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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Severus Alexander, post: 7658451, member: 84744&quot;]Cool!&nbsp; To add a coin to the thread, here&#039;s one of Odo, the Count of Paris who put a stop to the practice of paying off the Vikings, defending it by force of arms instead.&nbsp; He was elected king for his efforts.</p><p>[ATTACH=full]1316520[/ATTACH] </p><p>&nbsp;My notes:</p><p><br /></p><p>For his skill and bravery in resisting the attacks of the Vikings at the Siege of Paris, Odo was chosen by the western Franks to be their king following the removal of emperor Charles the Fat.</p><p><br /></p><p>The Siege of Paris of 885–86 was part of a Viking raid on the Seine, in the Kingdom of the West Franks. The siege was the most important event of the reign of Charles the Fat, and a turning point in the fortunes of the Carolingian dynasty and the history of France. It also proved to the Franks the strategic importance of Paris, at the time only a small island town.</p><p><br /></p><p>With hundreds of ships, and possibly tens of thousands of men, the Vikings arrived outside Paris in late November 885, at first demanding tribute. This was denied by Odo, then Count of Paris, despite that he only could assemble a couple hundred soldiers to defend the city. The Vikings attacked with a variety of siege engines, but failed to break through the city walls after some days of intense attacks. The siege was upheld after the initial attacks, but without any significant offence for months thereafter. As the siege went on, most of the Vikings left Paris to pillage further upriver - among those remaining were Rollo, future Count of Rouens and founding Norman (see coin #255, of Rollo&#039;s grandson). The Vikings made a final unsuccessful attempt to take the city during the summer, and in October, Charles the Fat arrived with his army.</p><p><br /></p><p>To the frustration of the Parisians who had fought for a long time to defend the city, Charles stopped short of attacking the Viking besiegers, and instead allowed them to sail further up the Seine to raid Burgundy (which was in revolt), as well as promising a payment of 700 livres (pounds; 257 kg). Odo, highly critical of this, tried his best to defy the promises of Charles, and when Charles died in 888, Odo was elected king of West Francia, the first non-Carolingian king of the Franks, and the first from the Robertian dynasty. </p><p><br /></p><p>West Francia evolved into the state of France, and the first Capetian king, Hugh Capet, was a descendant of Odo&#039;s brother, Robert I.&nbsp; Odo established Paris as the kingdom&#039;s capital.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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