Lothair II

Lothair II (c. 835 – 8 August 869) was a Carolingian king who ruled Lotharingia from 855 until his death.^[1] The second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours, he inherited the northern territories of Middle Francia—stretching from the North Sea to the Jura Mountains west of the Rhine—through the Treaty of Prüm in 855, which partitioned his father's domains among his three sons.^[1]^[2] With his capital at Aachen, Lothair's reign was overshadowed by a protracted marital crisis: he sought to repudiate his wife, Teutberga, daughter of Boso the Elder, in order to legitimize his long-term concubine Waldrada and their children, including a son named Hugh, but faced staunch opposition from popes, bishops, and his uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald, culminating in multiple synods and temporary reconciliations.^[1] Lothair died childless in legitimate issue while campaigning in Italy, prompting the Treaty of Meerssen in 870, which divided Lotharingia between the East and West Frankish kingdoms.^[1]^[2]

Origins and Ascension

Birth and Parentage

Lothair II was born circa 835 as the second surviving son of the Carolingian emperor Lothair I (r. 817–855) and his consort Ermengarde (d. 20 March 851).^[3]^[4] Lothair I, eldest son of Emperor Louis the Pious and grandson of Charlemagne, ruled as co-emperor from 817 and held territories across Italy, Burgundy, and the Middle Rhine.^[4] Ermengarde descended from the Tours comital family as the daughter of Hugh, Count of Tours, and served as Lothair I's primary wife from circa 821 until her death.^[4] The precise location of Lothair II's birth remains undocumented in contemporary sources, though it likely occurred in Italy amid his father's imperial activities there following the 843 Treaty of Verdun.^[5] He had an elder brother, Louis II (c. 825–875), who succeeded as emperor, and two younger brothers: Charles (c. 845–863), apportioned Provence, and an unnamed son who died young.^[4] Lothair II's parentage positioned him within the core Carolingian lineage, inheriting imperial bloodlines that emphasized Frankish royal continuity through Louis the Pious's division of realms among his sons.^[4]

Inheritance via Treaty of Prüm

The Treaty of Prüm, concluded on 19 September 855 at Prüm Abbey, partitioned the territories of Middle Francia—originally delineated for Lothair I in the 843 Treaty of Verdun—among his three surviving sons following Lothair I's abdication due to illness.^[6] This agreement assigned the imperial title and the Kingdom of Italy to the eldest son, Louis II; the northern region, later termed Lotharingia, to the second son, Lothair II; and the southern Kingdom of Provence (encompassing parts of modern southeastern France, Switzerland, and northern Italy) to the youngest, Charles.^[7] Lothair I's death on 29 September 855, shortly after the treaty's enactment, formalized these divisions without immediate contest from his brothers, Louis the German and Charles the Bald, who held East and West Francia respectively.^[8] Lothair II's inheritance comprised the central-northern strip of Middle Francia, extending from the North Sea coast in Frisia southward along the Rhine River to the Jura Mountains, incorporating key Austrasian territories such as the Meuse Valley, the Low Countries, and areas around Aachen and Cologne.^[6] This realm, often centered administratively at Aachen, the former Carolingian capital, included diverse ethnic and linguistic groups, with Frankish elites dominating governance amid ongoing Viking threats along the northern coasts and internal feudal fragmentation.^[7] The treaty's delineation aimed to preserve familial unity by allocating defensible, cohesive regions, though Lothair II's domain proved vulnerable due to its elongated shape and lack of natural eastern and western barriers beyond the Rhine and Scheldt rivers.^[8] The Prüm partition reflected Lothair I's intent to avert broader imperial disintegration by distributing regalia and honors proportionally, yet it exacerbated the Carolingian Empire's tripartite (now effectively quadripartite) split, sowing seeds for future conflicts over Lotharingia's strategic corridor between East and West Francia.^[6] Lothair II, born around 835 as the son of Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours, ascended at approximately age 20, inheriting not only lands but also the imperative to consolidate authority amid fraternal alliances and external pressures from pagan incursions.^[8] This inheritance laid the foundation for Lothair II's eight-year reign, marked by efforts to defend and legitimize his precarious middle kingdom.^[7]

Rule in Lotharingia

Governance and Familial Conflicts

Lothair II governed Lotharingia from 855 until his death in 869, with Aachen serving as the primary seat of royal authority. His administration adhered to the established Carolingian framework, involving the delegation of local rule to counts and the deployment of royal missi to oversee justice, taxation, and military obligations across a fragmented territory that encompassed Frisia, the Rhineland, and parts of modern Belgium and northeastern France. In 867, he granted the frontier region of Frisia to his son Hugues, signaling an attempt to integrate familial loyalties into the administrative structure and secure northern defenses against potential incursions.^[1] However, the kingdom's elongated geography and ethnic diversity—spanning Frankish, Saxon, and Romance-speaking populations—posed ongoing challenges to centralized control, exacerbated by limited resources and reliance on ecclesiastical support from bishops in key sees like Metz and Trier.^[1] Familial conflicts defined much of Lothair II's rule, primarily through rivalries with his uncles, Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, who viewed Lotharingia as a vulnerable buffer zone ripe for expansion. These tensions arose from the 855 Treaty of Prüm's delineation of borders, which left ambiguous claims over border counties and river valleys, leading to diplomatic pressures and occasional alliances of convenience. For example, Lothair II periodically sought Charles the Bald's backing against eastern threats from Louis the German, as evidenced by coordinated responses to shared concerns over Viking raids along the Rhine in the 860s, though such pacts were pragmatic rather than fraternal and often collapsed amid mutual suspicions.^[1] In 859, to counter these external familial encroachments, Lothair associated his infant son Louis as co-king in a ceremonial coronation at Metz, aiming to project dynastic stability, but the child's death in 863 undermined these efforts and heightened vulnerabilities to his uncles' ambitions.^[1] These disputes, rooted in Carolingian inheritance customs favoring partition over unity, weakened Lothair's internal cohesion without erupting into open war during his lifetime.^[1]

Diplomatic and Military Engagements

In 857, amid growing tensions within the Carolingian family, Lothair II forged a defensive alliance with his uncle Charles the Bald, king of West Francia, through the Treaty of St-Quentin concluded on 1 March. This pact was directed against the expansionist ambitions of the other uncle, Louis the German, king of East Francia, who sought to exploit the fragmented inheritance of Lothair I's sons. The alliance was tested in 858 when Louis the German launched an invasion of West Francia, advancing as far as the Somme River and gaining support from local nobles disillusioned with Charles's rule. Lothair II mobilized forces to aid Charles, joining him near Verberie; their combined presence, coupled with diplomatic overtures, compelled Louis to negotiate and withdraw without a pitched battle, preserving the status quo in Lotharingia.^[1] Following the death of his younger brother Charles, king of Provence, on 25 April 863 without heirs, Lothair II entered negotiations with his eldest brother, Emperor Louis II of Italy, resulting in a partition treaty later that year. Under its terms, Lothair received the northern portion of Provence, including key cities such as Lyon, Vienne, and Valence along the Rhône Valley, while Louis II retained the coastal and southern territories; this diplomatic settlement averted immediate conflict but highlighted ongoing fraternal rivalries over borderlands.^[9] Lothair II's reign saw no major independent military campaigns, as Viking raids primarily afflicted peripheral Frankish regions rather than core Lotharingian territories, and internal stability was maintained through these familial alliances rather than conquest. His diplomatic focus remained on balancing relations with East and West Francia to safeguard Lotharingia's precarious autonomy.^[1]

The Marriage Controversy

Initial Marriage to Teutberga

Lothair II contracted marriage with Teutberga in 855, a union orchestrated by his father, Emperor Lothair I, primarily to secure political alliances in the volatile regions of Upper Burgundy and Provence.^[10]^[11] Teutberga hailed from the Bosonid dynasty, as the daughter of Boso the Elder, a prominent count associated with Turin and the Valois, whose family wielded considerable influence through ecclesiastical and lay holdings in the western Frankish territories.^[11] Her brother, Hucbert (also known as Hugobert), served as lay abbot of the monastery of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune, a position that amplified the family's leverage in Lotharingian politics and provided Lothair II with needed support amid potential challenges to his rule.^[11] The alliance was strategically timed amid the impending division of the Carolingian Empire, as Lothair I prepared to partition his domains among his sons via the Treaty of Prüm later that year.^[1] This marriage bound Lothair II to a network of regional potentates, countering threats from rival kin such as his uncles Charles the Bald and Louis the German, though it yielded no legitimate heirs, setting the stage for subsequent familial and ecclesiastical disputes.^[10] Contemporary annals, including the Annales Bertiniani, reflect the political calculus of such unions, emphasizing dynastic stability over personal affinity.^[11]

Efforts to Annul and Remarry Waldrada

In 858, Lothair II initiated efforts to dissolve his marriage to Teutberga by accusing her of incestuous relations with her brother Hucbert and subsequent abortion, charges widely regarded by contemporaries as fabricated to facilitate union with his concubine Waldrada, with whom he had fathered a son, Hugh.^[12] These allegations provided a pretext for annulment under canon law prohibiting affinity through incest, though Teutberga's family ties had initially secured the 855 marriage for political stability against potential threats from Italy.^[12] Lothair pressured Teutberga to confess publicly, but she retracted the statement, prompting her confinement and further coercion.^[12] A synod convened at Aachen in 860, dominated by Lothair's allies including Archbishop Gunther of Cologne, extracted a coerced confession from Teutberga and declared the marriage null on grounds of incest, directing her to enter a convent while permitting Lothair to cohabit openly with Waldrada.^[12] Hincmar of Reims, a leading opponent, composed the treatise De divortio Lotharii regis et Theutbergae reginae denouncing the proceedings as manipulated and defending the indissolubility of valid Christian marriages, drawing on Carolingian legal traditions and scriptural authority.^[13] Despite this, Lothair proceeded to a second Aachen synod in 862, which retroactively validated his union with Waldrada as the legitimate marriage, leading to her coronation as queen.^[12] Papal opposition intensified under Nicholas I, who dispatched legates to investigate and, upon finding the incest charges unsubstantiated, invalidated the Aachen decisions in 862 and excommunicated Lothair briefly until he pledged reconciliation.^[12] A synod at Metz in 863, again controlled by Lothair's bishops, reaffirmed the annulment and Waldrada's status by claiming a pre-existing secret marriage to her, but Nicholas rejected its canons outright, citing procedural irregularities and affirming Teutberga's innocence based on oaths from twelve Lotharingian nobles.^[12] In 865, under threat of interdict, Lothair temporarily restored Teutberga as queen, though he continued lobbying successors like Hadrian II for divorce on sterility grounds, which were dismissed as insufficient under ecclesiastical law.^[13]^[12] These protracted campaigns, spanning over a decade, highlighted tensions between royal prerogative and emerging papal authority over matrimonial indissolubility, with Lothair's bishops rationalizing the annulment through affinity impediments while ignoring evidentiary weaknesses in the accusations.^[13] Ultimately, the efforts failed to produce a universally recognized legitimate heir; upon Lothair's death in 869, Waldrada and Teutberga both retired to monastic life, and Lotharingia fragmented among uncles Louis the German and Charles the Bald.^[12]

Ecclesiastical Interventions and Synods

In early 860, a synod convened at Aachen under Lothair II's influence declared his marriage to Teutberga null and void, citing her alleged incestuous relations with her brother Hucbert as grounds for invalidity from the outset.^[14] This decision facilitated Lothair's cohabitation with Waldrada, though it faced immediate scrutiny from figures like Archbishop Hincmar of Reims, who questioned the coerced confession extracted from Teutberga under threat of mutilation.^[12] A follow-up synod at Aachen in April 862, attended by eight bishops including Günther of Cologne, reaffirmed the annulment and authorized Lothair's marriage to Waldrada, who was subsequently crowned queen. This assembly dismissed Teutberga's retracted confession as insufficient to sustain the charges, yet prioritized Lothair's desire for legitimate heirs with Waldrada over canonical consistency.^[15] The Synod of Metz in June 863, comprising primarily Lotharingian bishops, endorsed the prior rulings and Waldrada's status, but Pope Nicholas I invalidated the proceedings, arguing that episcopal authority derived solely from papal confirmation and that the synod lacked jurisdiction without Roman approval.^[16] Nicholas deposed Günther of Cologne and Theotgaud of Trier for their roles, excommunicating Lothair and prohibiting his remarriage, thereby asserting Petrine supremacy in matrimonial cases amid Carolingian political fragmentation.^[17] Subsequent papal legates under Nicholas and his successor Hadrian II reinforced this stance through 868 synods at Worms and Frankfurt, where Lothair temporarily reconciled with Teutberga to lift his excommunication, only to resume efforts for annulment upon her flight to Italy.^[18] These interventions highlighted tensions between royal autonomy and emerging papal oversight, with Nicholas's letters emphasizing indissolubility of valid Christian marriages as a doctrinal bulwark against dynastic expediency.^[19] On his deathbed in 869, Lothair yielded to Hadrian's demands, affirming Teutberga's queenship in a final synodal act at Saint-Trond to secure absolution.^[20]

Death, Succession, and Family

Final Years and Division of the Realm

Lothair II died suddenly on 8 August 869 in Piacenza, Italy, after falling ill the previous day.^[4] He was approximately 34 years old and was buried in the nearby Convent of San Antonio.^[1] Having fathered no legitimate children from his contentious marriage to Teutberga, his death without direct male heirs in the male line triggered immediate rival claims to his realm.^[1] His half-brother, Emperor Louis II of Italy, asserted rights as the nearest Carolingian kin, but this was contested by their uncles, Louis the German of East Francia and Charles the Bald of West Francia, who prioritized partitioning the territory to consolidate their own power.^[1] Lothair's illegitimate son, Hugh (by Waldrada), whom he had elevated to duke of Alsace in 867, received no consideration for the kingship due to his bastard status under canon law.^[4] The resulting Treaty of Meerssen, signed on 8 August 870, formalized the division of Lotharingia between Louis the German and Charles the Bald, overriding Louis II's claims through military pressure and diplomatic maneuvering.^[1] Louis the German acquired the eastern portions, including Aachen, the Rhineland, and eastern Frisia, while Charles the Bald gained the western territories, encompassing areas along the Scheldt and much of modern-day Belgium and northern France.^[1] The boundary generally followed the Meuse and Moselle river valleys and the Jura Mountains, creating a pragmatic split that reflected linguistic and geographical divides rather than strict inheritance principles.^[21] This partition dissolved Lotharingia as an independent Carolingian sub-kingdom, integrating its lands into the emerging East and West Frankish realms and foreshadowing later Franco-German border disputes.^[1]

Consorts and Descendants

Lothair II's legitimate consort was Teutberga, a noblewoman from the Bosonid family and daughter of Boso the Elder, count of Upper Burgundy; their marriage occurred around 855 following the division of the Carolingian Empire at the Treaty of Prüm, but it produced no children, contributing to Lothair's later efforts to annul it.^[1]^[12] Teutberga's childlessness was cited by Lothair as grounds for repudiation in 858, amid allegations of incestuous relations with her brother Hucbert, though these claims were likely fabricated to facilitate divorce.^[10] The union faced repeated ecclesiastical opposition, and Teutberga endured abduction, torture, and exile before retiring to a convent around 869, outliving Lothair until approximately 875.^[1] Lothair's primary extramarital relationship was with Waldrada, a noblewoman of uncertain Alsatian origins, whom he treated as a de facto consort and attempted to legitimize through marriage in 862 after a synod at Aachen declared the union with Teutberga dissolved.^[1]^[18] This second union, however, was annulled by papal intervention from Pope Nicholas I in 863, rendering Waldrada's status as concubine rather than queen, despite Lothair's coronation of her and public acknowledgment of their offspring.^[12] Waldrada retired to a monastery post-869, with records confirming her survival until at least April 868, though some accounts debate whether later references pertain to her or another namesake.^[1] Lothair had no acknowledged legitimate heirs, but four children born to Waldrada between approximately 855 and 860, whom he sought to legitimize for succession purposes; their illegitimacy under canon law ultimately led to disputes over Lotharingia's inheritance after his death in 869.^[1] The children were:

Name	Birth/Death	Notes
Hugh	c. 855/60 – after 895	Duke of Alsace from 867; blinded and deposed after Lothair's death; founded Prüm Abbey.^[1]
Lothair	c. 855/60 – 879	Briefly king of Lotharingia (869–870) under Louis II's regency; died young without issue.^[1]
Ermengarde	c. 855/60 – after 877	Married into local nobility; limited records of descendants.^[1]
Gisela	c. 855/60 – after 877	Similarly obscure; no confirmed marriages or heirs detailed in contemporary annals.^[1]

These offspring's fates reflect the political instability of Lothair's reign, with Hugh's brief elevation highlighting attempts to secure dynastic continuity amid familial and imperial rivalries.^[1]

Historical Significance

Influence on Church-State Relations

Lothair II's protracted efforts to annul his marriage to Theutberga, beginning around 857 and intensifying after 860, exposed fundamental conflicts between royal prerogative and ecclesiastical authority in the Carolingian realm. Seeking to legitimize his union with Waldrada and their offspring due to Theutberga's perceived infertility and coerced accusations of incest, Lothair convened synods at Aachen in January and February 860, which initially endorsed separation by declaring the marriage invalid on grounds of her alleged crimes. These assemblies, influenced by secular political pressures, demonstrated kings' capacity to manipulate episcopal decisions, yet they also provoked resistance from figures like Hincmar of Reims, whose treatise De divortio (860) argued for stricter ecclesiastical oversight, rejecting divorce on secular bases such as adultery or sterility and emphasizing marriage's sacramental indissolubility.^[12]^[22] The controversy escalated with the Synod of Metz in 863, where papal legates—allegedly compromised—declared the marriage null, enabling Lothair to crown Waldrada as queen. Pope Nicholas I (r. 858–867), however, invalidated this synod's rulings in 865, reinstating Theutberga and excommunicating Lothair until his recantation, thereby asserting Rome's appellate supremacy over local councils. This papal intervention underscored the church's emerging claim to jurisdiction over matrimonial validity, rooted in canon law traditions that prioritized consent, betrothal, and public rites over royal fiat, limiting rulers' unilateral dissolution of unions. Nicholas's actions, detailed in his correspondence, prioritized doctrinal consistency against "reason of state," revealing the papacy's willingness to challenge Carolingian monarchs despite their nominal overlordship of bishops.^[12]^[22] The episode's legacy fortified the church's role in regulating royal marriages, contributing to the crystallization of indissoluble monogamy as a normative ideal by the late ninth century and prefiguring later struggles like the Investiture Controversy. While Carolingian marriage laws remained fluid—permitting separation for grave faults but restricting remarriage—Lothair's failure, culminating in his death without legitimate heirs in 869 and the subsequent partition of Lotharingia, illustrated the risks of defying ecclesiastical norms, as nobles and kin leveraged the scandal to contest succession. Historians note this as an early delineation of church-state boundaries, where bishops and popes gained leverage in moral domains, eroding secular absolutism in personal unions and influencing the trajectory toward papal primacy in Western Europe.^[12]^[22]

Assessments of Reign and Legacy

Historians assess Lothair II's reign (855–869) as largely defined by his protracted marital disputes, which consumed political capital and eroded his authority among nobles and ecclesiastics. Efforts to annul his marriage to Teutberga and legitimize his union with Waldrada alienated key allies, including her kin such as Abbot Hucbert, while provoking opposition from figures like Archbishop Hincmar of Reims and Pope Nicholas I, who reinstated Teutberga in 863.^[22] ^[23] This scandal, often characterized as a mix of tragedy and farce, distracted from governance and highlighted uncertainties in Carolingian marriage law, ultimately weakening Lothair's legitimacy and fostering internal divisions.^[24] ^[25] Lothair's diplomatic maneuvers, such as alliances with his uncle Louis the German against brother Charles the Bald, yielded temporary gains like the 860 pact but failed to secure lasting stability amid fraternal rivalries.^[22] His realm, an artificial construct from the 855 Treaty of Prüm, lacked cohesive identity or defensible borders, rendering it vulnerable to partition upon his death without legitimate male heirs on 8 August 869.^[1] The ensuing Treaty of Meerssen in 870 divided Lotharingia between East and West Francia, accelerating the Carolingian Empire's fragmentation into proto-French and proto-German entities.^[1] ^[25] Lothair's legacy endures in the precedent set for ecclesiastical oversight of royal marriages, bolstering papal and episcopal influence over secular rulers and contributing to the evolution of canon law on indissolubility and consanguinity.^[22] ^[23] Though his personal failings overshadowed potential state-building, the ephemeral kingdom of Lotharingia left a "shadow" in European geopolitics, symbolizing the perils of dynastic overextension in the late Carolingian era.^[25]