Rudolph of France

Rudolph was born around 890 and married into the line that would give him a crown. When his father-in-law Robert I died in 923, Rudolph was elected king of West Francia. The kingdom he inherited was under constant siege: Viking raiders pushed inland along the waterways, and much of his reign became a grinding effort to keep the realm from splintering under the pressure. He ruled until his death on 14 or 15 January 936, after thirteen years of defending a throne won by election and kept by endurance.