Odo, Count of Paris

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Odo (or Eudes) (c. 856 - January 1, 898) was a king of the Franks (888 - 898) and considered the first French king. He was a son of Robert le Fort, count of Anjou, and is sometimes referred to as duke of France and also as count of Paris.

Odo proved his skill and bravery resisting the Norman attacks during the first Siege of Paris. When the emperor Charles II ("the fat") was deposed in November 887, by the diet of Tribur (Diète de Tibur), mainly for his inability to contend with the Normans and the chief feudal magnats, Odo was chosen as king in his stead, and was crowned at Compiègne in February 29, 888.

Odo continued to battle against the Normans, whom he defeated at Montfaucon and elsewhere, but was soon involved in a struggle with some powerful nobles, who supported the claim of Charles, the 12 years old third son of Louis II, le Bègue (the Stammerer), who later became Charles III (Charles "the Simple".

To garner legitimacy for his kingship, especially after the corronation of Charles in Saint-Rémi de Reims in 893, Odo owned himself a vassal of the Germanic king, Arnulf of Carinthia, but in 894 Arnulf declared for Charles. Finally, after a struggle that lasted three years, Odo had to come to terms with Charles conceding a district north of the Seine. Charles had thus ruled only over the areas between the Rein and the Meuse. After Odo's death at La Fère on January 1, 898 the western Francs kingdom was reunited, ostensibly under the rule of Charles, but with a strong influence of the Robert, the count of Paris and Odo's brother.

Sources

• Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a work that is now in the public domain.