Lothair I
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Lothair I | |
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Predecessor | Louis I the Pious |
Successor | Louis II of Italy |
King of Italy | |
Reign | 17 April 818 – 855 |
Predecessor | Bernard of Italy |
Successor | Louis II of Italy |
King of Middle Francia | |
Reign | c. 10 August 843 – 855 |
Successor | Louis II (Italy) Lothair II (Lotharingia) Charles (Provence) |
Born | 795 |
Died | 29 September 855 (aged 59–60) Prüm |
Burial | |
Consort | Ermengarde of Tours |
Issue more... | Louis II Lothair II Charles |
House | Carolingian |
Father | Louis I the Pious |
Mother | Ermengarde of Hesbaye |
Lothair I (
Lothair I was the eldest son of the Carolingian emperor
Early life and reign
Lothair was born in 795, to Louis the Pious and Ermengarde of Hesbaye. His father was the son of the reigning Emperor, Charlemagne. Little is known of Lothair's early life, which was probably passed at the court of his grandfather Charlemagne. In 814, the elderly emperor died, and left his sole surviving legitimate son Louis the Pious as successor to his vast empire. The next year, Lothair would be sent to govern Bavaria for his father, the new emperor.[1] In 817, Louis the Pious[1] drew up his Ordinatio Imperii.[3] In this, Louis designated Lothair as his principal heir and ordered that Lothair would be the overlord of Louis' younger sons Pippin of Aquitaine (who was 20) and Louis the German (who was 13), as well as his nephew (Lothair's cousin) Bernard of Italy. Lothair would also inherit their lands if they were to die childless. Lothair, aged 22, was then crowned joint emperor by his father at Aachen.[1] At the same time, Aquitaine and Bavaria were granted to his brothers Pippin and Louis, respectively, as subsidiary kingdoms.[3] Following the death of Bernard, brought on by his plotting against and blinding by Louis the Pious, Lothair also received the Kingdom of Italy.[citation needed] In 821, Lothair married Ermengarde (d. 851), daughter of Hugh the Count of Tours.[1]
In 822, he assumed the government of Italy, and at Easter, 5 April 823, he was crowned emperor again by Pope Paschal I, this time at Rome. In November 824, Lothair promulgated a statute, the Constitutio Romana, concerning the relations of pope and emperor, which reserved the supreme power to the secular potentate, and he afterwards issued various ordinances for the good government of Italy.[1]
On Lothair's return to his father's court, his stepmother
Division of the kingdom
The first rebellion began in 830. All three brothers fought their father, whom they deposed. In 831, their father was reinstated and he deprived Lothair of his imperial title and gave Italy to Charles. The second rebellion was instigated by
When Louis the Pious was dying in 840, he sent the imperial insignia to Lothair, who, disregarding the various partitions, claimed the whole of the Empire. He was 45 years old when his father died. Negotiations with his brother Louis the German and his half-brother Charles, both of whom resisted this claim, were followed by an alliance of the younger brothers against Lothair.
Peace negotiations began, and in June 842 the brothers met on an island in the
In 845 the count of Arles, Fulcrad, led a rebellion in Provence. The emperor put it down and the count joined him in an expedition against the Saracens in Italy in 846.
Death and aftermath
In 855 he became seriously ill, and despairing of recovery renounced the throne, divided his lands among his three sons, and on 23 September entered the monastery of Prüm, where he died six days later. He was buried at Prüm, where his remains were found in 1860.[1] It was at Prüm that Lothair was most commemorated.[6]
The same year, Lothair's kingdom was divided between his three sons]
Family
This section needs additional citations for verification. (October 2015) |
He married Ermengarde of Tours in 821, who died in 851.[1]
- Louis II (825–875) Crowned as King of Italy in 844 by Pope Sergius II. Crowned Emperor in 850. Married Engelberga.
- Hiltrude (826–865) Married Berengar of Spoleto.
- Bertha (c. 830–852) Married to an unknown man, but later Abbess of Avenay.
- Gisela (c. 830–856) abbess of San Salvatore at Brescia[7]
- Lothair II (835–869) Succeeded his father. Married Teutberga, daughter of Boso the Elder, Count of Arles.
- Rotrude (c. 840) Married Lambert II of Nantes.
- Charles (845–863) Invested with Provence, Lyon and Transjuranian Burgundy.
One illegitimate child is known.
- Carloman (? – d. 853)
References
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Lothair I.". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8240-4444-2.
- ^ a b Duckett, Eleanor (1962). Carolingian Portraits. University of Michigan Press. pp. 26, 34.
- ^ a b Mayke de Jong. "The Penitential State. Authority and Atonement in the Ages of Louis the Pious (814-840) - 1. Louis the Pious - A boy who became a king". Academia. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ^ ISBN 0-8122-1342-4.
- )
- ^ Constance Brittain Bouchard, Those of My Blood: Creating Noble Families in Medieval Francia, (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), 106.
Sources
- Surviving letters of Lothar I, in Latin with English translation by Richard Matthew Pollard.
- 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica sources
- Annales Fuldenses
- Nithard, Historiarum Libri, both in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores, Bände i. and ii. (Hanover and Berlin, 1826 fol.)
- E. Mühlbacher, Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter den Karolingern (Innsbruck, 1881)
- E. Dümmler, Geschichte des ostfränkischen Reichs (Leipzig, 1887–1888)
- B. Simson, Jahrbücher des deutschen Reiches unter Ludwig dem Frommen (Leipzig, 1874–1876)
External links
- Media related to Lothair I at Wikimedia Commons