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Lothair I

Lothair I (c. 795 – 29 September 855) was a Carolingian emperor and king whose reign marked a pivotal phase in the fragmentation of the Frankish Empire. As the eldest son of Emperor Louis I the Pious and Ermengarde of Hesbaye, he was designated successor and crowned co-emperor in 817 at Aachen, assuming sub-kingships in Bavaria (815–817) and Italy (from 822, formally crowned king by Pope Paschal I in 823).^[1]^[2] Lothair's rule was defined by familial conflicts and imperial divisions, including revolts against his father in 830 and 833, where he temporarily deposed Louis at the Field of Lies. Following Louis's death in 840, Lothair engaged in civil war with his brothers Louis the German and Charles the Bald, culminating in the Treaty of Verdun in 843, which allotted him the central strip of the empire—Middle Francia—encompassing Italy, Provence, Burgundy, and Lotharingia, while retaining the imperial title.^[1]^[2] In 852, Lothair anointed his son Louis II as co-emperor, but facing health decline, he retired to Prüm Abbey as a monk and partitioned his realm among his sons shortly before his death there. His inheritance arrangements accelerated the Carolingian Empire's dissolution into distinct kingdoms, laying groundwork for medieval Europe's political map.^[1]^[2]

Origins and Early Career

Birth and Family Background

Lothair I was born in 795, though the exact location and date within the year remain uncertain in contemporary records.^[3]^[4] He was the eldest surviving son of Louis the Pious, who would succeed Charlemagne as emperor of the Franks in 814, and Ermengarde of Hesbaye, a noblewoman from the Hesbaye region whose father, Ingerman, held the title of duke there.^[3]^[5] As a member of the Carolingian dynasty, Lothair's lineage traced directly to Charlemagne through his paternal grandfather, positioning him as a key heir in the expansive Frankish empire that spanned much of Western Europe.^[5]^[4] His mother Ermengarde bore Louis several children before her death in 818, including Lothair's full brothers Pepin (born c. 797, later king of Aquitaine) and Louis (born 806, later king of East Francia, known as Louis the German).^[3] A half-brother, Charles (born 823), emerged from Louis the Pious's second marriage to Judith of Bavaria, which would later complicate dynastic successions.^[4] This family structure, rooted in strategic alliances and imperial expansion under Charlemagne, underscored the Carolingians' emphasis on dividing realms among male heirs to maintain control amid growing centrifugal pressures.^[5]

Association as Co-Emperor and King of Italy

In July 817, Emperor Louis the Pious convened an assembly at Aachen where he crowned his eldest surviving son, Lothair, as co-emperor, marking the formal association of Lothair in imperial rule.^[2] This event coincided with the issuance of the Ordinatio Imperii, a decree that designated Lothair as the principal heir to the imperial title and supreme overlord over the empire's sub-kingdoms, while allocating him core territories including Austrasia, parts of Neustria, and Burgundy.^[6] The younger brothers, Pepin (king of Aquitaine) and Louis (king of Bavaria), were confirmed in their holdings as subordinates to Lothair, aiming to preserve dynastic unity under a single imperial authority despite the division of realms.^[2] The Ordinatio initially reaffirmed Bernard, Louis's nephew, as king of Italy, but Bernard's rebellion against the succession plan—launched in response to his exclusion from further inheritance—led to his arrest, blinding, and death in April 818.^[7] With Italy's throne vacant, Louis the Pious transferred the kingdom to Lothair later that year, effectively merging it with his co-emperor's responsibilities and extending his authority southward.^[3] This succession addressed immediate instability in Italy, where Bernard's supporters had challenged central control, but it also positioned Lothair to manage the region's semi-autonomous Lombard nobility and papal relations. Lothair first exercised governance over Italy from 822, traveling there to assert authority amid ongoing administrative challenges.^[3] On 5 April 823, Pope Paschal I crowned him king in Rome, a ceremony that reinforced Carolingian legitimacy through papal sanction and symbolized the intertwining of imperial and Italian kingship.^[8] This coronation, distinct from his earlier imperial elevation, highlighted the papacy's role in legitimizing rule over Italy, where the Iron Crown of Lombardy traditionally marked kingship, though specific details of its use in 823 remain unrecorded in primary accounts. The event also prompted Lothair to issue privileges to the Church, fostering alliances crucial for maintaining order in a kingdom prone to factionalism.^[8]

Dynastic Conflicts with Louis the Pious

Revolt of 830

In early 830, Lothair I, alongside his full brothers Pepin I of Aquitaine and Louis the German, launched a revolt against their father, Emperor Louis the Pious, driven by opposition to the emperor's favoritism toward his younger son Charles (later known as Charles the Bald), born to second wife Judith of Bavaria.^[9] This stemmed from Louis's recent grants of territories, such as Alemannia, to Charles at the expense of the elder sons' established subkingdoms, contravening the Ordinatio Imperii of 817 which had divided the realm among Lothair, Pepin, and Louis the German.^[10] The brothers, supported by elements of the Frankish nobility and clergy resentful of Judith's influence, mobilized armies and advanced on the imperial court.^[11] By March 830, the rebels captured Louis the Pious at Compiègne, northwest of Paris, where he was residing during a campaign against Breton insurgents.^[12] The emperor was compelled to affirm Lothair's seniority as co-emperor and revert to the 817 constitutional arrangements, effectively sidelining Charles and Judith, who faced temporary exile to religious confinement.^[9] Lothair assumed de facto control in the north, while his brothers secured their respective regions, marking a brief triumph that highlighted the fragility of Carolingian succession norms reliant on paternal authority rather than automatic primogeniture.^[2] Rebel cohesion eroded amid reports of Lothair's harsh measures against perceived loyalists, alienating key supporters.^[2] At the assembly of Nijmegen in October 830, Louis rallied Austrasian and Rhineland forces, prompting the sons' submission; Lothair and his brothers publicly repented and restored their father to power.^[12] A follow-up assembly at Aachen in February 831 confirmed Louis's authority, stripping Lothair of the imperial title (relegating him to king of Italy) and reintegrating Charles into the succession plans, though without a full subkingdom.^[9] The episode exposed underlying tensions over imperial unity versus divisional inheritance but ultimately reinforced Louis's rule temporarily, as no permanent territorial changes resulted from the uprising.^[13]

Revolt of 833 and Temporary Deposition

In early 833, Lothair I, king of Italy and co-emperor, allied with his full brothers Pepin I of Aquitaine and Louis the German against their father, Emperor Louis the Pious, amid ongoing grievances over the latter's favoritism toward his young son Charles (later known as Charles the Bald) and perceived mismanagement of imperial divisions established in 829.^[14] Lothair, viewing his imperial rights as threatened, took the lead in the rebellion, garnering support from disaffected Frankish nobles, bishops such as Agobard of Lyon, and crucially Pope Gregory IV, whom Lothair had independently confirmed in office earlier that year without Louis's consent.^[15] This papal endorsement lent ecclesiastical legitimacy to the uprising, framing it as a correction of Louis's alleged moral failings and tyrannical rule. On June 30, 833, Louis the Pious advanced to confront the rebels on a plain in Alsace known as Rothfeld (later dubbed the Lügenfeld or Field of Lies due to the perceived treachery), near Colmar, intending to negotiate a settlement with Lothair.^[14] ^[16] Instead, upon sighting the pope among the opposing forces and facing a larger coalition, much of Louis's army defected overnight, leaving him isolated with his wife Judith and Charles; the brothers then seized him without battle upon his crossing to their camp.^[14] Lothair assumed effective control, proclaiming himself sole emperor and confining Louis under guard. The rebels convened an assembly at Soissons in early October 833, where on October 1 Louis was compelled to perform public penance at the Basilica of Saint-Médard, stripping off imperial regalia, confessing to sins including neglect of duty and unjust rule, and submitting to deposition as emperor and king.^[15] ^[17] Bishops, led by those aligned with the rebels, issued the Relatio Compendiensis, justifying the act as necessary imperial correction while treating Louis as a monk-like figure; Lothair redistributed territories, granting Aquitaine to Pepin, Bavaria to Louis the German, and portions to Charles under guardianship, while retaining Italy and the imperial title.^[15] This deposition lasted only until March 834, when shifting loyalties among nobles and Lothair's overreach prompted Louis's restoration at Saint-Denis, but the 833 revolt marked a pivotal humiliation, exposing fractures in Carolingian unity.^[14]

Reconciliation and Restoration

In the aftermath of the Field of Lies on 30 June 833, where Emperor Louis the Pious was deposed and confined to the monastery of Saint-Médard at Soissons, Lothair's assumption of sole imperial authority alienated his brothers Pepin I of Aquitaine and Louis the German.^[9] The brothers, fearing Lothair's dominance and rallying former supporters of their father, mobilized armies and advanced on Aachen in early 834, liberating Louis from custody by February.^[18] Lothair, unable to confront the combined forces effectively, retreated southward to Italy, where his Lombard loyalists provided refuge but limited his influence beyond the Alps.^[9] Louis the Pious, restored to provisional authority, convened an assembly at the Abbey of Saint-Denis near Paris on 1 March 834 (or possibly 30 March per some accounts), where he underwent a ceremonial reinstatement as emperor, absolved by bishops including those who had previously supported the deposition.^[19]^[9] This event marked a pivotal ecclesiastical and political reversal, with Louis leveraging assemblies and oaths of fidelity to rebuild his network among the Frankish nobility and clergy. Lothair, confronting isolation and the risk of total dispossession, dispatched envoys and ultimately submitted without battle, acknowledging his father's superior claim.^[20] Reconciliation was formalized through family councils in 834, restoring Lothair to his prior titles as co-emperor and king of Italy while subordinating him to Louis's oversight.^[9] Assemblies such as the one at Thionville later that year reaffirmed core elements of the 817 Ordinatio Imperii, preserving Lothair's Italian realm and imperial dignity but curtailing his ambitions for unified control. This fragile accord, however, sowed seeds for ongoing tensions, as Louis adjusted sub-kingdom boundaries to accommodate his youngest son Charles, prompting Lothair's intermittent resistance thereafter.^[9]

Struggle for Supremacy After 840

Outbreak of Civil War

Following the death of Emperor Louis the Pious on 20 June 840 at Ingelheim, Lothair I, his eldest surviving son and co-emperor since 817, received the imperial insignia and promptly claimed sovereignty over the entire Carolingian realm, overriding the partition outlined in his father's final ordonnance of 839, which had allocated specific kingdoms to each son.^[21] Lothair's assertion rested on the Ordinatio imperii of 817, which had designated him as the primary heir to the imperial dignity with overarching authority over his brothers' sub-kingdoms, a framework he viewed as enduring despite subsequent modifications by Louis.^[2] This claim positioned Lothair not merely as king of Italy and the Middle Frankish territories but as supreme ruler entitled to tribute and obedience from Louis the German in the East and Charles the Bald in the West, while also drawing support from Pepin II, the rebellious king of Aquitaine. Lothair's brothers rejected this interpretation, interpreting Louis's 839 division—East Francia to Louis, West Francia to Charles, and a central belt including Italy and the imperial title to Lothair—as the binding inheritance, thereby denying Lothair any feudal overlordship.^[22] In response, Louis the German and Charles the Bald forged a defensive alliance in July 840, meeting at Strasbourg to coordinate resistance and pledging mutual aid against Lothair's ambitions.^[23] On 24 July 840, Lothair escalated tensions by formally proclaiming his imperium at Strasbourg, allying explicitly with Pepin II and mobilizing an army northward from Italy toward Aachen, the traditional imperial capital, with the intent to enforce submission through military pressure.^[23] Initial hostilities erupted in late summer 840 as Lothair's forces, numbering several thousand including Lombard and Provençal contingents, conducted raids into West Frankish territories around the Rhine and Meuse rivers, seizing plunder and compelling local loyalties while avoiding direct engagement with the allied armies of his brothers.^[21] Charles and Louis, in turn, raised levies and fortified key positions, with Charles repelling incursions near Paris and Louis securing the eastern frontiers; these skirmishes, marked by devastation of crops and villages, disrupted trade and ecclesiastical estates without decisive outcomes, setting the stage for prolonged attrition.^[24] The brothers' alliance was further solidified by the Oath of Strasbourg in February 842, sworn in Romance and Germanic tongues to symbolize their unified front against fraternal overreach, though the war's opening phase from 840 to early 841 remained characterized by maneuver and proxy violence rather than pitched battles.^[22]

Battle of Fontenoy and Defeat

Following the death of Emperor Louis the Pious on June 20, 840, Lothair I, as the eldest son and co-emperor, asserted claims to overlordship over the entire Carolingian inheritance, prompting his brothers Louis the German and Charles the Bald to form an alliance against him.^[25] Lothair in turn allied with his nephew Pepin II, claimant to Aquitaine, drawing support from Burgundian and Italian contingents to bolster his numerically superior but less cohesive forces.^[23] Initial skirmishes and raids characterized the civil war's early phase, but by early 841, the opposing armies converged in the region south of Auxerre, setting the stage for a pitched confrontation viewed as divine judgment on the fraternal dispute.^[25] The Battle of Fontenoy-en-Puisaye unfolded on June 25, 841, approximately 22 miles south of Auxerre in present-day France, involving tens of thousands of combatants in what contemporaries described as unprecedented carnage among the Franks.^[26] Lothair and Pepin II's coalition, including heavy infantry shield walls reinforced by Burgundian barons such as Ermenaud III of Auxerre, initially held strong defensive positions and repelled early assaults from Charles's Provençal troops under Guerin.^[23] Fighting commenced around 6 a.m. with volleys of throwing axes shattering shields, followed by brutal hand-to-hand infantry clashes; by midday, however, coordinated cavalry charges led by Louis the German and reinforcements from Bernard of Septimania's forces broke Lothair's lines, turning the engagement into a rout.^[26] Lothair personally fought with gallantry alongside Pepin II but could not stem the collapse, as allied momentum overwhelmed his flanks.^[23] Casualties were catastrophic, with estimates ranging from 25,000 to 40,000 dead—predominantly from Lothair's side—marking the bloodiest conflict of the Carolingian era and decimating the Frankish nobility.^[26] ^[23] The Annals of Fulda recount an "countless number" slain, with the slain left unburied in places due to the scale of slaughter, underscoring the battle's brutality as a judgment exposing the folly of fraternal division.^[25] Lothair retreated in disarray to Aachen, abandoning his camp and treasures to the victors, while Louis and Charles divided their spoils before parting ways.^[25] This defeat shattered Lothair's ambitions for unified imperial rule, forcing him into a defensive posture and paving the way for prolonged negotiations that culminated in the Treaty of Verdun in 843.^[26] Pepin II's position in Aquitaine weakened irreparably, ceding effective control to Charles by perceived divine sanction, while the battle's trauma highlighted the empire's fragility amid divided loyalties and logistical strains on large feudal levies.^[23] Lothair retained nominal emperorship but lost practical supremacy in Francia, retreating focus to Italy and Middle Francia amid ongoing instability.^[25]

Treaty of Verdun and Division of the Empire

Following the Battle of Fontenoy in June 841 and the subsequent Strasbourg Oaths of February 842, which formalized the alliance between Louis the German and Charles the Bald against Lothair I, prolonged negotiations ensued to partition the Carolingian Empire and avert further conflict. These talks, mediated partly by church officials and local assemblies, culminated in the Treaty of Verdun, agreed upon in August 843 at Verdun-sur-Meuse.^[27]^[28] The treaty divided the empire into three kingdoms, with Lothair I receiving the central belt designated as Middle Francia (or Lotharingia in its northern extent), encompassing territories from Frisia in the north through the Low Countries, Alsace, Lorraine, the Rhineland west of the Rhine, Upper Burgundy, Provence, and extending south to the Kingdom of Italy, which he had ruled since 817. This allocation included key imperial sites like Aachen and retained for Lothair the title of emperor with nominal overlordship over the other rulers, reflecting his status as the eldest surviving son of Louis the Pious. Louis the German obtained East Francia, comprising lands east of the Rhine including Bavaria, Alemannia, and Saxony, forming the core of future German territories. Charles the Bald was allotted West Francia, the western regions beyond the Scheldt, Meuse, Saône, and Rhône rivers, laying groundwork for modern France.^[29]^[27] The division was pragmatic rather than strictly ethnic or linguistic, following natural barriers like rivers but resulting in an elongated, heterogeneous Middle Francia prone to internal divisions and external pressures. For Lothair, this realm's fragmentation—spanning diverse regions with weak central cohesion—complicated governance, as it lacked unified loyalties and faced immediate challenges from rebellious vassals and the ambitions of his brothers. The treaty temporarily stabilized the empire but accelerated its disintegration, with Middle Francia's later subdivisions under the Treaty of Prüm in 855 and Treaty of Meerssen in 870 underscoring the unsustainability of Lothair's inheritance.^[30]^[28]

Rule Over Middle Francia and Italy

Administrative Challenges and Instability

Lothair's Middle Frankish realm, allocated by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, encompassed a discontinuous north-south corridor from Frisia to central Italy, rendering centralized administration logistically arduous due to poor communications and vast distances that impeded swift military or judicial responses. To mitigate these issues, he devolved powers early, installing his son Louis II as sub-king of Italy in 844 and elevating him to co-emperor in 850, while local counts retained substantial autonomy in regions like Provence and Burgundy.^[2] Despite promulgating capitularies—such as the 823 provisions adapting Roman law to Lombard customs in Italy—these measures struggled against entrenched local interests and fiscal decentralization, where magnates increasingly evaded royal oversight.^[31] External pressures intensified instability: Saracen fleets from Aghlabid North Africa raided Rome on 28 August 846, desecrating and plundering the extramural basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul before withdrawing with captives and treasure, exposing vulnerabilities in southern defenses despite Lothair dispatching Louis II with reinforcements too late to engage.^[2] Concurrently, Viking incursions escalated from 845, with Norse fleets annually targeting Low Country coasts and riverine accesses in Lothair's northern territories, straining resources already committed to Italian fronts.^[32] Internally, defiance from provincial elites erupted, exemplified by the 845 rebellion in Provence orchestrated by Count Fulcrad of Arles, who rallied local counts against imperial exactions; Lothair personally led forces to crush it, coercing Fulcrad's submission before redirecting him against the Saracens.^[2] Such uprisings underscored the fragility of loyalty among frontier aristocrats, whose semi-independent power bases prioritized regional defense over obedience to a distant sovereign, foreshadowing the realm's partition at Lothair's death in 855.

Continued Fraternal Rivalries

Despite the divisions formalized by the Treaty of Verdun on 11 August 843, which allocated Middle Francia to Lothair I while granting East Francia to Louis the German and West Francia to Charles the Bald, fraternal tensions endured over territorial control and imperial precedence.^[9] Lothair's retention of the imperial title fueled resentment, as his brothers resisted any subordination, leading to opportunistic alliances and incursions that undermined the treaty's stability.^[9] In 844, Lothair allied with Louis the German to counter a rebellion in Aquitaine led by the sons of his deceased brother Pepin I, successfully reasserting control over the rebellious claimants but highlighting the interconnected vulnerabilities of their realms.^[9] This cooperation proved temporary, as underlying rivalries prompted Louis the German to invade Charles the Bald's West Frankish territories in 845, sacking Paris and extracting tribute, an action that indirectly pressured Lothair's borders by destabilizing the western frontier.^[9] By 849, Lothair actively joined Louis the German in a campaign against Charles, with their combined forces attacking West Francia to exploit Charles's internal weaknesses and expand influence, though the incursion yielded limited gains and reinforced the pattern of shifting loyalties among the siblings.^[9] These maneuvers exemplified the causal fragility of the post-Verdun order, where personal ambitions and regional disputes perpetuated conflict until Lothair's death in 855, preventing any lasting fraternal concord.^[9]

Internal Divisions and Grants to Sons

Middle Francia, Lothair I's inheritance from the Treaty of Verdun in 843, encompassed a fragmented strip of territory stretching from the North Sea to central Italy, lacking natural geographic cohesion and marked by diverse ethnic groups, linguistic barriers, and competing local loyalties that fueled internal instability.^[33] These divisions manifested in frequent revolts by nobles and cities, particularly in Italy and the Low Countries, where Lothair struggled to enforce authority amid ongoing threats from Saracens in the south and Vikings in the north.^[34] To address succession and mitigate fragmentation, Lothair began granting territories to his sons during his lifetime. In 844, he designated his eldest son, Louis II, as king of Italy, associating him in rule to secure the peninsula's governance while Lothair focused on northern affairs; Louis was later crowned co-emperor in Rome around 850.^[35] This early devolution reflected Lothair's recognition of Italy's administrative burdens but also sowed seeds of divided loyalties, as Louis increasingly acted independently. Facing terminal illness in 855, Lothair formalized the partition at the Treaty of Prüm on 19 September, abdicating and dividing Middle Francia among his three surviving sons to preserve Carolingian control over the imperial legacy. Louis II inherited Italy along with the imperial title and oversight of the three realms; Lothair II received the northern core known as Lotharingia, spanning Frisia, the Meuse valley, Alsace, and Burgundy up to the Jura; Charles obtained the southern domains of Provence, including coastal regions and parts of Lower Burgundy.^[34] ^[36] Lothair then retired to Prüm Abbey as a monk, dying ten days later on 29 September 855.^[36] This tripartite division exacerbated internal fractures, as the sub-kingdoms remained economically interdependent yet politically rivalrous, with Lotharingia and Provence soon contested by uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald, leading to rapid absorption and the effective dissolution of Middle Francia's unity.^[34] The grants prioritized dynastic continuity over territorial viability, contributing to the Carolingian Empire's centrifugal disintegration.

Ecclesiastical and Imperial Relations

Alliances with the Papacy

Lothair I's imperial authority was reinforced through ceremonial and diplomatic ties with the papacy, beginning with his coronation as co-emperor by Pope Paschal I on Easter Sunday, April 5, 823, in Old St. Peter's Basilica in Rome. This act, following his designation as co-emperor by his father Louis the Pious in 817, underscored the papacy's traditional role in anointing Carolingian rulers, thereby lending ecclesiastical legitimacy to Lothair's governance over Italy and his broader imperial claims.^[37] The death of Paschal I in 824 and the subsequent election of Eugene II amid Roman factional violence prompted Lothair to assert oversight, dispatching envoys who compelled the new pope to swear fealty to the emperor. On November 11, 824, Lothair promulgated the Constitutio Romana in concert with Eugene II, stipulating that papal candidates must pledge loyalty to the Frankish emperor, undergo examination for orthodoxy, and secure imperial confirmation before consecration to curb electoral abuses and ensure stability. This pact delineated mutual obligations, with the emperor guaranteeing protection against external threats and internal disorder in exchange for papal deference in temporal affairs, marking a structured alliance that peaked Frankish influence over Roman ecclesiastical processes without fully subordinating the spiritual domain.^[37] Tensions resurfaced in January 844 upon the disputed election and rapid consecration of Pope Sergius II without notifying Lothair, violating the Constitutio Romana. Lothair responded by sending his son Louis II at the head of an army to Rome, but Sergius, despite physical frailty from gout, intercepted the forces at Porto to negotiate reconciliation, averting invasion. On June 6, 844, Sergius crowned Louis II as king of Italy in St. Peter's, restoring amity and affirming Lothair's dynastic control while securing papal endorsement against rival claimants and amid escalating Saracen raids on Italian coasts.^[38] Under Pope Leo IV (elected 847), Lothair sustained protective alliances, dispatching forces in 846 to counter Saracen incursions that sacked parts of Rome and its environs, including the basilicas of St. Peter and St. Paul. These efforts, coordinated with papal fortifications and indulgences for defenders, exemplified the emperor's role as secular guardian of the Holy See, though operational leadership increasingly devolved to Louis II; Lothair's confirmations of Leo's privileges further cemented this partnership until his death in 855.^[38]

Policies on Church and Imperial Authority

Lothair I asserted imperial authority over ecclesiastical matters in line with Carolingian precedents, viewing the emperor as the protector and overseer of the Church while subordinating papal and episcopal actions to royal oversight. In November 824, following the death of Pope Paschal I and the election of Eugene II amid Roman factional strife, Lothair promulgated the Constitutio Romana, a nine-article concordat negotiated with the new pope and Roman nobility. This decree required imperial missi to oversee papal elections, ensuring their confirmation by the emperor, and mandated that the pope-elect swear an oath of fidelity and subjection to the emperor before consecration. It safeguarded the rights of all under papal and imperial protection, confirmed the pope's primacy over Western bishops, and prohibited the alienation of papal patrimony without imperial consent, thereby reserving ultimate sovereignty in Rome to Lothair as king of Italy and co-emperor.^[39]^[40] This policy stemmed from Lothair's direct governance of Italy since 822 and his re-coronation as emperor by Pope Paschal I on April 5, 823, which reinforced the symbiotic yet hierarchical Frankish-papal alliance established under Charlemagne. By intervening in the 824 papal crisis—sending troops to depose the briefly elected Zinzinnus (or John) and install Eugene II—Lothair demonstrated practical enforcement of imperial rights over Roman affairs, preventing unchecked papal autonomy that could undermine Carolingian influence. The Constitutio thus codified a framework where ecclesiastical legitimacy depended on imperial validation, reflecting Lothair's broader strategy to integrate church structures into his administrative control amid Lombard and Byzantine threats in Italy. Throughout his reign, Lothair extended this approach by appointing loyal bishops and abbots to key sees in Middle Francia and Italy, leveraging ecclesiastical networks for political stability and revenue, as seen in his grants of royal immunity to monasteries conditional on fidelity oaths. He co-convoked synods with his father Louis the Pious, such as the 829 Frankish assemblies issuing the Religiosam vitam reforms on clerical discipline and regular diocesan synods, which Lothair upheld in his territories to enforce uniform liturgical and moral standards under imperial supervision. However, fraternal wars and regional revolts limited consistent implementation, with Lothair occasionally conceding to papal mediation—such as Gregory IV's role in the 833 deposition of Louis the Pious—to bolster his claims, revealing pragmatic tensions between asserted authority and diplomatic necessity.^[41]

Final Years, Death, and Succession

Later Campaigns and Health Decline

In the mid-840s, Lothair faced escalating threats from Saracen raids in southern Italy, culminating in the sack of Rome on 27 August 846, during which invaders plundered St. Peter's Basilica and other churches.^[42] In response, Lothair suppressed a related rebellion in Provence led by Count Fulrad of Montpellier and personally joined an expedition against the Saracens, aiming to restore order and protect papal territories, though the campaign yielded limited decisive victories amid ongoing instability.^[4] These efforts highlighted the persistent vulnerability of his Italian domains to Muslim incursions from bases in Sicily and coastal enclaves, straining resources already divided by fraternal conflicts. By 851, Lothair undertook another journey to Italy to address Lombard infighting and indirect Saracen pressures, convening the rival princes Radelchis I of Benevento and Siconulf of Salerno at Benevento to enforce a partition of their territories and renew oaths of fealty, thereby seeking to consolidate Frankish overlordship in the south without major pitched battles.^[32] This diplomatic-military intervention, supported by his son Louis II's subsequent enforcements, temporarily stabilized the region but underscored Lothair's reliance on intermittent personal oversight rather than sustained conquest, as Viking raids in the north further diverted attention and manpower.^[12] Lothair's health deteriorated sharply in 855, prompting his abdication amid a serious, unspecified illness that left him despairing of recovery. On 23 September, he formally divided Middle Francia among his sons—Louis II receiving Italy and imperial title, Lothair II the northern lands, and Charles Provence—before retiring to Prüm Abbey, where he died on 29 September.^[12]^[42] This rapid succession of events reflected the physical toll of decades of civil strife and defensive warfare on the aging emperor, whose realm fragmented further upon his passing.^[32]

Death and Partition of Territories

In September 855, Lothair I, afflicted by a severe illness while campaigning against Saracens in Italy, abdicated the throne and convened his sons at his palace in Attigny to arrange the division of Middle Francia.^[34] On 19 September, the Treaty of Prüm formalized the partition among his three surviving sons: the eldest, Louis II, inherited the Kingdom of Italy along with the imperial title and authority over the associated territories; Lothair II received the northern region known as Lotharingia, encompassing areas between the Rhine, Meuse, and Scheldt rivers extending to the North Sea; and the youngest, Charles, was granted the southern Kingdom of Provence, including Burgundy and lands bordering the Mediterranean.^[34] ^[4] This subdivision adhered to Carolingian partible inheritance customs but exacerbated the empire's fragmentation, creating unstable buffer states vulnerable to absorption by neighboring realms.^[34] Following the treaty, Lothair retired to the Abbey of Prüm on 23 September, where he died on 29 September 855 at age 60.^[43] ^[4] He was buried at the abbey, with his tomb enduring as one of the earliest preserved Carolingian imperial monuments.^[44] The partitions immediately sparked disputes, as Lothair II's Lotharingia faced claims from his uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald, leading to further treaties like Meerssen in 870 that redistributed much of the territory.^[45]

Family

Marriage and Immediate Kin

Lothair I was born circa 795 as the eldest son of Emperor Louis I the Pious (d. 840) and his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye (d. 818), daughter of Ingerman, count of Hesbaye.^[1] His full siblings included Pepin I (d. 838), who was designated king of Aquitaine, and Louis (d. 876), later styled Louis the German as ruler of the East Frankish Kingdom.^[1] Lothair's position as firstborn positioned him as co-emperor with his father from 817, amid ongoing familial divisions over imperial succession.^[1] In October 821, Lothair married Ermengarde (d. 851), daughter of Hugh, count of Tours, at Thionville.^[1] ^[46] This alliance linked the Carolingian imperial line to the prominent Tours comital family, enhancing Lothair's regional influence in Francia Media.^[1] Ermengarde served as empress consort until her death on 20 March 851, predeceasing Lothair by four years.^[1]

Children and Dynastic Outcomes

Lothair I and his wife Ermengarde of Tours had at least ten children, including five sons and five daughters, though some died in infancy or youth without significant political roles. The surviving sons—Louis II, Lothair II, and Charles—were designated as heirs to his territories in Middle Francia, as established by the Treaty of Prüm on 19 September 855, just days before his death. This agreement allocated Italy, along with the imperial dignity, to Louis II (born circa 825, died 875); the northern region, later termed Lotharingia, to Lothair II (born circa 835, died 869); and the southern territories of Provence, Burgundy, and parts of Alsace to Charles (born circa 845, died 863).^[9]^[47] The daughters played roles in forging alliances through marriage: Hiltrude (circa 826–865) wed Berengar, count of Spoleto, strengthening ties in central Italy; Gisela (born after 830, died after 861) married Eberhard I, margrave of Friuli, linking the Carolingians to Friulian nobility; and Bertha (died 852) married Adalard, count of Paris, though her line produced no major dynastic heirs. Other daughters, such as Ermengarde and Gisela (distinct from the Friuli spouse), entered religious life or had limited documented impact. These unions aimed to secure loyalty among regional elites but did not prevent the erosion of central authority.^[9] Dynastically, the Prüm division accelerated the Carolingian empire's fragmentation, as each son's realm proved unstable. Louis II's inheritance preserved Carolingian imperial claims in Italy until his death without male heirs in 875, after which his uncle Charles the Bald briefly assumed the title before its lapse into contention. Lothair II's Lotharingia, lacking strong defenses, fell into dispute between his uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald following his childless death in 869, culminating in the Treaty of Meerssen (870), which split it between East and West Francia. Charles's premature death in 863 without issue prompted an immediate partition of Provence between his brothers, with Louis II absorbing the core while Lothair II gained peripheral areas, further diluting Lothair I's Middle Frankish construct. These outcomes underscored the pitfalls of partible inheritance, contributing to the devolution of unified Carolingian rule into enduring regional kingdoms by the late ninth century.^[47]^[30]

Legacy

Short-Term Consequences of Divisions

The Treaty of Verdun in 843 temporarily halted the civil war among Lothair I, Louis the German, and Charles the Bald, but the allocation of Middle Francia to Lothair proved unsustainable due to its elongated geography spanning from the North Sea to central Italy, encompassing linguistically and culturally diverse regions that hindered unified governance.^[48] This division weakened imperial cohesion, as Lothair's realm lacked defensible natural boundaries and faced internal dissent, prompting ongoing skirmishes with his uncles over border territories in the 840s and 850s.^[49] Lothair I's illness in 855 led to his abdication and the Treaty of Prüm on 23 September, partitioning Middle Francia among his sons: Louis II inherited Italy with the imperial title, Lothair II received the northern Lotharingian territories (including modern Netherlands, Belgium, and Lorraine), and Charles of Provence obtained the southeastern lands.^[34] These smaller polities inherited the vulnerabilities of Middle Francia, with fragmented authority enabling intensified Viking raids along the northern coasts—such as the 855 sack of Dorestad—and Saracen incursions in Provence, which Charles struggled to repel due to limited resources.^[48] The partitions fostered immediate rivalries, as East and West Francia eyed Lotharingia's fertile lands; following Lothair II's death in 869 without legitimate heirs, Louis the German and Charles the Bald divided it via the Treaty of Meerssen in 870, absorbing much of it and further eroding any remnant of a centralized Middle Frankish entity.^[45] This rapid reconfiguration underscored the short-term consequence of diminished Frankish unity, shifting power dynamics toward bilateral conflicts between the western and eastern kingdoms while exposing divided territories to opportunistic invasions and local power vacuums.^[50]

Long-Term Impact on European Political Geography

The Treaty of Verdun, signed on 10 August 843, partitioned the Carolingian Empire among Lothair I, Louis the German, and Charles the Bald, creating Middle Francia under Lothair I that stretched from the North Sea coast through the Low Countries, along the Rhine and Moselle valleys, Burgundy, Provence, and into northern Italy. This division established enduring geopolitical fault lines, with West Francia evolving into the Kingdom of France and East Francia forming the basis of the East Frankish Realm, precursor to the Holy Roman Empire and modern Germany. Middle Francia, however, proved geographically and culturally fragmented, lacking cohesive linguistic or ethnic unity, which accelerated its subdivision and absorption into neighboring realms.^[51]^[27]^[52] Following Lothair I's death on 29 September 855, the Treaty of Prüm further divided Middle Francia among his three sons: Louis II received Italy and the imperial title along with Provence, Lothair II inherited the northern Lotharingian strip encompassing modern-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Lorraine, and parts of Alsace, while Charles acquired the southern Provence region. The instability of Lotharingia led to its partition after Lothair II's death in 869 via the Treaty of Meerssen in 870, splitting it between East and West Francia and solidifying the Rhine as a de facto boundary between emerging French and German spheres. This fragmentation prevented the persistence of a central imperial entity, fostering the development of distinct nation-states and regional principalities in the Low Countries and Burgundy that influenced the political geography of medieval and early modern Europe.^[53]^[54] Over the subsequent centuries, the Verdun divisions contributed to the linguistic and cultural divergence between Romance-speaking western Europe and Germanic eastern regions, with contested borderlands like Lorraine remaining flashpoints in Franco-German conflicts into the 19th century. The absence of a viable middle kingdom underscored the challenges of maintaining trans-regional authority, paving the way for feudal fragmentation and the rise of hereditary monarchies centered on natural geographic units rather than the expansive Carolingian model. These partitions thus marked the inception of Europe's multipolar political landscape, where Italy developed as a separate entity and the Low Countries emerged as a contested buffer zone between major powers.^[27]^[55]^[30]

Scholarly Assessments of Lothair's Ambitions and Failures

Scholars evaluate Lothair I's core ambition as upholding the imperial hierarchy defined in the Ordinatio Imperii of 817, which enshrined his status as co-emperor and overlord of his brothers' realms, reflecting a commitment to dynastic legitimacy and centralized authority over the Carolingian inheritance.^[2]^[56] This vision prioritized the emperor's symbolic and practical primacy, as evidenced by the consistent invocation of imperial titles in his charters during the civil war of 840–843, which framed his claims against Louis the German and Charles the Bald as defenses of rightful order rather than mere territorial aggrandizement.^[56] However, Lothair's inflexible insistence on this framework eroded support from Frankish magnates, precipitating the fratricidal conflict after Louis the Pious's death on September 20, 840, and his military defeat at the Battle of Fontenoy on June 25, 841, where allied forces under his brothers inflicted heavy casualties on his army.^[2] The ensuing Treaty of Verdun on August 10, 843, compelled him to accept Middle Francia—a fragmented corridor from Frisia to Provence—highlighting the practical failure of his strategy, as the territory's elongated shape hindered effective defense against Viking raids and internal dissent while diluting imperial cohesion.^[2]^[56] Lothair's later actions compounded these shortcomings: his abdication and division of Middle Francia among his sons via the Treaty of Prüm on August 1, 855—assigning Italy to Louis II, Lotharingia to Lothair II, and Provence to Charles—exacerbated fragmentation, leaving no viable core for unified rule and inviting opportunistic seizures by relatives.^[2] Historians attribute this to a causal mismatch between Lothair's ideological rigidity and the pragmatic demands of Carolingian politics, where fraternal alliances and elite consent proved more decisive than titular supremacy, ultimately hastening the empire's devolution into rival kingdoms.^[56] Revisionist assessments, such as that in Maria Schäpers's monograph, counter traditional portrayals of Lothair as inept or overly pious to a fault, emphasizing his competent crisis management in Italy during the 820s–830s and strategic delegation to Louis II, while rejecting claims of his instigation or mishandling of the 830 revolt against Louis the Pious.^[2] Yet, even these views acknowledge source limitations rendering Lothair a somewhat opaque figure, with scant evidence of innovative policies in economy or military reform to offset the structural vulnerabilities his partitions entrenched.^[2] Overall, scholarly consensus holds that Lothair's emperorship, though marked by conventional Carolingian virtues like monastic piety in his final retreat to Prüm Abbey, failed to adapt to kin rivalries, yielding a legacy of division over durable unity.^[2]^[56]

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