theless the situation lasted for a year and a half. Finally, having tried
force and diplomacy in turn, and equally without success, Hugh resolved
to have recourse to one of those detestable stratagems which are, as it
were, the special characteristic of the period. The Bishop of Laon,
Adalbero, better known by his familiar name of Asselin, succeeded in
beguiling Duke Charles; he pretended to go over to his cause, did
homage to him, and so far lulled his suspicions as to obtain permission
from him to recall his retainers to Laon. On Palm Sunday 991
(29 March) Charles, Arnulf and Asselin were dining together in the
tower of Laon; the bishop was in high spirits, and more than once
already he had offered the duke to bind himself to him by an oath even
more solemn than any he had hitherto sworn, in case any doubt still
remained of his fidelity. Charles, who held in his hands a gold cup
of wine in which some bread was steeped, offered it to him, and, as a
contemporary historian Richer tells us, "after long reflection said to him:
"Since to-day you have, according to the decrees of the Fathers, blessed
the palm-brauches, hallowed the people by your holy benediction, and
proffered to ourselves the Eucharist, I put aside the slanders of those
who say you are not to be trusted and I offer you, as the Passion of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ draws near, this cup, befitting your high
office, containing wine and broken bread. Drain it as a pledge of your
inviolable fidelity to my person. But if you do not intend to keep your
plighted faith, abstain, lest you should enact the horrible part of Judas."
Asselin replied: 'I take the cup and will drink willingly. Charles went
on hastily: 'Add that you will keep your faith.' He drank, and added: 'I shall keep my faith, if not may I perish with Judas.' Then, in the
presence of the guests, he uttered many other such oaths." Night came,
and they separated and lay down to sleep. Asselin called in his men,
Charles and Arnulf were seized and imprisoned under a strong guard,
while Hugh Capet, hastily summoned from Senlis, came up to take possession of the stronghold. It was to this infamous betrayal that the Capetian owed his triumph over Charles of Lorraine. Death was soon to relieve him of his rival (992).
But Hugh was not at the end of his embarrassments. Arnulf was shielded by his priestly character, and it was clear that neither the Pope nor the Emperor, who had countenanced his intrigues, was disposed to sacrifice him. Hugh at last resolved to accuse him before a Council "of the Gauls," to which he was careful to convoke a majority of prelates favourable to the Capetian cause. The council met at Verzy, near Rheims, in the church of the monastery of Saint-Basle (17-18 June 991). In the end, Arnulf acknowledged his guilt, and casting himself upon the ground before the two kings, Hugh and Robert, with his arms stretched out in the form of a cross, he implored them with tears to spare his life. The kings consented. He was raised from the ground, and the assembly proceeded to the ceremony of degradation. Arnulf began by
