Charles the Bald

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Not to be confused with Charles the Bold or Charles IV of France.

Charles the Bald
Vivian Bible
, c. 845
Reign875 – 6 October 877
Coronation25 December 875, Pavia
PredecessorLouis II of Italy
Successor
King of
Abbey of Saint-Denis
Spouses
Issue
Carolingian
FatherLouis the Pious
MotherJudith of Bavaria
Denier of Charles the Bald struck at Paris

Charles the Bald (French: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877).[1] After a series of civil wars during the reign of his father, Louis the Pious, Charles succeeded, by the Treaty of Verdun (843), in acquiring the western third of the empire. He was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis the Pious by his second wife, Judith.[2]

Struggle against his brothers

Kingdoms of Charles the Bald (orange) and other Carolingians in 876

He was born on 13 June 823 in

King of Bavaria, made Charles's share in Aquitaine and Italy only temporary, but his father did not give up and made Charles the heir of the entire land which was once Gaul. At a diet in Aachen in 837, Louis the Pious bade the nobles do homage to Charles as his heir.[4] Pepin of Aquitaine died in 838, whereupon Charles at last received that kingdom,[4] which angered Pepin's heirs and the Aquitainian nobles.[5]

The death of the emperor in 840 led to the outbreak of war between his sons. Charles allied himself with his brother Louis the German to resist the pretensions of the new Emperor Lothair I, and the two allies defeated Lothair at the

Burgundy as king of Middle Francia.[7]

Reign in the West

Edict of Pistres
).
The so-called Equestrian statuette of Charlemagne (c. 870), thought to possibly depict Charles the Bald

Shortly after Verdun, Charles went on to an unsuccessful campaign against Brittany, on the return from which he signed the

treaty (870).[10]

Besides these family disputes, Charles had to struggle against repeated rebellions in Aquitaine and against the

siege of 885–886. Charles engaged in diplomacy with the Emirate of Cordoba, receiving camels from Emir Muhammad I in 865.[11] From the 860s, the palace of Compiègne became an increasingly important centre for Charles and he founded a monastery there in 876.[12] In the tenth century Compiègne was known as ‘Carlopolis’ because of its association with Charles.[13]

Reign as emperor

Apparition of Charles the Bald after his death and burial in Saint Denis

In 875, after the death of the Emperor

Louis II (son of his half-brother Lothair), Charles the Bald, supported by Pope John VIII, traveled to Italy, receiving the royal crown at Pavia and the imperial insignia in Rome on 25 December.[14][9] As emperor, Charles combined the mottoes that had been used by his grandfather and father into a single formula: renovatio imperii Romani et Francorum, "renewal of the empire of the Romans and Franks". These words appeared on his seal.[15]

Louis the German, also a candidate for the succession of Louis II, revenged himself by invading and devastating Charles's domains, and Charles had to return hastily to West Francia. After the death of Louis the German (28 August 876), Charles in his turn attempted to seize Louis's kingdom, but was decisively beaten at the Battle of Andernach on 8 October 876.[14][9]

In the meantime, John VIII, menaced by the

Saracens, was urging Charles to come to his defence in Italy. Charles again crossed the Alps, but this expedition was received with little enthusiasm by the nobles, and even by his regent in Lombardy, Boso, and they refused to join his army. At the same time Carloman, son of Louis the German, entered northern Italy. Charles, ill and in great distress, started on his way back to Gaul, but died while crossing the pass of Mont Cenis at Brides-les-Bains, on 6 October 877.[16][17][9]

Burial and succession

According to the Annals of St-Bertin, Charles was hastily buried at the abbey of

Abbey of Saint-Denis where he had long wished to be buried,[18] in a porphyry tub[19] which may be the same one known as "Dagobert's tub" (cuve de Dagobert), now in the Louvre.[20]
It was recorded that there was a memorial brass there that was melted down at the Revolution.

Charles was succeeded by his son,

Hincmar of Reims.[9]

Baldness

It has been suggested that Charles's nickname was used ironically and not descriptively; he was not in fact bald but rather was extremely hairy.[21] An alternative or additional interpretation is based on Charles's initial lack of a regnum. "Bald" would in this case be a tongue-in-cheek reference to his landlessness at age at which his brothers already had been sub-kings for some years.[22]

Contemporary depictions of his person, such as in his Bible of 845, on his seal of 847 (as king) and on his seal of 875 (as emperor), show him with a full head of hair, as does the equestrian statuette (c. 870), which is thought to depict him.

The Genealogy of Frankish Kings, a text from Fontanelle dating from possibly as early as 869, names him as Karolus Calvus ("Charles the Bald"), and he is given the same name in the late tenth century by

Adhemar of Chabannes.[23]

Marriages and children

Charles married

Lorraine
.

With Ermentrude:

With Richilde:

  • Rothilde (871–929), married firstly to Hugues, Count of Bourges and secondly to Roger, Count of Maine.[24]
  • Drogo (872–873)
  • Pippin (873–874)
  • a son (born and died 875)
  • Charles (876–877)

See also

Notes

  1. ^ He is retroactively counted as "Charles II" in the lists of both French and German monarchs.
  2. ^ Chisholm 1911, p. 897.
  3. ^ Riche 1983, p. 150.
  4. ^ a b Riche 1983, p. 157.
  5. ^ Riche 1983, p. 158.
  6. ^ Bradbury 2007, p. 14.
  7. ^ Chisholm 1911, pp. 897–898.
  8. ^ Rolf Grosse (2014). Du royaume franc aux origines de la France et de l'Allemagne 800–1214. Presses Universitaires du Septentrion. pp. 50–52.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Chisholm 1911, p. 898.
  10. ^ Nelson 1992, p. 17–18.
  11. OCLC 470405780
    .
  12. ^ Nelson 1992, pp. 36, 235.
  13. ^ Lohrmann, Dietrich (1976). "Trois Palais Royaux de la Vallée de l'Oise d'après les travaux des érudits mauristes: Compiègne, Choisy-au-Bac et Quierzy". Francia. 4: 124–129.
  14. ^ a b Annales Vedastini; AV 876
  15. ^ West-Harling 2018, p. 173.
  16. ^ Annales Vedastini; AV 877
  17. ^ Riche 1983, p. 204.
  18. ^ Frans Theuws, Janet Laughland Nelson (ed.), Rituals of Powers: From Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages, p. 164
  19. ^ Geneviève Bührer-Thierry; Charles Mériaux (2010). La France avant la France, (481–888). Paris: Belin. p. 412.
  20. ^ "Cuve dite 'de Dagobert '". Musée du Louvre.
  21. ^ Nelson 1992, p. 13.
  22. ^ Lebe 2003.
  23. ^ Dutton 2008.
  24. ^ Riche 1983, p. 237.

References

External links

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Charles the Bald
Emperor Charles II the Bald
Born: 13 June 823 Died: 6 October 877
Regnal titles
Preceded by — DISPUTED —
King of Aquitaine
838–855
Disputed by Pepin II
 Succeeded by
Duke of Maine

838–851 		Succeeded by
Preceded byas king of the Franks King of West Francia
840–877 		Succeeded by
Preceded by
Carolingian emperor

875–877 		Vacant
Title next held by
Charles the Fat
King of Italy
875–877 		Succeeded by
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