Arnulf belonged to the Carolingian dynasty, the rule of which in France ended when Arnulf's half-brother, Louis V, died childless. Hugh Capet was elected to succeed him as king. King Hugh made Arnulf archbishop of Reims in March 989, against the will of the previous archbishop, Adalberon, who had wanted to be succeeded by Gerbert of Aurillac. In September, Arnulf supported an attempt to place his uncle Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, on the French throne. Charles briefly held Rheims and Laon. In 990, Arnulf refused to attend a synod at Senlis and he and Charles were imprisoned on 29 March.
In June 991 Archbishop Seguin of Sens presided over a Council of Reims in the Basilica of Saint Basle, which deposed Arnulf for alleged high treason, in favour of Gerbert. This deposition was much opposed, however. Pope John XV sent Leo, abbot of Saints Boniface and Alexius at Rome, as legate to preside over a synod at Mouzon on 2 June 995. Gerbert was suspended from the episcopum. A second synod, held on 1 July, declared the whole process of deposition and elevation to be illegal and invalid. Thus, Arnulf was reinstated.
Arnulf crowned Hugh Magnus, the son of Hugh Capet's successor, Robert II, as co-king in the Capetian tradition in 1017. At this time, any resistance to the new dynasty had died in him. He held the see until his death in 1021, then the only direct male line descendant of the Carolingian family in the eldest living branch.
Pope Sylvester II, originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a French-born scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Moorish and Greco-Roman arithmetic, mathematics and astronomy, reintroducing to Europe the abacus and armillary sphere, which had been lost to Latin Europe since the end of the Greco-Roman era. He is said to be the first in Europe to introduce the decimal numeral system using the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. He is credited with the invention of the first mechanical clock in 996.
Year 991 (CMXCI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar.
Hugh Capet was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder of and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, he was elected as the successor of the last Carolingian king, Louis V. Hugh was descended from Charlemagne's son Pepin of Italy through his mother and paternal grandmother, respectively, and was also a nephew of Otto the Great.
Charles III, called the Simple or the Straightforward, was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a member of the Carolingian dynasty.
Robert II, called the Pious or the Wise, was King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty.
Hugh the Great was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris. He was the most powerful magnate in France.
Louis V, also known as Louis the Do-Nothing, was a king of West Francia from 979 to his early death in 987. During his reign, the nobility essentially ruled the country. Dying childless, Louis V was the last Carolingian monarch in West Francia.
Pope John XV was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from August 985 until his death. A Roman by birth, he was the first pope who canonized a saint. The origins of the investiture controversy stem from John XV's pontificate, when the dispute about the deposition of Archbishop Arnulf of Reims soured the relationship between the Capetian kings of France and the Holy See.
Adalberon, or Ascelin, was a French bishop and poet. He was a son of Reginar of Bastogne, and a nephew of Adalberon, Archbishop of Reims.
Lothair, sometimes called Lothair II, III or IV, was the penultimate Carolingian king of West Francia, reigning from 10 September 954 until his death in 986.
Adbelahide, Adele, Adela or Adelaide of Aquitaine, was Queen of France by marriage to Hugh Capet, King of the Franks. Adelaide and Hugh were the founders of the Capetian dynasty of France, which would rule France until the 18th and 19th centuries. As queen consort, Adelaide had some extent of influence over her husband's governance of France. Adelaide is typically only briefly mentioned in connection to her husband, Hugh, and her son Robert II.
Charles was the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 977 until his death.
Adalbero was the archbishop of Reims, chancellor of Kings Lothair and Louis V of France.
Fulk the Venerable was archbishop of Reims from 883 until his death. He was a key protagonist in the political conflicts of the West Frankish kingdom that followed the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire in the late ninth century.
Odo I, Count of Blois, Chartres, Reims, Provins, Châteaudun, and Omois, was the son of Theobald I of Blois and Luitgard, daughter of Herbert II of Vermandois. He received the title of count palatine, which was traditional in his family, from King Lothair of West Francia.
In medieval history, West Francia or the Kingdom of the West Franks refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It was the forerunner of the future Kingdom of France and existed from 843 to 987. West Francia emerged from the partition of the Carolingian Empire in 843 under the Treaty of Verdun following the death of Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious.
Drogo, also known as Dreux or Drogon, was an illegitimate son of Frankish emperor Charlemagne by the concubine Regina.
Reims, located in the north-east of modern France, hosted several councils or synods in the Roman Catholic Church. These councils did not universally represent the church and are not counted among the official ecumenical councils.
Arnulf was the bishop of Orléans from 970 until his death. He is known for his feud with Abbo of Fleury, and his denunciation of the papacy.
Louis IV, called d'Outremer or Transmarinus, reigned as King of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son of king Charles the Simple and his second wife Eadgifu of Wessex, daughter of King Edward the Elder of Wessex. His reign is mostly known thanks to the Annals of Flodoard and the later Historiae of Richerus.
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