even paid homage to Otto, and supported him in his struggle against Louis. When Louis fell into the hands of the Normans in 945, he was handed over to Hugh, who released him in 946 only on condition that he should surrender the fortress of Laon. At the council of Ingelheim (948) Hugh was condemned, under pain of excommunication, to make reparation to Louis. It was not, however, until 950 that the powerful vassal became reconciled with his suzerain and restored Laon. But new difficulties arose, and peace was not finally concluded until 953. On the death of Louis IV. Hugh was one of the first to recognize Lothair as his successor, and, at the intervention of Queen Gerberga, was instrumental in having him crowned. In recognition of this service Hugh was invested by the new king with the duchies of Burgundy (his suzerainty over which had already been nominally recognized by Louis IV.) and Aquitaine. But his expedition in 955 to take possession of Aquitaine was unsuccessful. In the same year, however, Giselbert, duke of Burgundy, acknowledged himself his vassal and betrothed his daughter to Hugh’s son Otto. At Giselbert’s death (April 8, 956) Hugh became effective master of the duchy, but died soon afterwards, on the 16th or 17th of June 956.
HUGH CAPET (c. 938–996), king of France and founder of the
Capetian dynasty, was the eldest son of Hugh the Great by his
wife Hadwig. When his father died in 956 he succeeded to his
numerous fiefs around Paris and Orleans, and thus becoming one
of the most powerful of the feudatories of his cousin, the Frankish
king Lothair, he was recognized somewhat reluctantly by that
monarch as duke of the Franks. Many of the counts of northern
France did homage to him as their overlord, and Richard I., duke
of Normandy, was both his vassal and his brother-in-law. His
authority extended over certain districts south of the Loire, and,
owing to his interference, Lothair was obliged to recognize his
brother Henry as duke of Burgundy. Hugh supported his royal
suzerain when Lothair and the emperor Otto II. fought for the
possession of Lorraine; but chagrined at the king’s conduct in
making peace in 980, he went to Rome to conclude an alliance with
Otto. Laying more stress upon independence than upon loyalty,
Hugh appears to have acted in a haughty manner toward Lothair,
and also towards his son and successor Louis V.; but neither
king was strong enough to punish this powerful vassal, whose
clerical supporters already harboured the thought of securing for
him the Frankish crown. When Louis V. died without children
in May 987, Hugh and the late king’s uncle Charles, duke of
Lower Lorraine, were candidates for the vacant throne, and in
this contest the energy of Hugh’s champions, Adalberon, archbishop
of Reims, and Gerbert, afterwards Pope Sylvester II.,
prevailed. Declaring that the Frankish crown was an elective
and not an hereditary dignity, Adalberon secured the election of
his friend, and crowned him, probably at Noyon, in July 987.
The authority of the new king was quickly recognized in his kingdom, which covered the greater part of France north of the Loire with the exception of Brittany, and in a shadowy fashion he was acknowledged in Aquitaine; but he was compelled to purchase the allegiance of the great nobles by large grants of royal lands, and he was hardly more powerful as king than he had been as duke. Moreover, Charles of Lorraine was not prepared to bow before his successful rival, and before Hugh had secured the coronation of his son Robert as his colleague and successor in December 987, he had found allies and attacked the king. Hugh was worsted during the earlier part of this struggle, and was in serious straits, until he was saved by the wiles of his partisan Adalberon, bishop of Laon, who in 991 treacherously seized Charles and handed him over to the king. This capture virtually ended the war, but one of its side issues was a quarrel between Hugh and Pope John XV., who was supported by the empire, then under the rule of the empresses Adelaide and Theophano as regents for the young emperor Otto III. In 987 the king had appointed to the vacant archbishopric of Reims a certain Arnulf, who at once proved himself a traitor to Hugh and a friend to Charles of Lorraine. In June 991, at the instance of the king, the French bishops deposed Arnulf and elected Gerbert in his stead, a proceeding which was displeasing to the pope, who excommunicated the new archbishop and his partisans. Hugh and his bishops remained firm, and the dispute was still in progress when the king died at Paris on the 24th of October 996.
Hugh was a devoted son of the church, to which, it is not too much to say, he owed his throne. As lay abbot of the abbeys of St Martin at Tours and of St Denis he was interested in clerical reform, was fond of participating in religious ceremonies, and had many friends among the clergy. His wife was Adelaide, daughter of William III., duke of Aquitaine, by whom he left a son, Robert, who succeeded him as king of France. The origin of Hugh’s surname of Capet, which was also applied to his father, has been the subject of some discussion. It is derived undoubtedly from the Lat. capa, cappa, a cape, but whether Hugh received it from the cape which he wore as abbot of St Martin’s, or from his youthful and playful habit of seizing caps, or from some other cause, is uncertain.
See Richerus, Historiarum libri IV., edited by G. Waitz (Leipzig, 1877); F. Lot, Les Derniers Carolingiens (Paris, 1891), and Études sur le règne de Hugues Capet (Paris, 1900); G. Monod, “Les Sources du règne de Hugues Capet,” in the Revue historique, tome xxviii. (Paris, 1891); P. Viollet, La Question de la légitimité à l’avènement à Hugues Capet (Paris, 1892); and E. Lavisse, Histoire de France, tome ii. (Paris, 1903–1905).
HUGH DE PUISET (c. 1125–1195), bishop of Durham, was the
nephew of Stephen and Henry of Blois; the latter brought him
to England and made him an archdeacon of the see of Winchester.
Hugh afterwards became archdeacon and treasurer of York.
In 1153 he was chosen bishop of Durham, in spite of the opposition
of the archbishop of York; but he only obtained consecration
by making a personal visit to Rome. Hugh took little part in
politics in the reign of Henry II., remaining in the north, immersed
in the affairs of his see. He was, however, present with Roger,
archbishop of York, at the coronation of young Henry (1170), and
was in consequence suspended by Alexander III. He remained
neutral, as far as he could, in the quarrel between Henry and
Becket, but he at least connived at the rebellion of 1173 and
William the Lion’s invasion of England in that year. After the
failure of the rebellion the bishop was compelled to surrender
Durham, Norham and Northallerton to the king. In 1179 he
attended the Lateran Council at Rome, and in 1181 by the pope’s
order he laid Scotland under an interdict. In 1184 he took the
cross. At the general sale of offices with which Richard began
his reign (1189) Hugh bought the earldom of Northumberland.
The archbishopric of York had been vacant since 1181. This
vacancy increased Hugh’s power vastly, and when the vacancy
was filled by the appointment of Geoffrey he naturally raised
objections. This quarrel with Geoffrey lasted till the end of his
life. Hugh was nominated justiciar jointly with William
Longchamp when Richard left the kingdom. But Longchamp
soon deprived the bishop of his place (1191), even going so far as
to imprison Hugh and make him surrender his castle, his earldom
and hostages. Hugh’s chief object in politics was to avoid acknowledging
Geoffrey of York as his ecclesiastical superior, but
this he was compelled to do in 1195. On Richard’s return
Hugh joined the king and tried to buy back his earldom. He
seemed on the point of doing so when he died. Hugh was one of
the most important men of his day, and left a mark upon the
north of England which has never been effaced. Combining in
his own hands the palatinate of Durham and the earldom of
Northumberland, he held a position not much dissimilar to that
of the great German princes, a local sovereign in all but name.
See Kate Norgate’s England under the Angevin Kings (1887); Stubbs’s preface to Hoveden, iii.
HUGH OF ST CHER (c. 1200–1263), French cardinal and
Biblical commentator, was born at St Cher, a suburb of Vienne,
Dauphiné, and while a student in Paris entered the Dominion
convent of the Jacobins in 1225. He taught philosophy, theology
and canon law. As provincial of his order, which office he held
during most of the third decade of the century, he contributed
largely to its prosperity, and won the confidence of the popes
Gregory IX., Innocent IV. and Alexander IV., who charged him
with several important missions. Created cardinal-priest in
1244, he played an important part in the council of Lyons in
