Hugh the Great

Born around 898 to King Robert I and Beatrice of Vermandois, Hugh inherited the title of Margrave of Neustria and became the dominant magnate in a fractured realm. In 936 he helped bring King Louis IV back from England, then married Otto the Great's sister Hedwig of Saxony the following year — binding himself to the Holy Roman Emperor while his new sister-in-law Gerberga became Louis' queen. He spent years fighting Louis even as family ties knit them together. When Hugh died on 16 June 956, he left behind a son, Hugh Capet, who would found the dynasty that his father never claimed for himself.…