Montfaucon-Montigné, La Renaudière, Roussay, Saint-André-de-la-Marche, Saint-Crespin-sur-Moine, Saint-G ...

, Hugh narrowly escaped from the Norman forces pursuing him by disguising himself as a local shepherd. Throughout the tenth century the dynasty of counts of Maine, of which Hugh III, his father Hugh II, and grandfather Hugh I were all members struggled to control both the city of

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

and church investitures and in that effort were in near constant warfare with the Bishops of Le Mans, notably Segenfridus and Avesgaudus. Between 995 and 1015 Hugh III donated several properties including four

vineyard A vineyard (; also ) is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice. The science, practice and study of vineyard production is known as viticulture. Vineyards ...

s and three mills in Le Mans to the monks of

Mont Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

.Cassandra Potts, ''Monastic Revival and Regional Identity in Early Normandy''(The Boydell Press, Woodbridge, 1997), pp. 93-4 When approached by Abbot Hildebert in 1014 in requesting more land in the area of Le Mans, Hugh III generously gave the land of Voivres and personally placed the offering on the altar at Mont Saint-Michel. Hugh died . Maine in France (1789)

Issue

While the name of his wife is not known it is very probable she was a sister of Judith of Rennes wife of

.K.S.B. Keats-Rohan, Poppa of Bayeux And Her Family, ''The American Genealogist'', Vol. 72 No.4, (July/October 1997), p. 194 & n. 26 Their son was: *

Herbert I, Count of Maine Herbert I (died 13 April 1035), called Wakedog (from French ''Eveille-chien'', Latinized as ''Evigilans Canis''), was the count of Maine from 1017 until his death. He had a turbulent career with an early victory that may have contributed to his la ...

who succeeded him.

References

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hugh 03 of Maine 960s births 1015 deaths Counts of Maine