 Charles II The Bald, " King Of The West Franks, son of Louis I "The Fair, " Emperor Of The West and Judith Of Bavaria.Born Jun 13, 823 at Frankfort-Am-Main, Hesse, Germany, died Oct 6, 877 at Brides-Les-Baines, Near Mt. Cenis In The Alps, 54 years, buried at St. Denis, Paris, Seine, Neustria [France Name Suffix: Name Suffix: [blended.FTW] [mergebase.FTW] [Fix.FTW] Western Frankish King 843-877 Frankish Emperor 875-877 Louis the Pious became Frankish Emperor in 814 with no rivals to the throne. He had three sons, Lothar, Pepin, and Louis. In 817, Lothar was made co-Emperor with his father and King of Italy to replace Bernard, Pepin made King of Aquitaine, and Louis made King of Bavaria. In 823, Louis had another son, Charles, this one by a new wife (the mother of the 3 brothers had died). Louis tried desperately to work Charles in as a successor, but the three brothers fought him everytime he tried to reform his will. After much conflict, Emperor Louis dropped Lothar's imperial title in 829 and sent him off to Italy. The next year the brothers attacked, reinstated Lothar with his imperial title, and had Judith, the mother of Charles, sent off to a nunnery. By 831, Louis had regained his power, brought back his wife, and again dropped Lothar's titles, this time all of them, and refused him to return to court ever again without permission. That year Pepin revolted. In 832, Louis of Bavaria joined Pepin, and the Emperor Louis declaired Pepin deposed of all royal titles but he had no power to enforce this declairation, so Pepin continued to rule. In 833, the three again attacked with support from Louis's own generals and from Pope Gregory IV himself. They imprisoned their father and brother, and exiled Judith to Italy under watch of Lothar, and Louis and Pepin gained territory. The next year, however, Louis and Pepin released their father and brother, brought back his wife, and peace was made. In 835, Louis was re-crowned Emperor with great pomp. Pepin died in 838, and while Louis tried to have Charles crowned king in Aquitaine, the nobles crowned Pepin's son Pepin II. Neither had the authority to rule in the country. In 840, Louis the Pious died, and the three surviving brothers began a civil war for the division of the Empire. In 841, Charles and Louis of Bavaria ganged up on their brother Lothar, who had the support of Pepin II, who were defeated at Fontenay, France. In 842, Charles and Louis made a formal alliegance, and together put down a Saxon revolt that year and a revolt in Aquitaine under Pepin II. In 843, the Treaty of Verdun was made between the three brothers, by which Charles would rule the Western Frankish Kingdom (France), with Pepin's Aquitaine a subkindom under the ultimate authority of Charles, Lothar would rule the Middle Frankish Kingdom (Italy, Provence, and Lorraine) with the imperial title, and Louis would rule the Eastern Frankish Kingdom (Germany). During his reign in France, Charles suffered the awesome attacks of the Danes, starting in 853. In 846, he ceded Brittany to its Breton inhabitants, and due to force he had to give to them the Breton March in 851 and Maine in 857. In 853 and 855, he was forced to allow Danish immigration into his kingdom. Another Danish army invaded in 856-9, destroying many French cities. In 858, Charles met with King Lothar II, who controlled the area near Denmark, to discuss a formal defense. Two years later, Louis the German invaded France on the invite of Pepin II and the Burgundian nobles, and Charles had so little authority that he couldn't even raise an army. The clergy finally pushed him out. In 868, Lothar died, and Louis the German and Charles the Bald divided up Lotharingia between them, just as they had done on the death of Charles of Provence in 863. 865-6 saw more Danish invasions into France. In 866, Charles finally bribed them to leave, and the East Frankish noble Hugh was made Duke to fight off the Norse. In 875, Emperor Louis II, died and on Christmas Day Pope John VIII crowned Charles Emperor in Rome. Two years later, Charles died and the French throne went to his son Louis II. [Attempt.FTW] Western Frankish King 843-877 Frankish Emperor 875-877 Louis the Pious became Frankish Emperor i Married/ Related to:  Richildis Of Metz, daughter of Count Of Italy And Metz Budwine and Richilde Of Arles.Still Living. CHAN17 May 2004 Children: | |||
| 2nd marriage Charles II The Bald, " King Of The West Franks, son of Louis I "The Fair, " Emperor Of The West and Judith Of Bavaria.Married Dec 14, 842 (26 years married) to: Ermentrude Of Orléans, daughter of Count Of Orléans Eudes and Engeltrude Of Paris.Died Oct 6, 869 at St. Denis, Paris, Seine, Neustria CHAN17 May 2004 Children: 2. Louis II "The Stammerer, " King Of West FranksBorn Nov 1, 846, died Apr 10, 879 at Compiègne, Oise, France, 32 years, buried at Saint-Corneille, Compiègne, Oise, Picardie, France Name Suffix: Ruled BET. 878 - 879 Emperor of the West 3 Event: Ruled BET. 877 - 879 King of the West Franks 3 Event: Crowned 8 DEC 877 Crowned at Reims by Hincmar, Archbishop of Reims 5 Note: Louis II, byname LOUIS THE STAMMERER, French LOUIS LE BÈGUE (b. Nov. 1, 846--d. April 10, 879, Compiègne, Fr.), king of Francia Occidentalis (the West Frankish kingdom) from 877 until his death. After the death of his elder brother Charles in 866, Louis, the son of King Charles II the Bald, was made king of Aquitaine under his father's tutelage in 867. Charles became emperor in 875 and two years later left Louis as regent while he defended Italy for Pope John VIII. Louis was elected king of the West Franks to succeed his father as king of the West Franks in December 877, but not as emperor. He was crowned king by Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, on Dec. 8, and in Sept. 878 he was consecrated afresh by Pope John VIII. At a council at Troyes in 878, the Pope attempted to force Louis to take up the role of defender of the papacy, but Louis refused. Louis and his cousin Louis the Younger, ruler of the East Frankish kingdom, agreed to maintain the division of Lotharingia that their respective fathers had negotiated in the Treaty of Mersen in 870. Louis had hoped to redistribute offices of state but was frustrated by the Frankish magnates, who had accepted him as king on the condition that he respect their possessions and rights. After an ineffectual reign of eighteen months Louis died at Compiègne on April 10 or 11, 879. By his first wife, Ansgarde, a Burgundian princess, he had two sons, his successors, Louis III. and Carloman; by his second wife, Adelaide, he had a posthumous son, Charles the Simple, who also became king of France. [Encyclopædia Britannica, 1971 ed., Vol. 14, pg. 414, LOUIS II; Encyclopaedia Britannica CD '97, LOUIS II] | |||