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94 counties of the diocese of Besançon, and suzerain also of the Lyonnais, he ruled in addition on the frontiers of the kingdom from the Seine and the Loire to the Jura. But its very size and its want of cohesion made it certain that this vast domain would sooner or later fall apart. Hugh the Black was hard put to it to prevent Hugh the Great from snatching the whole of French Burgundy from him. Soon after the death of Raoul in 936 (July) the Duke of the Franks, bringing with him the young King Louis IV, marched upon Langres, seized it, spent some time at Auxerre, and forced Hugh the Black to cede to him the counties of Langres, Troyes, and Sens. Later, in 943, he obtained from the king the suzerainty of the whole of French Burgundy, thus making Hugh the Black his vassal.

This complex situation, however, did not last long. In 952 Hugh the Black died, and as a result, French Burgundy was separated from the counties of the Besançon diocese and from that of Lyons. For four years Count Gilbert, who was already master of the counties of Autun, Dijon, Avallon and Châlon, was the real duke though he did not bear the title. But he acknowledged the suzerainty of Hugh the Great and at his death in 956 bequeathed him all his lands. Finally, Hugh the Great, in his turn, having died a few weeks later, the duchy regained its individual existence, when after lengthy bickering the two sons of Hugh the Great, Hugh Capet and Otto, ended by agreeing to divide their father's heritage, and Otto received from King Lothair the investiture of the duchy of Burgundy (960).

The formation of the Marches of Flanders and Burgundy, as also that of the March of Neustria, which has already been sufficiently dwelt upon, shew us what was the normal development of things. A count, specially conspicuous for his personal qualities, his valour and good fortune, has conferred on him by the king a general authority over a whole region; he imposes himself on it as guardian of the public security, he adds county to county, and gradually succeeds in eliminating the king's power, setting up his own instead, and leaving to the king only a superior lordship with no guarantee save his personal homage.

And this same formative process, slow and progressive, is to be seen in many of its aspects even in the duchy of Normandy. In 911 at St-Clair-sur-Epte Charles the Simple conceded to Rollo the counties of Rouen, Lisieux and Evreux, and the lands lying between the Epte on the east, the Bresle on the north and the sea to the west. But the Norman duke was not long content with this fief; in 924, in order to check fresh incursions, King Raoul found himself forced to add to it the district of Bayeux, and, no doubt, that of Séez also. Finally, in 933, in order to make sure of the allegiance of William Longsword who had just succeeded his father Rollo, he was obliged to cede also the two dioceses of Avranches and Coutances, thus extending the western frontier of the Norman duchy to the river Couesnon. But these many accretions of territory were not