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Birth:           953 Laon, Champagne
Death:          ABT 21 May  993 Kerker, Orleans, France
Burial:         St. Servatus, Maastricht

Notes
d 21 May 992/994
set aside for the French throne by Hugh Capet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles,_Duke_of_Lower_Lorraine
Charles (953–993) was the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 977 until his death.

Born at Reims in the summer of 953, Charles was the son of Louis IV of France and 
Gerberga of Saxony and the younger brother of King Lothair.[1] He was a sixth 
generation descendant of Charlemagne.[1][2] When his father was captured by the 
Normans and held, both his sons were demanded as ransom for his release.[3] Queen 
Gerberga would only send Charles, who was then handed over and his father was 
released into the custody of Hugh Capet.[3]

In or before 976, he accused Lothair's wife, Emma, daughter of Lothair II of Italy, of 
infidelity with Adalberon, Bishop of Laon.[4] The council of Sainte-Macre at Fismes 
(near Reims) exonerated the queen and the bishop, but Charles maintained his claim 
and was driven from the kingdom, finding refuge at the court of his cousin, Otto II. 
Otto promised to crown Charles as soon as Lothair was out of the way and Charles 
paid him homage, receiving back Lower Lorraine.[4]

In August 978, Lothair invaded Germany and captured the imperial capital of Aachen, 
but failed to capture either Otto or Charles. In October, Otto and Charles in turn 
invaded France, devastating the land around Rheims, Soissons, and Laon. In the 
latter city, the chief seat of the kings of France, Charles was crowned by Theodoric I, 
Bishop of Metz. Lothair fled to Paris and was there besieged. But a relief army of Hugh 
Capet's forced Otto and Charles to lift the siege on 30 November. Lothair and Capet, 
the tables turned once more, chased the German king and his liege back to Aachen 
and retook Laon.

Around 979, Charles transferred the relics of Saint Gudula from Moorsel to the Saint 
Gaugericus chapel in Brussels. This is generally accepted as the time when the city 
was founded. Charles would construct the first permanent fortification in the city, 
doing so on that same island.

As he had been a vassal also of Lothair, Charles' acts on behalf of Otto were 
considered treason and he was thereafter excluded from the throne. On Lothair's 
death (986), the magnates elected his son Louis V and on the latter's death (987), 
Hugh Capet. Thus, the House of Capet came to the throne over the disgraced and 
ignored Charles.[5] Charles' unexceptional marriage and his lack of wealth are two of 
the reasons he was denied the throne.[5] Charles made war on Hugh, even taking 
Rheims and Laon. However, on Maundy Thursday[6] (26 March) 991, he was 
captured, through the perfidy of the Bishop Adalberon, and was imprisoned by Hugh in 
Orléans, where he died a short while later, in or before 993.[7] He was succeeded as 
Duke of Lower Lorraine by his son Otto.[7]

In 1666, the sepulchre of Charles was discovered in the Basilica of Saint Servatius in 
Maastricht.[need quotation to verify] His body appears to have been interred there 
only in 1001, but that is not the date of his death, as some scholars assumed. Though 
Charles ruled Lower Lorraine, the Dukes of Lorraine (Upper Lotharingia) counted him 
as Charles I of Lorraine.

Family[edit]

In 970 Charles married Adelaide of Troyes. Together he and Adelaide had:
Otto, succeeded as Duke of Lower Lotharingia [1]
Gerberga of Lower Lorraine (b. 975–1018), who married Lambert I, Count of Louvain[1]
Louis (c. 989–aft. 993)[1]
Charles (b. 989)[1]

Parents
____ Louis IV "d'Outremere" (10 Sep  920 - 10 Sep  954)
OF SAXONY Gerberge ( 913 - 5 May  984)

Siblings
OF FRANCE Matilda ( 943 - AFT 26 Nov  981)
OF LAON Charles ( 953 - ABT 21 May  993)

Marriage To OF TROYES Adelaide (ABT  945 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Godefroy (BEF  927 - )
VON SACHSEN Mathilde (BEF  929 - )

Children by OF TROYES Adelaide ABT  945 - 
OF LORRAINE Ermentrude (Adelaide) (ABT  970 - AFT 1012)
OF LOWER LORRAINE Gerberge (ABT  972 - ABT 1015)

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