Battle of Soissons (923)

Battle of Soissons

14th-century depiction of (left from right): the Battle of Soissons, imprisonment of Charles III and the coronation of Rudolph.
DateJune 15, 923
Location
Result

Robertian victory

Belligerents
Carolingians Robertians
Commanders and leaders
Charles III (POW)
Count Fulbert
Hagano
Hagrold
Normans
Robert I 
Rudolph, Duke of Burgundy
Herbert II of Vermandois
Gilbert of Lorraine
Hugh the Great
Strength
14.000 (estimated)[1] 20.000 (estimated)[2]
Casualties and losses
7,118[3] 11,969[4]

The Battle of Soissons was fought on 15 June 923 between an alliance of Frankish insurgent nobles led by Robert I, elected king in an assembly the year prior, and an army composed of Lotharingians, Normans, and Carolingian forces under King Charles III's command.[5][6] The battle took place at Soissons, near Aisne.[7] Robert was killed, but his army won the war. Charles was imprisoned by Herbert II of Vermandois and held captive until his death in 929. Rudolph, Duke of Burgundy, Robert's son-in-law, succeeded him as ruler of West Francia.[8]

  1. ^ Gerald Irving Anthony Dare Draper. Reflections on Law and Armed Conflicts: The Selected Works on the Laws of War. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1998. p 26. Edited by Michael Andrew Meyer, Hilaire McCoubrey.
  2. ^ Gerald Irving Anthony Dare Draper. Reflections on Law and Armed Conflicts: The Selected Works on the Laws of War. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1998. p 26. Edited by Michael Andrew Meyer, Hilaire McCoubrey.
  3. ^ Gerald Irving Anthony Dare Draper. Reflections on Law and Armed Conflicts: The Selected Works on the Laws of War. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1998. p 26. Edited by Michael Andrew Meyer, Hilaire McCoubrey.
  4. ^ Gerald Irving Anthony Dare Draper. Reflections on Law and Armed Conflicts: The Selected Works on the Laws of War. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, 1998. p 26. Edited by Michael Andrew Meyer, Hilaire McCoubrey.
  5. ^ J.E.Cross. The ethic of war in Old English. In: England Before the Conquest: Studies in Primary Sources Presented to Dorothy Whitelock. Edited by Peter Clemoes, Kathleen Hughes. Cambridge University Press, 2010. p 281
  6. ^ Charles Oman. A History of the Art of War: The Middle Ages from the Fourth to the Fourteenth Century. Tales End Press, 2012. p 105
  7. ^ Tony Jaques. Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: P-Z. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007. p 719
  8. ^ François Neveux & Claire Ruelle. A brief history of the Normans: the conquests that changed the face of Europe. Robinson, 2008. p 75