the sea. It was an ingenious method of putting an end to the Scandinavian incursions from that quarter[1].
But it was especially on the eastern frontier of the kingdom that Charles was able to give free scope to his enterprising spirit. The subjects of Zwentibold, King of Lorraine, an illegitimate son of the Emperor Arnulf, had in 898 revolted against him. Charles, called in by a party among them, obtained some successes, but before long had beaten a retreat. But when in September 911 Louis the Child, King of the Germans, who in 900 had succeeded in getting possession of the kingdom of Lorraine, died leaving no children, Charles saw that the moment had come for more decisive interference. Conrad, Duke of Franconia, Louis's successor in Germany, belonged to a family unpopular in Lorraine; Charles, on the contrary, as a Carolingian, could count upon general sympathy. As early as November he was recognised by the Lorrainers as king, and as soon as peace was secured on his western border he was able, without encountering any difficulties, to come and take possession of his new kingdom. We find him already there by 1 January 912, and thenceforward he seems to shew a marked preference for dwelling there. He defended the country against two attacks by Conrad, King of the Germans, and forced his successor, Henry I, to recognise the rightfulness of his authority in an interview which he had with him on a raft midway in the Rhine at Bonn on 7 November 921. His power, both in France and Lorraine, seemed to be firmly established.
This was an illusion. For some time already discontent had been secretly fermenting in the western part of France; the Neustrians were doubtless irritated at seeing the king's exclusive preference for the lords of Lorraine. What fanned their resentment to fury was seeing him take as his confidential adviser a Lorrainer of undistinguished birth named Hagano. In the first place, between 917 and 919, they refused to join the royal ost to repel a Hungarian invasion, and in 922, as Hagano continued to grow in favour, and great benefices and rich abbey's were still heaped upon him, they broke into open revolt. Robert, Marquess of Neustria, brother of the late king, Odo, was at the head of the insurgents, and on Sunday, 30 June 922, he was crowned at Rheims by Walter, Archbishop of Sens.
As a crowning misfortune, Charles, at that moment, lost his most faithful supporter. Hervé, Archbishop of Rheims, who had succeeded Fulk in 900 and had boldly undertaken his king's defence against the revolted lords, died on 2 July 922, and King Robert contrived to secure the archbishopric of Rheims, nominating to it one of his creatures, the archdeacon Seulf. Charles gathered an army composed chiefly of Lorrainers, and on 15 June 923 offered battle to his rival near Soissons.
- ↑ For a detailed account see infra, chap. XIII.
