Death and Legacy
In 866, Robert was killed at the Battle of Brissarthe while, unsurprisingly, defending Francia against a joint Breton-Viking raiding party, led by Salomon, Duke of Brittany, and the Viking chieftain Hastein. During the battle, Robert had entrapped the Viking commander in a nearby church. Thinking he was not endangered, Robert took off his armour and began to besiege the church. Once Robert was unarmoured, the trapped Vikings launched a surprise attack and killed him before he had time to re-arm. His success against the Vikings led to his heroic characterisation as "a second Maccabaeus" in the Annales Fuldenses.
The name of Robert's wife is not attested in primary sources. According to some modern scholars she was Adelaide of Tours or Adalais, a daughter of Hugh of Tours (and thus an Etichonid) and the widow of Conrad I of Auxerre (died 862), a Welf. Since Robert already had children by 862, Adelaide would have to have been his second wife. French genealogist Christian Settipani has identified the source of this identification as the unreliable twelfth-century Chronicle of Saint-Bénigne de Dijon, which was interpolated into the chronicle of Alberic of Trois-Fontaines. The Europäische Stammtafeln has identified Robert's first wife as a certain Agane. Whatever the facts, two of Robert's sons became kings of France: Odo and Robert.
Read more about this topic: Robert The Strong
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