Robert the Strong

Robert the Strong (c. 830 – 2 July 866) was a Frankish noble and ancestor of the Capetian dynasty. He was made missus dominicus over Maine and Anjou by Charles the Bald in 853, to defend Neustria against Viking and Breton raids.

He rebelled with the Bretons in 858, was reconciled and named Count of Anjou in 861, and later lay abbot of Saint Martin at Tours. In 866 he fought a Breton-Viking force at Brissarthe. The Viking commander took refuge in a church, and Robert removed his armour to begin a siege; the Vikings then attacked by surprise and killed him. His sons Odo and Robert I became kings of West Francia, and his great-grandson was Hugh Capet.