Hugo of France

Hugo Magnus (* 1007 ; † September 17, 1025 ) was a King of West Franconia / France from the Capetian family . He was a son of King Robert II the Pious and Constance of Provence .

His Latin nickname Magnus is not a reference to (political) "greatness", but was part of his name as a cognomen . He is therefore not to be confused with his great-grandfather, the dux Hugo Magnus , whose cognomen is actually often translated as “the great” in specialist literature. In contrast to his grandfather, King Hugo Capet , he is now occasionally referred to as Hugo II , although in the later French historiography the practice of numbering was only used for single ruling kings.

As the eldest son of the king, Hugo was crowned king in the abbey church of Saint-Corneille of Compiègne on June 9, 1017, while his father was still alive . Robert II used the same practice of securing dynastic rule as his father Hugo Capet once did, because a permanent continuity of the Capetians on the French royal throne was by no means assured at that time. As a “junior king”, Hugo was inferior to his father in the actual government of the country, but if his father died he would automatically have been promoted to the position of sole ruler without the need for a further coronation or even the consent of the French greats. Apparently Hugo nevertheless claimed participation in the government and rebelled against his father. However, he died at the age of eighteen and was buried at the place of his coronation.

In 1027 Robert II had his second son, Heinrich I , also crowned his co-king, who was also able to assume sole rule in 1031.

Web links

• Entry at medieval-genealogie.de (entry on Robert II with references to Hugo)
• King Robert II and his family at fmg.ac (English)