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. He backed the succession of Louis and Gerberga's son Lothair, keeping the throne in other hands one last time.