Heriveus's tenure was marked by the genesis of the duchy of Normandy and the growing discord between the Carolingian king Charles the Simple and his Robertian rival Robert of Neustria.
The Reims historian Flodoard, who knew Heriveus well, states that he was the nephew of Hucbald, count of Ostrevent and Senlis, who was a son-in-law of Eberhard of Friuli.
The surviving acts state that the council had been called in order to address the recent devastation wrought upon the region by the Vikings and to condemn other moral failings.
Heriveus and his provincial bishops implored clerics to avoid sinful behavior and laymen to respect ecclesiastical property and rights, and called for monasticism to be revived.
[3] In 911, following the Siege of Chartres, where Robert of Neustria and Richard, Duke of Burgundy defeated the Northmen, King Charles the Simple agreed the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte with the Norman leader Rollo, ceding him the city of Rouen and territories along the Seine which would become the duchy of Normandy.