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Treaty of Verdun,
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Treaty of Verdun of
843 the three surviving sons of
Louis the Pious,
Charlemagne's Grandsons, divided his territories, the
Carolingian Empire, into three kingdoms. Though often presented as the beginning of a devolution or dissolution of
Charlemagne's unitary empire, it in fact reflected the continued adherence to the
Frankish idea of a
partible or divisible inheritance rather than
primogeniture, inheritance by the eldest son.
When Louis the Pious died in 840, the eldest son,
Lothair I, claimed overlordship over his brothers' kingdoms and supported the claim of his nephew
Pepin II as king of Aquitaine. After his brothers
Louis the German and
Charles the Bald defeated his forces at the
Battle of Fontenay (841) and sealed their alliance with the
Oath of Strasbourg (
842), Lothair was willing to negotiate.
Each of the brothers was already established in one kingdom - Lothair in
Italy,
Louis the German in
Bavaria, and
Charles the Bald in
Aquitaine. Lothair received the central portion of the empire - what later became the
Low Countries,
Lorraine,
Alsace,
Burgundy,
Provence, and Italy, and the imperial title as an honour without more than nominal overlordship. Louis the German received the
eastern portion, much of what later became Today's
Germany through the intermediate collection of states, the
Holy Roman Empire.
Charles the Bald received the
western portion, much of what later became
France. Pepin II was granted the kingdom of Aquitaine, but only under the authority of Charles.
Lothar received the Imperial title, the Kingship of Italy, and the territory between the
Rhine and
Rhone Rivers, collectively called the
Middle Frankish Kingdom. Louis was guaranteed the Kingship of all lands to the east of the Rhine and to the north and east of Italy, which was called the
Eastern Frankish Realm which was the precursor to the
Medieval conglomeration of disparate states known as the
Holy Roman Empire and thence to modern
Germany. Charles received all lands west of the Rhone, which was called the
Western Frankish Realm.
Lothar retired Italy to his eldest son
Louis II in 844, making him co-Emperor in 850. Lothar died in 855, dividing his kingdom into three parts: the territory already held by Louis remained his, the territory of the former Kingdom of
Burgundy was granted to his third son
Charles of Provence, and the remaining territory to his second son
Lothar II, after whom the hitherto nameless territory was called
Lotharingia.
thumb|left|Carolingian Empire after the [Treaty of Meerssen. ]
Louis II, dissatisfied with having received no additional territory with his father's death, allied with his uncle
Louis the German against his brother Lothar and his uncle Charles the Bald in 858. Lothar was reconciled with his brother and uncle shortly after, though Charles was so unpopular he could not raise an army to fight the invasion and fled to Burgundy, he was only saved when the bishops refused to crown Louis the German King. Charles the Bald invaded Charles of Burgundy's Kingdom in 860, but was repulsed. Lothar II ceded lands to Louis II in 862 for support of a divorce from his wife, which caused repeated conflicts with the Pope and his uncles. Charles of Burgundy died in 863, and his Kingdom was inherited by Louis II.
Lothar II died in 869 with no legitimate heirs, and his Kingdom was divided between Charles the Bald and Louis the German in 870 by the
Treaty of Meerssen. Meanwhile, Louis the German was involved with disputes with his three sons. Louis II died in 875, and named
Carloman, the eldest son of Louis the German, his heir. Charles the Bald, supported by the Pope, was crowned both King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor. The following year, Louis the German died. Charles tried to annex his realm too, but was defeated decisively at
Andernach, and the Kingdom of the eastern Franks was divided between
Louis the Younger,
Carloman of Bavaria and
Charles the Fat.
VerdunCategory:FranksCategory:Ancient Germanic peoplesCategory:History of the Germanic peoplesCategory:History of FranceCategory:843ca:Tractat de Verdunda:Traktaten i Verdunde:Vertrag von Verdunes:Tratado de Verdúneo:Traktato de Verdunfr:Traité de Verdunis:Verdun-samningurinnit:Trattato di Verdunhe:חוזה ורדןhu:Verduni szerződésnl:Verdrag van Verdunja:ヴェルダン条約no:Traktaten i Verdunpl:Traktat w Verdunpt:Tratado de Verdunro:Tratatul de la Verdunru:Верденский договорsr:Верденски споразумfi:Verdunin sopimussv:Fördraget i Verdunwa:Cossina d' Verdunzh:凡尔登条约
