Eudes [key], c.860–898, count of Paris, French king (888–898). The son of Robert the Strong, he was an antecedent of the Capetian royal house in France. He defended Paris against the Norsemen (885), and after the deposition of Emperor of the West Charles III (Charles the Fat), he was elected by the nobles to succeed Charles in the West Frankish kingdom (France). He continued to battle the Norsemen, but his energies were increasingly diverted by the rising tide of sentiment favorable to the legitimate Carolingian heir, Charles III (Charles the Simple), who in 893 was elected king by a party of nobles. The resulting warfare between the two rival kings, neither of whom controlled much territory, continued intermittently. When Eudes died, Charles was recognized as king.
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