Before the day fixed for re-assembling, the last of the descendants of Charlemagne, Charles, duke of Lower Lorraine, brother of the late King Lothaire, and paternal uncle of the late King Louis, “went to Rheims in quest of the archbishop, and thus spake to him about his rights to the throne:  ’All the world knoweth, venerable father, that, by hereditary right, I ought to succeed my brother and my nephew.  I am wanting in nought that should be required, before all, from those who ought to reign, to wit, birth and the courage to dare.  Wherefore am I thrust out from the territory which all the world knows to have been possessed by my ancestors?  To whom could I better address myself than to you, when all the supports of my race have disappeared?  To whom, bereft as I am of honorable protection, should I have recourse but to you?  By whom, if not by you, should I be restored to the honors of my fathers?  Please God things turn out favorably for me and for my fortunes!  Rejected, what, can become of me save to be exhibited as a spectacle to all who look on me?  Suffer yourself to be moved by some feeling of humanity:  be compassionate towards a man who has been tried by so many reverses!’”

Such language was more calculated to inspire contempt than compassion.  “The metropolitan, firm in his resolution, gave for answer these few words:  ’Thou hast ever been associated with the perjured, the sacrilegious, and the wicked of every sort, and now thou art still unwilling to separate from them:  how canst thou, in company with such men, and by means of such men, seek to attain to the sovereign power?’ And when Charles replied that he must not abandon his friends, but rather gain over others, the bishop said to himself, ’Now that he possesses no position of dignity, he hath allied himself with the wicked, whose companionship he will not, in any way, give up:  what misfortune would it be for the good if he were elected to the throne!’ To Charles, however, he made answer that he would do nought without the consent of the princes; and so left him.”

At the time fixed, probably the 29th or 30th of June, 987, the grandees of Frankish Gaul who had bound themselves by oath re-assembled at Senlis.  Hugh Capet was present with his brother Henry of Burgundy, and his brother-in-law Richard the Fearless, duke of Normandy.  The majority of the direct vassals of the crown were also there—­Foulques Nerra (the Black), count of Anjou; Eudes, count of Blois, Chartres, and Tours; Bouchard, count of Vent-Mine and Corbeil; Gautier, count of Vexin; and Hugh, count of Maine.  Few counts came from beyond the Loire; and some of the lords in the North, amongst others Arnulf II., count of Flanders, and the lords of Vermandois were likewise missing.  “When those present were in regular assembly, Archbishop Adalheron, with the assent of Duke Hugh, thus spake unto them:  ’Louis, of blessed memory, having been taken from us without leaving issue, it hath become necessary to engage seriously