The second was Robert the Strong, Count of Maine, a valiant defender of
the country against the sea-kings. He was slain in a bloody battle with
them, near Anvers, in 866. This distinguished warrior was the ancestor
of Hugh Capet, afterwards king of France.
For some time after his death the Norsemen avoided Germany, paying their
attentions to England, where Alfred the Great was on the throne. About
880 their incursions began again, and though they were several times
defeated with severe slaughter, new swarms followed the old ones, and
year by year fresh fleets invaded the land, leaving ruin in their paths.
Up the rivers they sailed, as in France, taking cities, devastating the
country, doing more damage each year than could be repaired in a decade.
Aix-la-Chapelle, the imperial city of the mighty Charlemagne, fell into
their hands, and the palace of the great Charles, in little more than
half a century after his death, was converted by these marauders into a
stable. Well might the far-seeing emperor have predicted sorrow and
trouble for the land from these sea-rovers, as he is said to have done,
on seeing their many-oared ships from a distance.
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