EUDES

died Jan. 1, 898 German Odo count of Paris and the first king of the West Franks (France) who was not of Merovingian or Carolingian blood. The son of Robert the Strong, from whom all the Capetian kings of France descended, Eudes successfully defended Paris against the besieging Vikings (or Normans) in 885886 and gained election as king as a result. Internal opposition meant that his position was never secure, however, and between 893 and 897 he had to fight off the challenge of the future Charles III the Simple, who was supported by Archbishop Fulk of Reims and Count Baldwin II of Flanders. Although Eudes won a victory over the Vikings at Montfaucon in 888, their depredations if anything became worse during his reign.