Odo of France

Odo (French: Eudes; c. 857 – 1 January 898) was the elected King of West Francia from 888 to 898. He was the first king from the Robertian dynasty, the parent house of the House of Capet. Before assuming the kingship, Odo was the count of Paris.[2] His reign marked the definitive separation of West Francia from the Carolingian Empire, which would never be reunited.

Odo
Image of the coronation of Odo of France from the Grandes Chroniques de France (13th century)
King of West Francia
Reign888–898
CoronationFebruary 888, Compiègne
PredecessorCharles the Fat
SuccessorCharles the Simple
Bornc. 857 [1]
Died1 January 898 (aged c. 41)
La Fère, West Francia
Burial
Abbey of Saint Denis
SpouseThéodrate of Troyes (m. 882)
HouseRobertian
FatherRobert the Strong
MotherAdelaide of Tours

Family and inheritance

Odo was the eldest son of Robert the Strong, who was Duke of the Franks, Margrave of Neustria, and Count of Anjou. After his father's death at the Battle of Brissarthe in 866, Odo inherited the Margraviate of Neustria. Odo lost this title in 868 when King Charles the Bald appointed Hugh the Abbot to the title. Odo regained it following the death of Hugh in 886. After 882 he was the count of Paris. Odo was also the lay abbot of St. Martin of Tours.[3][4]

In 882 or 883 Odo married Théodrate of Troyes.[5] The eleventh-century chronicler Adémar de Chabannes wrote that they had a son, Arnoul (c.882–898), who died shortly after his father. Guy is named as one of the couple's children in an Alan I's charter dated 28 August 903, but genealogist Christian Settipani has argued that the document is false.[6] The genealogical work Europäische Stammtafeln refers to Raoul as a son of Odo by Théodrate, but its primary source is not known.

Reign
Denier of King Odo

For his skill and bravery in resisting the attacks of Vikings during the 885–886 Siege of Paris, Odo was chosen by the western Frankish nobles to be their king following the overthrow of Emperor Charles the Fat.[7] He was crowned at Compiègne in February 888 by Walter, Archbishop of Sens.[8]

Odo continued to battle against the Vikings and defeated them at Montfaucon, but was soon involved in a struggle with powerful Frankish nobles who supported the claim of Charles the Simple to the throne.[7][9]

In 890 Odo granted special privileges to the County of Manresa in Osona.[10] Because of its position on the front line against the Moorish aggression, Manresa was given the right to build towers of defence known as manresanas or manresanes. This privilege was responsible for giving Manresa its unique character, distinct from the rest of Osona, for the next two centuries.

To gain prestige and support, Odo paid homage to the East Francia's King Arnulf in 888.[11][12] Despite this, in 894 Arnulf declared his support for Charles the Simple, and after a conflict which lasted three years, Odo was compelled to come to terms with his rival and surrender a district north of the Seine to him.[7] Odo died in La Fère on 1 January 898.[13]

A character named Count Odo is portrayed by Owen Roe[14] in the History Channel's 2013 hit TV series Vikings. This fictional Odo actually saves Paris from a Viking attack, but is killed before ever succeeding in becoming king.[15]

Count Odo appears in The Siege of Paris, the second expansion to the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla.[16]

Odo appears in the game Crusader Kings III as a bookmarked character. Players can play as him from the year 867, when he is ten years old, and may gain an achievement for leading his dynasty to rule the Kingdom of France.

References
  1. Medieval France: An encyclopedia: "Odo (ca.857-898), King of the West Franks (r.888-898) "
  2. Jim Bradbury. The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007. p 28-32
  3. Ernest Lavisse, Histoire de France, tome ii. (Paris, 1903)
  4. E. Favre, Eudes, comte de Paris et roi de France (Paris, 1893)
  5. Carl Johan Lamm. Oriental Glass of Mediaeval Date Found in Sweden and the Early History of Lustre-painting. Akad. Förl., 1941. p 41
  6. Christian Settipani. La Préhistoire des Capétiens (Nouvelle histoire généalogique de l'auguste maison de France). P. Van Kerrebrouck, 1993. p 402-403
  7. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Odo, king of the Franks". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 20 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 4–5.
  8. Gwatking, H. M., Whitney, J. P., et al. Cambridge Medieval History: Volume III—Germany and the Western Empire. Cambridge University Press:London(1930)
  9. Jim Bradbury. The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007. p 31-32
  10. Michel Zimmermann. Western Francia: the southern principalities. In: The New Cambridge Medieval History: Volume 3, C.900-c.1024. Edited by Rosamond McKitterick, David Abulafia, Michael C. E. Jones. p 433
  11. Anthony Guggenberger. A General History of the Christian Era: The papacy and the empire. B. Herder, 1909. p 162
  12. Paul Edward Dutton. The Politics of Dreaming in the Carolingian Empire. University of Nebraska Press, 1994. p 229
  13. Jim Bradbury. The Capetians: Kings of France 987-1328. Bloomsbury Publishing, 2007. p 32
  14. "Owen Roe".
  15. worldhistory.org
  16. "Assassin's Creed: Valhalla -- The Siege of Paris - Review". IGN. Retrieved August 13, 2021.
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