Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/233

 The Development of France 197 the more pride the more clear their duty was to show them- selves humble and submissive. Among these was Eudes II [count of Blois and of Chartres], son of the Eudes just men- tioned, who outdid all others in power and perfidy. Now the count of Troyes and of Meaux, son of Heribert, and the king's cousin, having left no children, Eudes took possession, in spite of the king's opposition, of these vast domains, which ought in justice to have become part of the patrimony of King Robert. This same Eudes became involved in long contests and foreign wars with Foulques of Anjou. Both of them were puffed up with pride, and .consequently were rarely in a pacific frame of mind. William, stepson of Duke Henry and son of Adelbert, duke of the Lombards, was also for a time in revolt against the king. Among his partisans was his son-in-law, Landri, count of Nevers, and Brunon, his brother-in-law, the bishop of Langres. William's wife, Brunon's sister, had borne him sons and daughters. The oldest of the daughters had mar- ried Landri, the others were married to William of Poitou and William of Aries. One of his sons, Renauld, married Adelaide, daughter of Richard of Normandy. This William was a stranger in France, for while still a child he had been carried off to the country of the Lombards; but, thanks to the sagacity of a monk, he had been restored to his mother, who was in Burgundy. In spite of his sojourn abroad, he was able, by his wealth and the number of his soldiers, to vie with the most powerful lords of the region. He encountered, it is true, a sharp resistance from Hugh of Lambert, count of Chalons-sur-Saone. This Lambert was a very remarkable man. Among other notable actions of his life he built in the county of Autun, in honor of St. Mary and St. John the Baptist, the monastery called Paray, where he was later to be honorably buried. Hugh was at the same time bishop of Auxerre, for the king had left him the administration of the county of his father of whom he was the only male offspring. Consequently he viewed all of King Robert's enemies as his own and faithfully maintained his fidelity to the king.