Emperor Louis, returning in 818 from a…

Emperor Louis, returning in 818 from a campaign to Brittany, had been greeted by news of the death of his wife, Ermengarde, the daughter of Ingerman, the duke of Hesbaye.

Louis had been close to his wife, who had been involved in policymaking.

It is rumored that she had played a part in the death of her nephew Bernard and Louis himself believes her own death is divine retribution for that event.

It had taken many months for his courtiers and advisors to persuade him to remarry, but eventually he did, in 820, to Judith of Bavaria, daughter of Welf, count of Altdorf.

Judith in 823 gives birth to a son, who is named Charles.

The birth of this son damages the Partition of Aachen, as Louis's attempts to provide for his fourth son will eventually met with stiff resistance from his older sons, and the last two decades of his reign will be marked by civil war.