Louis DE FRANCE

Medieval Lands by Charles Cawley, Foundation for Medieval Genealogy LOUIS [Hludowic], son of CHARLES I King of the Franks & his secondwife Hildegard (Chasseneuil-du-Poitou {Vienne} [16 Apr/Sep] 778-islandin the Rhine near Ingelheim 20 Jun 840, bur Metz, église abbatiale deSaint-Arnoul[179]). He is named, and his parentage recorded, in theGesta Mettensium, which specifies that he was his parents' third son,born a twin with Hlothar[180]. Crowned King of the Aquitainians inRome 15 Apr 781 by Pope Hadrian I. His armies occupied Girona, Urgeland Cerdanya in 785 and besieged Barcelona in 802, establishing the"March of Spain"[181]. At the partition of territories agreed atThionville in 806, he was designated sovereign of Aquitaine, Gascony,Septimania, Provence and southern Burgundy. His father named him ashis successor at Aix-la-Chapelle, crowning him as joint emperor 11 Sep813[182]. On his father's death, he adopted the title Emperor LOUIS I“der Fromme/le Pieux” 2 Feb 814, and was crowned at Reims [Jul/Aug]816 by Pope Stephen IV. He did not use the titles king of the Franksor king of Italy so as to emphasise the unity of the empire[183]. Hepromulgated the Ordinatio Imperii at Worms in 817, which establishedhis eldest son as his heir, his younger sons having a subordinatestatus, a decision which was eventually to lead to civil war betweenhis sons. His nephew Bernard King of Italy, ignored in the OrdinatioImperii, rebelled against his uncle, but was defeated and killed.After his death, Italy was placed under the direct rule of theemperor. Emperor Louis crowned his son Lothaire as joint emperor atAix-la-Chapelle in Jul 817, his primary status over his brothers beingconfirmed once more at the assembly of Nijmegen 1 May 821. In Nov824, Emperor Louis placed Pope Eugene II under his protection,effectively subordinating the papal role to that of the emperor. Thebirth of his son Charles by his second marriage in 823 worsenedrelations with his sons by his first marriage, the tension beingfurther increased when Emperor Louis invested Charles with Alemannia,Rhætia, Alsace and part of Burgundy at Worms in Aug 829, reducing theterritory of his oldest son Lothaire to Italy. His older sonsrevolted in Mar 830 and captured their father at Compiègne, forcinghim to revert to the 817 constitutional arrangements. However,Emperor Louis reasserted his authority at the assemblies of Nijmegenin Oct 830 and Aix-la-Chapelle in Feb 831, depriving Lothaire of theimperial title and relegating him once more to Italy. A furtherrevolt of the brothers followed. Emperor Louis was defeated anddeposed by his sons at Compiègne 1 Oct 833. He was exiled to themonastery of Saint-Médard de Soissons. His eldest son Lothairedeclared himself sole emperor but was soon overthrown by his brothersPépin and Louis, who freed their father. Emperor Louis was crownedonce more at Metz 28 Feb 835. He proposed yet another partition ofterritories in favour of his son Charles at the assembly ofAix-la-Chapelle in 837, implemented at the assembly of Worms 28 May839 when he installed his sons Lothaire and Charles jointly, settingaside the claims of his sons Pépin and Louis. This naturally led torevolts by Pépin in Aquitaine and Louis in Germany, which their fatherwas in the process of suppressing when he died[184]. The AnnalesFuldenses record the death "in insulam quondam Rheni fluminis propeIngilenheim XII Kal Iul 840" of Emperor Louis and his burial "Mettiscivitatem…in basilica sancti Arnulfi"[185]. The necrology of Prümrecords the death "840 12 Kal Iul" of "Ludvicus imperator"[186]. Thenecrology of St Gall records the death "XII Kal Jul" of "Hludowicusimperator in insula Rheni quiæ est sita iuxta palatiumIngelheim"[187]. The Obituaire de Notre-Dame de Paris records thedeath "XII Kal Jul" of "Ludovicus imperator"[188]. The necrology ofthe abbey of Saint-Denis records the death "XII Kal Jul" of "Ludovicusimperator"[189]. m firstly ([794]) ERMENGARD, daughter of ENGUERRAND Comte [de Hesbaye]& his wife --- ([775/80]-Angers 3 Oct 818[190], bur Angers). Thegan'sVita Hludowici Imperatoris names the wife of Emperor Ludwig "filiamnobilissimi ducis Ingorammi…Irmingarda"[191]. The Gesta Francorumrecords the death "818 V Non Oct" of "Irmingardis regina"[192]. TheVita Hludowici Imperatoris records the death "V Non Oct" of"Hirmingardis regina" three days after falling ill[193]. m secondly (Aix-la-Chapelle Feb 819) JUDITH, daughter of WELF [I] Graf[von Altdorf] & his wife Heilwig --- ([805]-Tours 19 Apr 843, burTours Saint-Martin). The Annales Xantenses record the marriage in Feb819 of "Ludewicus imperator" and "Iudith"[194]. Thegan names "filiamHwelfi ducis sui, qui erat de nobolissima progenieBawariorum…Iudith…ex parte matris…Eigilwi nobilissimi genericSaxonici" as second wife of Emperor Ludwig, specifying that she was"enim pulchra valde"[195]. Einhard's Annales record that EmperorLouis chose "Huelpi comitis filiam…Judith" as his wife in 819 after"inspectis plerisque nobelium filiabus"[196]. Judith was influentialwith her husband, which increased the tensions with the emperor's sonsby his first marriage. Thegan's Vita Hludowici Imperatoris recordsthat "quondam duce Bernhardo, qui erat de stirpe regali" was accusedof violating "Iudith reginam" but comments that this was alllies[197]. Judith was exiled to the monastery of Sainte-Croix dePoitiers during the first rebellion of her stepsons in 830, wasreleased in 831, but exiled again to Tortona in Italy in 833 fromwhere she was brought back in Apr 834[198]. The necrology of theabbey of Saint-Denis records the death "XIII Kal Mai" of "Judithregina"[199]. The Annales Xantenses record the death in 843 of"Iudhit imperatrix mater Karoli" at Tours[200]. Mistress (1): ---. The name of Emperor Lothar's mistress ormistresses is not known. Emperor Louis I & his first wife had six children: 1. LOTHAIRE [Lothar] (795-Kloster Prüm 29 Sep 855, bur KlosterPrüm). Thegan's Vita Hludowici Imperatoris names (in order)"Hlutharius, Pippinus, Hludowicus" as sons of Emperor Ludwig I & hiswife Ermengard[201]. He was crowned joint Emperor LOTHAIRE I, jointlywith his father, in Jul 817 at Aix-la-Chapelle. - KINGS of LOTHARINGIA. 2. PEPIN ([797]-Poitiers 13 Dec 838, bur Poitiers, églisecollégiale de Sainte-Radégonde). Thegan's Vita Hludowici Imperatorisnames (in order) "Hlutharius, Pippinus, Hludowicus" as sons of EmperorLudwig I & his wife Ermengard[202]. Under the Ordinatio Imperiipromulgated by his father at Worms in 817, he became PEPIN I King ofAquitaine. - KINGS of AQUITAINE. 3. HROTRUD [Rotrude] ([800]-). The Genealogica ArnulfiComitis names (in order) "Hlotharium Pipinum et Hludovicum Rotrudim etHildegardim" as children of "Hludovicus ymperator…ex Yrmingardiregina"[203]. 4. BERTA . Settipani cites charters which name Berta as thedaughter of Emperor Louis[204]. 5. HILDEGARD ([802/04]-857, or maybe after [23 Aug 860]). TheGenealogica Arnulfi Comitis names (in order) "Hlotharium Pipinum etHludovicum Rotrudim et Hildegardim" as children of "Hludovicusymperator…ex Yrmingardi regina"[205]. Hildegard is named as sister ofCharles by Nithard[206]. Abbess of Notre-Dame and Saint-Jean at Laon.She supported her brother Lothaire against her half-brother Charlesand, in Oct 841, imprisoned Adalgar at Laon. After Laon was besieged,she surrendered Adalgar but was herself released by herhalf-brother206. The Annales Formoselenses record the death in 857 of"Hildegard, Lothawici regis filia"[207], corroborated in the AnnalesAlemannici[208]. 6. LOUIS ([806]-Frankfurt-am-Main 28 Aug 876, bur KlosterLorsch). Thegan's Vita Hludowici Imperatoris names (in order)"Hlutharius, Pippinus, Hludowicus" as sons of Emperor Ludwig I and hiswife Ermengardis[209]. Under the Ordinatio Imperii promulgated by hisfather at Worms in 817, he became King of Bavaria and Carinthia.Under the partition of territories agreed by the Treaty of Verdun 11Aug 843, Louis was installed as LUDWIG II "le Germanique/der Deutsche"King of the East Franks. - KINGS of the EAST FRANKS (GERMANY). Emperor Louis I & his second wife had [three] children: 7. GISELA ([819/822]-after 1 Jul 874, bur Cysoing, Abbey of StCalixtus). The Genealogica Arnulfi Comitis names (in order) "Karolumet Gislam" children of "Hludovicus ymperator…ex Iudithymperatrice"[210]. Her marriage is deduced from a charter in whichGisela states that their eldest son Unruoch brought back the body ofEberhard from Italy[211]. She founded the abbey of St Calixtus atCysoing, Flanders, where she lived as a widow. "Gisle" granted "lefisc de Somain en Ostrevant" to "filii…Adelarde" by charter dated 14Apr 869, which names "rex Karolus meus…germanus…senioris mei dulcismemorie Evrardi…tres infantes meos Rodulfum…etBerengarium…et…Adelarde"[212]. The Historia Ecclesiæ Cisoniensisrecords that “Gisla” donated property to Cysoing abbey for her burialnext to “coniugis mei dulcis memoriæ Evrardi”, by charter dated 2 Apr870 which names “filiæ meæ Ingiltrudis…filius meus Rodulfus”, and bycharter dated “Kal Jul anno XXXV regnante Carolo Rege”, naming “filiimei Unroch…filiorum meorum Adalardo atque Rodulfo” and signed by“Odelrici Comitis”[213]. "Gisle" donated property to Cysoing for theanniversaries of "Ludovico imperatore patre meo et…Judith imperatricematre mea et…rege Karolo…germano et…prole mea…Hengeltrude, Hunroc,Berengario, Adelardo, Rodulpho, Hellwich, Gilla, Judith" by charterdated to [874][214]. m ([836]) EBERHARD Marchese di Friulia, son ofUNRUOCH Comte [en Ternois] & his wife Engeltrude (-in Italy 16 Dec866, bur Cysoing, Abbey of St Calixtus). 8. CHARLES (Frankfurt-am-Main 13 Jun 823-Avrieux orBrides-les-Bains, Savoie 6 Oct 877, bur Nantua Abbey, transferred toéglise de l'abbaye royale de Saint-Denis). The Annales S. BenigniDivisionensis record the birth of "Karolus filius Ludowici" inFrankfurt "Idus Iun 824"[215]. Thegan's Vita Hludowici Imperatorisnames Charles as son of his father by his second wife[216]. Under thedivision of Imperial territories by the Treaty of Verdun 11 Aug 843,he became CHARLES II “le Chauve” King of the West Franks. - KINGS of the WEST FRANKS. 9. [daughter . The Casus Monasterii Petrishusensis recordsthat "rex Francorum qui et imperator Romanorum" (which appears toindicate Charles II "le Chauve") gave his sister in marriage to "virnobilissimo genere decoratus", that the couple had two sons to whomtheir uncle gave "in Alemannia loca…Potamum et Brigantium, Ubirlinginet Buochorn, Ahihusin et Turingen atque Heistirgou, Wintirture…et inRetia Curiensi Mesouch", and that one of the sons returned to Francewhile the other "Oudalricus" retained all the property inAlamannia[217]. The editor of the MGH SS compilation dates thissource to the mid-12th century[218]. The information has not beencorroborated in any earlier primary source, although it is not knownwhat prior documentation may have been available to the compiler ofthe Casus. There are several other difficulties with this marriagewhich suggest that the report in the Casus should be treated withcaution. If the information is accurate, it is likely that the bridewas a full sister of King Charles, although if this is correct herabsence from contemporary documentation is surprising. If she hadbeen Charles's half-sister, it is difficult to see how Charles wouldhave had much influence on her marriage, which would have beenarranged by one of her full brothers. In any case, it is unlikelythat Emperor Louis's first wife would have had further children after[812/15] at the latest, given the birth of her eldest son in 795. Ifthat estimated birth date is correct, then it is more likely that thisdaughter's marriage would have been arranged by her father EmperorLouis before his death in 840. Another problem is the potentialconsanguinity between the parties. Although the precise relationshipbetween the couple's son Udalrich [III] and the earlier Udalrichingercannot be established from available documentation, it is probablethat he was closely related to Hildegard, first wife of EmperorCharles I, who was the paternal grandmother of Emperor Louis'schildren. Lastly, Udalrich [III] is recorded in charters dated 847and 854, suggesting a birth date in the 820s assuming that he wasadult at the time, which is inconsistent with Charles II "le Chauve"(born in 823) having arranged his parents' marriage. m ---[Udalrichinger].] Emperor Louis I had [two] illegitimate children by Mistress (1): 10. [ALPAIS ([793/94]-23 Jul 852 or after, bur [Reims]).Flodoard refers to "Ludowicus Alpheidi filie sue uxori Begoniscomitis"[219]. The Annales Hildesheimenses name "filiamimperatoris…Elpheid" as the wife of "Bicgo de amici regis" whenrecording the death of her husband[220]. Settipani discusses thedebate about the paternity of Alpais, preferring the theory thatEmperor Charles I was her father[221]. If Emperor Louis was herfather, it is unlikely that she was born before [793/94], given hisknown birth date in 778. It would therefore be chronologically tightfor her to have had [three] children by her husband before his deathin 816. However, no indication has been found in primary sources ofthe age of these children when their father died. The question ofAlpais's paternity is obviously not beyond doubt, but it is feltpreferable to show her as the possible daughter of Emperor Louis inview of the clear statement in Flodoard. No indication has been foundof the name of Alpais's mother. If Alpais was the daughter of EmperorLouis, it is likely that she was not her husband's only wife in viewof Bego's estimated birth date. After her husband died, she becameabbess of Saint-Pierre-le-Bas at Reims in [817]. She was still there29 May 852. m ([806]) [as his second wife,] BEGO, son of [GERARD [I]Comte de Paris & his wife Rotrud] ([755/60]-28 Oct 816). He governedthe county of Toulouse as "marchio" for Septimania in 806. Comte deParis in [815], succeeding comte Stephanus.] 11. ARNOUL ([794]-after [Mar/Apr] 841). The ChroniconMoissacense names "quartum…filium [Ludovici]…ex concubina…Arnulfum"recording that his father gave him the county of Sens[222]. Comte deSens 817. He was a supporter of his half-brother Emperor Lothaire in[Mar/Apr] 841[223]. [179] Nithard I.8, p. 140. [180] Pauli Gesta Episcop. Mettensium, MGH SS II, p. 265. [181] Settipani (1993), p. 250. [182] RFA 813, p. 95. [183] Settipani (1993), p. 252. [184] Settipani (1993), pp. 252-3. [185] Annales Fuldensium Pars Secunda, auctore Euodolfo 840, MGH SS I,p. 362. [186] Annales Necrologici Prumienses, MGH SS XIII, p. 219. [187] Libri Anniversariorum et Necrologium Monasterii Sancti Galli,Konstanz Necrologies, p. 462. [188] Obituaires de Sens Tome I.1, Obituaire de Notre-Dame de Paris,p. 227. [189] Obituaires de Sens Tome I.1, Abbaye de Saint-Denis, p. 320. [190] RFA 818, p. 104. [191] Thegani Vita Hludowici Imperatoris 4, MGH SS II, p. 591. [192] Gesta quorundam regum Francorum 818, MGH SS I, p. 356. [193] Vita Hludowici Imperatoris 31, MGH SS II, p. 623. [194] Annales Xantenses 819, MGH SS II, p. 224. [195] Thegani Vita Hludowici Imperatoris 26, MGH SS II, p. 596. [196] Einhardi Annales 819, MGH SS I, p. 206. [197] Thegani Vita Hludowici Imperatoris 36, MGH SS II, p. 597. [198] Settipani (1993), pp. 254-5. [199] Obituaires de Sens Tome I.1, Abbaye de Saint-Denis, p. 315. [200] Annales Xantenses 843, MGH SS II, p. 227. [201] Thegani Vita Hludowici Imperatoris 4, MGH SS II, p. 591. [202] Thegani Vita Hludowici Imperatoris 4, MGH SS II, p. 591. [203] Genealogiæ Comitum Flandriæ, Witgeri Genealogica Arnulfi ComitisMGH SS IX, p. 303. [204] Settipani (1993), p. 255 footnote 446, citing MGH Dipl Carol,no. 48, p. 143, 101, 241, 197, p. 353, spur. 34, p. 441. [205] Genealogiæ Comitum Flandriæ, Witgeri Genealogica Arnulfi ComitisMGH SS IX, p. 303. [206] Nithard III.4, p. 160. [207] Annales Formoselenses 857, MGH SS V, p. 35. [208] Annales Alemannici 857, MGH SS I, p. 50 "Hludovici regis filiaHiltikart", footnote 1 referring no "Necrolog S Galli" recording "XKal Dec". [209] Thegani Vita Hludowici Imperatoris 4, MGH SS II, p. 591. [210] Genealogiæ Comitum Flandriæ, Witgeri Genealogica Arnulfi ComitisMGH SS IX, p. 303. [211] Coussemaker, I. de (ed.) (1886) Cartulaire de l´abbaye deCysoing et de ses dépendances (Lille) ("Cysoing"), V, p. 10. [212] Cysoing III, p. 7. [213] Historia Ecclesiæ Cisoniensis, Spicilegium II, pp. 878 and 879,and Cysoing IV and V, pp. 8 and 10. [214] Cysoing VI, p. 11. [215] Annales S. Benigni Divionensis 824, MGH SS V, p. 39. [216] Thegani Vita Hludowici Imperatoris 35, MGH SS II, p. 597. [217] Casus Monasterii Petrishusensis I.2, MGH SS XX, p. 628. [218] MGH SS XX, pp. 622-25. [219] Flodoardus Remensis Historia Remensis Ecclesiæ IV, XLVI, MGH SSXXXVI, p. 448. [220] Annales Hildesheimenses 815, MGH SS III, p. 42. [221] Settipani (1993), pp. 200-02. [222] Chronicon Moissacense 817, MGH SS I, p. 312. [223] Settipani (1993), p. 255. Biography Louis the Pious (778 - 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and theDebonaire,[1] was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King ofthe Franks and co-Emperor (as Louis I) with his father, Charlemagne,from 813. As the only surviving adult son of Charlemagne andHildegard, he became the sole ruler of the Franks after his father'sdeath in 814, a position which he held until his death, save for theperiod 833-34, during which he was deposed. During his reign in Aquitaine, Louis was charged with the defence ofthe Empire's southwestern frontier. He conquered Barcelona from theMuslims in 801 and asserted Frankish authority over Pamplona and theBasques south of the Pyrenees in 812. As emperor he included his adultsons, Lothair, Pepin, and Louis, in the government and sought toestablish a suitable division of the realm among them. The firstdecade of his reign was characterised by several tragedies andembarrassments, notably the brutal treatment of his nephew Bernard ofItaly, for which Louis atoned in a public act of self-debasement. Inthe 830s his empire was torn by civil war between his sons, onlyexacerbated by Louis's attempts to include his son Charles by hissecond wife in the succession plans. Though his reign ended on a highnote, with order largely restored to his empire, it was followed bythree years of civil war. Louis is generally compared unfavourably tohis father, though the problems he faced were of a distinctlydifferent sort. Birth and rule in Aquitaine Louis was born while his father Charlemagne was on campaign in Spain,at the Carolingian villa of Cassinogilum, according to Einhard and theanonymous chronicler called Astronomus; the place is usuallyidentified with Chasseneuil, near Poitiers.[2] He was the third son ofCharlemagne by his wife Hildegard. Louis was crowned King of Aquitaine as a child in 781 and sent therewith regents and a court. Charlemagne constituted the sub-kingdom inorder to secure the border of his kingdom after the destructive waragainst the Aquitanians and Basques under Waifer (capitulated c. 768)and later Hunald II, which culminated in the disastrous Battle ofRoncesvalles (778). Charlemagne wanted his son Louis to grow up in thearea where he was to reign. However, in 785, wary of the customs hisson may have been taking in Aquitaine, Charlemagne sent for him toAquitaine and Louis presented himself at the Royal Council ofPaderborn dressed up in Basque costumes along with other youths in thesame garment, which may have made a good impression in Toulouse, sincethe Basques of Vasconia were a mainstay of the Aquitanian army. In 794, Charlemagne settled four former Gallo-Roman villas on Louis,in the thought that he would take in each in turn as winter residence:Doué-la-Fontaine in today's Anjou, Ebreuil in Allier, Angeac-Charente,and the disputed Cassinogilum. Charlemagne's intention was to see allhis sons brought up as natives of their given territories, wearing thenational costume of the region and ruling by the local customs. Thuswere the children sent to their respective realms at so young an age.Each kingdom had its importance in keeping some frontier, Louis's wasthe Spanish March. In 797, Barcelona, the greatest city of the Marca,fell to the Franks when Zeid, its governor, rebelled against Córdobaand, failing, handed it to them. The Umayyad authority recaptured itin 799. However, Louis marched the entire army of his kingdom,including Gascons with their duke Sancho I of Gascony, Provençalsunder Leibulf, and Goths under Bera, over the Pyrenees and besieged itfor two years, wintering there from 800 to 801, when it capitulated.The sons were not given independence from central authority, however,and Charlemagne ingrained in them the concepts of empire and unity bysending them on military expeditions far from their home bases. Louiscampaigned in the Italian Mezzogiorno against the Beneventans at leastonce. Louis was one of Charlemagne's three legitimate sons to surviveinfancy, including his twin brother, Lothair. According to Frankishcustom, Louis had expected to share his inheritance with his brothers,Charles the Younger, King of Neustria, and Pepin, King of Italy. Inthe Divisio Regnorum of 806, Charlemagne had slated Charles theYounger as his successor as emperor and chief king, ruling over theFrankish heartland of Neustria and Austrasia, while giving Pepin theIron Crown of Lombardy, which Charlemagne possessed by conquest. ToLouis's kingdom of Aquitaine, he added Septimania, Provence, and partof Burgundy. But in the event, Charlemagne's other legitimate sons died - Pepin in810 and Charles in 811 - and Louis alone remained to be crownedco-emperor with Charlemagne in 813. On his father's death in 814, heinherited the entire Frankish kingdom and all its possessions (withthe sole exception of Italy, which remained within Louis's empire, butunder the direct rule of Bernard, Pepin's son). Emperor He was in his villa of Doué-la-Fontaine, Anjou, when he received newsof his father's passing. Hurrying to Aachen, he crowned himself andwas proclaimed by the nobles with shouts of Vivat Imperator Ludovicus. In his first coinage type, minted from the start of his reign, heimitated his father Charlemagne's portrait coinage, giving an image ofimperial power and prestige in an echo of Roman glory.[3] He quicklyenacted a "moral purge", in which he sent all of his unmarried sistersto nunneries, forgoing their diplomatic use as hostage brides infavour of the security of avoiding the entanglements that powerfulbrothers-in-law might bring. He spared his illegitimate half-brothersand tonsured his father's cousins, Adalard and Wala, shutting them upin Noirmoutier and Corbie, respectively, despite the latter's initialloyalty. His chief counsellors were Bernard, margrave of Septimania, and Ebbo,Archbishop of Reims. The latter, born a serf, was raised by Louis tothat office, but ungratefully betrayed him later. He retained some ofhis father's ministers, such as Elisachar, abbot of St. Maximin nearTrier, and Hildebold, Archbishop of Cologne. Later he replacedElisachar with Hildwin, abbot of many monasteries. He also employed Benedict of Aniane (the Second Benedict), aSeptimanian Visigoth and monastic founder, to help him reform theFrankish church. One of Benedict's primary reforms was to ensure thatall religious houses in Louis' realm adhered to the Rule of SaintBenedict, named for its creator, Benedict of Nursia (480-550), theFirst Benedict. In 816, Pope Stephen IV, who had succeeded Leo III, visited Reims andagain crowned Louis. The Emperor thereby strengthened the papacy byrecognising the importance of the pope in imperial coronations. On Maundy Thursday 817, Louis and his court were crossing a woodengallery from the cathedral to the palace in Aachen when the gallerycollapsed, killing many. Louis, having barely survived and feeling theimminent danger of death, began planning for his succession; threemonths later he issued an Ordinatio Imperii, an imperial decree thatlaid out plans for an orderly succession. In 815, he had already givenhis two eldest sons a share in the government, when he had sent hiselder sons Lothair and Pepin to govern Bavaria and Aquitainerespectively, though without the royal titles. Now, he proceeded todivide the empire among his three sons and his nephew Bernard ofItaly: Lothair was proclaimed and crowned co-emperor in Aix-la-Chapelle byhis father. He was promised the succession to most of the Frankishdominions (excluding the exceptions below), and would be the overlordof his brothers and cousin. Bernard, the son of Charlemagne's son Pippin of Italy, was confirmedas King of Italy, a title he had been allowed to inherit from hisfather by Charlemagne. Pepin was proclaimed King of Aquitaine, his territory includingGascony, the march around Toulouse, and the counties of Carcassonne,Autun, Avallon and Nevers. Louis, the youngest son, was proclaimed King of Bavaria and theneighbouring marches. If one of the subordinate kings died, he was to be succeeded by hissons. If he died childless, Lothair would inherit his kingdom. In theevent of Lothair dying without sons, one of Louis the Pious' youngersons would be chosen to replace him by "the people". Above all, theEmpire would not be divided: the Emperor would rule supreme over thesubordinate kings, whose obedience to him was mandatory. With this settlement, Louis tried to combine his sense for theEmpire's unity, supported by the clergy, while at the same timeproviding positions for all of his sons. Instead of treating his sonsequally in status and land, he elevated his first-born son Lothairabove his younger brothers and gave him the largest part of the Empireas his share. Bernard's rebellion and Louis's penance The ordinatio imperii of Aachen left Bernard of Italy in an uncertainand subordinate position as king of Italy, and he began plotting todeclare independence upon hearing of it. Louis immediately directedhis army towards Italy, and betook himself to Chalon-sur-Saône.Intimidated by the emperor's swift action, Bernard met his uncle atChalon, under invitation, and surrendered. He was taken toAix-la-Chapelle by Louis, who there had him tried and condemned todeath for treason. Louis had the sentence commuted to blinding, whichwas duly carried out; Bernard did not survive the ordeal, however,dying after two days of agony. Others also suffered: Theodulf ofOrléans, in eclipse since the death of Charlemagne, was accused ofhaving supported the rebellion, and was thrown into a monastic prison,where he died soon after - poisoned, it was rumoured.[4] The fate ofhis nephew deeply marked Louis's conscience for the rest of his life. In 822, as a deeply religious man, Louis performed penance for causingBernard's death, at his palace of Attigny near Vouziers in theArdennes, before Pope Paschal I, and a council of ecclesiastics andnobles of the realm that had been convened for the reconciliation ofLouis with his three younger half-brothers, Hugo whom he soon madeabbot of St-Quentin, Drogo whom he soon made Bishop of Metz, andTheodoric. This act of contrition, partly in emulation of TheodosiusI, had the effect of greatly reducing his prestige as a Frankishruler, for he also recited a list of minor offences about which nosecular ruler of the time would have taken any notice. He also madethe egregious error of releasing Wala and Adalard from their monasticconfinements, placing the former in a position of power in the courtof Lothair and the latter in a position in his own house. Frontier wars At the start of Louis's reign, the many tribes - Danes, Obotrites,Slovenes, Bretons, Basques - which inhabited his frontierlands werestill in awe of the Frankish emperor's power and dared not stir up anytrouble. In 816, however, the Sorbs rebelled and were quickly followedby Slavomir, chief of the Obotrites, who was captured and abandoned byhis own people, being replaced by Ceadrag in 818. Soon, Ceadrag toohad turned against the Franks and allied with the Danes, who were tobecome the greatest menace of the Franks in a short time. A greater Slavic menace was gathering on the southeast. There,Ljudevit Posavski, duke of Pannonia, was harassing the border at theDrava and Sava rivers. The margrave of Friuli, Cadolah, was sent outagainst him, but he died on campaign and, in 820, his margarvate wasinvaded by Slovenes. In 821, an alliance was made with Borna, duke ofthe Dalmatia, and Ljudevit was brought to heel. In 824 several Slavtribes in the north-western parts of Bulgaria acknowledged Louis'ssuzerainity and after he was reluctant to settle the matter peacefullywith the Bulgarian ruler Omurtag, in 827 the Bulgarians attacked theFranks in Pannonia and regained their lands. On the far southern edge of his great realm, Louis had to control theLombard princes of Benevento whom Charlemagne had never subjugated. Heextracted promises from Princes Grimoald IV and Sico, but to noeffect. On the southwestern frontier, problems commenced early when c. 812,Louis the Pious crossed the western Pyrenees 'to settle matters' inPamplona. The expedition made its way back north, where it narrowlyescaped an ambush attempt arranged by the Basques in the pass ofRoncevaux thanks to the precautions he took, i.e. hostages. Séguin,duke of Gascony, was then deposed by Louis in 816, possibly forfailing to suppress or collaborating with the Basque revolt south ofthe western Pyrenees, so sparking off a Basque uprising that was dulyput down by the Frankish emperor in Dax. Seguin was replaced by LupusIII, who was dispossessed in 818 by the emperor. In 820 an assembly atQuierzy-sur-Oise decided to send an expedition against the Cordobancaliphate (827). The counts in charge of the army, Hugh, count ofTours, and Matfrid, count of Orléans, were slow in acting and theexpedition came to naught. First civil war In 818, as Louis was returning from a campaign to Brittany, he wasgreeted by news of the death of his wife, Ermengarde. Ermengarde wasthe daughter of Ingerman, the duke of Hesbaye. Louis had been close tohis wife, who had been involved in policymaking. It was rumoured thatshe had played a part in her nephew's death and Louis himself believedher own death was divine retribution for that event. It took manymonths for his courtiers and advisors to convince him to remarry, buteventually he did, in 820, to Judith, daughter of Welf, count ofAltdorf. In 823 Judith gave birth to a son, who was named Charles. The birth of this son damaged the Partition of Aachen, as Louis'sattempts to provide for his fourth son met with stiff resistance fromhis older sons, and the last two decades of his reign were marked bycivil war. At Worms in 829, Louis gave Charles Alemannia with the title of kingor duke (historians differ on this), thus enraging his son andco-emperor Lothair,[5] whose promised share was thereby diminished. Aninsurrection was soon at hand. With the urging of the vengeful Walaand the cooperation of his brothers, Lothair accused Judith of havingcommitted adultery with Bernard of Septimania, even suggesting Bernardto be the true father of Charles. Ebbo and Hildwin abandoned theemperor at that point, Bernard having risen to greater heights thaneither of them. Agobard, Archbishop of Lyon, and Jesse, bishop ofAmiens, too, opposed the redivision of the empire and lent theirepiscopal prestige to the rebels. In 830, at Wala's insistence that Bernard of Septimania was plottingagainst him, Pepin of Aquitaine led an army of Gascons, with thesupport of the Neustrian magnates, all the way to Paris. At Verberie,Louis the German joined him. At that time, the emperor returned fromanother campaign in Brittany to find his empire at war with itself. Hemarched as far as Compiègne, an ancient royal town, before beingsurrounded by Pepin's forces and captured. Judith was incarcerated atPoitiers and Bernard fled to Barcelona. Then Lothair finally set out with a large Lombard army, but Louis hadpromised his sons Louis the German and Pepin of Aquitaine greatershares of the inheritance, prompting them to shift loyalties in favourof their father. When Lothair tried to call a general council of therealm in Nijmegen, in the heart of Austrasia, the Austrasians andRhinelanders came with a following of armed retainers, and thedisloyal sons were forced to free their father and bow at his feet(831). Lothair was pardoned, but disgraced and banished to Italy.Pepin returned to Aquitaine and Judith - after being forced tohumiliate herself with a solemn oath of innocence - to Louis's court.Only Wala was severely dealt with, making his way to a secludedmonastery on the shores of Lake Geneva. Though Hilduin, abbot of SaintDenis, was exiled to Paderborn and Elisachar and Matfrid were deprivedof their honours north of the Alps; they did not lose their freedom. Second civil war The next revolt occurred a mere two years later (832). The disaffectedPepin was summoned to his father's court, where he was so poorlyreceived he left against his father's orders. Immediately, fearingthat Pepin would be stirred up to revolt by his nobles and desiring toreform his morals, Louis the Pious summoned all his forces to meet inAquitaine in preparation of an uprising, but Louis the German garneredan army of Slav allies and conquered Swabia before the emperor couldreact. Once again the elder Louis divided his vast realm. At Jonac, hedeclared Charles king of Aquitaine and deprived Pepin (he was lessharsh with the younger Louis), restoring the whole rest of the empireto Lothair, not yet involved in the civil war. Lothair was, however,interested in usurping his father's authority. His ministers had beenin contact with Pepin and may have convinced him and Louis the Germanto rebel, promising him Alemannia, the kingdom of Charles. Soon Lothair, with the support of Pope Gregory IV, whom he hadconfirmed in office without his father's support, joined the revolt in833. While Louis was at Worms gathering a new force, Lothair marchednorth. Louis marched south. The armies met on the plains of theRothfeld. There, Gregory met the emperor and may have tried to sowdissension amongst his ranks. Soon much of Louis's army had evaporatedbefore his eyes, and he ordered his few remaining followers to go,because "it would be a pity if any man lost his life or limb on myaccount." The resigned emperor was taken to Saint Médard at Soissons,his son Charles to Prüm, and the queen to Tortona. The despicable showof disloyalty and disingenuousness earned the site the name Field ofLies, or Lügenfeld, or Campus Mendacii, ubi plurimorum fidelitasexstincta est[6] On 13 November 833, Ebbo of Rheims presided over a synod in the Churchof Saint Mary in Soissons which deposed Louis and forced him topublicly confess many crimes, none of which he had, in fact,committed. In return, Lothair gave Ebbo the Abbey of Saint Vaast. Menlike Rabanus Maurus, Louis' younger half-brothers Drogo and Hugh, andEmma, Judith's sister and Louis the German's new wife, worked on theyounger Louis to make peace with his father, for the sake of unity ofthe empire. The humiliation to which Louis was then subjected at NotreDame in Compiègne turned the loyal barons of Austrasia and Saxonyagainst Lothair, and the usurper fled to Burgundy, skirmishing withloyalists near Chalon-sur-Saône. Louis was restored the next year, on1 March 834. On Lothair's return to Italy, Wala, Jesse, and Matfrid, formerly countof Orléans, died of a pestilence and, on 2 February 835, the Synod ofThionville deposed Ebbo, Agobard, Bernard, Bishop of Vienne, andBartholomew, Archbishop of Narbonne. Lothair himself fell ill; eventshad turned completely in Louis favour once again. In 836, however, the family made peace and Louis restored Pepin andLouis, deprived Lothair of all save Italy, and gave it to Charles in anew division, given at the diet of Crémieu. At about that time, theVikings terrorised and sacked Utrecht and Antwerp. In 837, they wentup the Rhine as far as Nijmegen, and their king, Rorik, demanded thewergild of some of his followers killed on previous expeditions beforeLouis the Pious mustered a massive force and marched against them.They fled, but it would not be the last time they harried the northerncoasts. In 838, they even claimed sovereignty over Frisia, but atreaty was confirmed between them and the Franks in 839. Louis thePious ordered the construction of a North Sea fleet and the sending ofmissi dominici into Frisia to establish Frankish sovereignty there. Third civil war In 837, Louis crowned Charles king over all of Alemannia and Burgundyand gave him a portion of his brother Louis' land. Louis the Germanpromptly rose in revolt, and the emperor redivided his realm again atQuierzy-sur-Oise, giving all of the young king of Bavaria's lands,save Bavaria itself, to Charles. Emperor Louis did not stop there,however. His devotion to Charles knew no bounds. When Pepin died in838, Louis declared Charles the new king of Aquitaine. The nobles,however, elected Pepin's son Pepin II. When Louis threatened invasion,the third great civil war of his reign broke out. In the spring of839, Louis the German invaded Swabia, Pepin II and his Gascon subjectsfought all the way to the Loire, and the Danes returned to ravage theFrisian coast (sacking Dorstad for a second time). Lothair, for the first time in a long time, allied with his father andpledged support at Worms in exchange for a redivision of theinheritance. By a final placitum issued there, Louis gave Bavaria toLouis the German and disinherited Pepin II, leaving the entireremainder of the empire to be divided roughly into an eastern part anda western. Lothair was given the choice of which partition he wouldinherit and he chose the eastern, including Italy, leaving the westernfor Charles. The emperor quickly subjugated Aquitaine and had Charlesrecognised by the nobles and clergy at Clermont-en-Auvergne in 840.Louis then, in a final flash of glory, rushed into Bavaria and forcedthe younger Louis into the Ostmark. The empire now settled as he haddeclared it at Worms, he returned in July to Frankfurt am Main, wherehe disbanded the army. The final civil war of his reign was over. Death Louis fell ill soon after his final victorious campaigns and went tohis summer hunting lodge on an island in the Rhine, by his palace atIngelheim. On 20 June 840, he died, in the presence of many bishopsand clerics and in the arms of his half-brother Drogo, though Charlesand Judith were absent in Poitiers. Soon dispute plunged the survivingbrothers into a civil war that was only settled in 843 by the Treatyof Verdun, which split the Frankish realm into three parts, to becomethe kernels of France and Germany, with Burgundy and the Low Countriesbetween them. The dispute over the kingship of Aquitaine was not fullysettled until 860. Louis the Pious, along with his half-brother Drogo, were buried inSaint Pierre aux Nonnains Basilica in Metz.

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