NameEmperor Charles II "the Bald" of the Franks
Birth23 Jun 823, Francfort
Death6 Oct 877, Avreux
Spouses
Birth825
Death6 Oct 869, St. Denis
MarriageDec 842
ChildrenRoghildis of the (-928)
 Judith (~844-)
Notes for Emperor Charles II "the Bald" of the Franks
Charles II the Bald, King West Franks, b. 13 JUN 823
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.
Notes for Ermentrude (Spouse 1)
Ermentrude (Irmtrud), Countess of Orleans
Child 1: , Louis II the Stammerer of France, King of France, b. 846
Child 2: , Charles of Aquitaine, King of Aquitaine, b. ABT 847
Child 3: , Carloman, Abbott of St Médard Soiss, b. 849
Child 4: , Judith, Princess, b. CIR 844
Child 5: , Lothar
Child 6: , Ermentrude of Hasnon, Abbess of Hasnon
Child 7: , Hildegard
Child 8: , Gisele
Child 9: , Rotrude of Poitiers, Abbess of St Radegund
Child 10: , Drogo
Child 11: , Pippin
Last Modified 19 Jan 2002Created 8 Mar 2016 using Reunion for Macintosh