Charles the Bald

The Division of the Carolingian Empire and the Rise of Feudal France (843–10th Century)

Though Louis the Pious (814–840) successfully maintains the unity of Charlemagne’s empire during his lifetime, his death leads to a power struggle among his sons. This results in the Treaty of Verdun (843), which formally divides the Carolingian Empire into three separate kingdoms:

• East Francia → Louis the German (precursor to the Holy Roman Empire/Germany)
• Middle Francia → Lothair I (including the imperial title and lands stretching from the North Sea to Italy)
• West Francia → Charles the Bald (the forerunner of modern France)

Of these, West Francia, which roughly corresponds to modern France, will experience increasing decentralizationand internal fragmentation, setting the stage for the rise of feudalism.

The Viking Threat and the Decline of Royal Power

Throughout the 9th and 10th centuries, Viking raiders devastate the coasts and river valleys of France, frequently sacking towns, monasteries, and trade centers. With the Carolingian monarchy weakened by internal division, local nobles take increasing responsibility for defense and governance.

This period witnesses a major shift in power:

• Titles and lands become hereditary, rather than being granted or revoked by the king.
• Local lords build castles and raise private armies, exerting more control over their regions.
• The French king’s authority weakens, becoming more religious and ceremonial rather than military and administrative.

This process leads to the emergence of feudalism, where the king’s power is increasingly challenged by powerful noblemen who act as semi-independent rulers within their own domains.

The Rise of Overmighty Vassals: The Norman Challenge

Over time, some of the king’s vassals become so powerful that they rival or even surpass royal authority. One of the most notable examples is the Duke of Normandy:

• In 1066, William the Conqueror, Duke of Normandy, invades England and claims the English crown after his victory at the Battle of Hastings.
• As both King of England and Duke of Normandy, William remains a vassal of the French king in Normandy but also a sovereign ruler in England, creating recurring tensions between the two realms.
• This dual status will lead to centuries of conflict, culminating in the Hundred Years’ War (1337–1453) between England and France.

The Legacy of the Treaty of Verdun

The Treaty of Verdun (843) marks the beginning of medieval Europe’s political landscape, dividing Charlemagne’s empire into the roots of modern France, Germany, and Italy. However, the weakening of royal power in West Francia ensures that France will take centuries to reassert central authority, with feudal lords ruling their lands like independent princes until the emergence of stronger monarchs in the 12th and 13th centuries.

Atlantic West Europe, 820–831: Dynastic Consolidation and Carolingian Stability

Between 820 and 831, Atlantic West Europe—which included Brittany, Aquitaine, Normandy, Burgundy, central France, Alsace, Franche-Comté, and the Low Countries—experienced a period of relative stability under Carolingian rule, although internal tensions foreshadowed future divisions.

Political and Military Developments

• Carolingian Empire: Rule of Louis the Pious

  • Louis the Pious (r. 814–840) continued to govern the vast Carolingian Empire from Aachen, maintaining imperial unity but increasingly challenged by succession disputes among his sons.
  • Attempts to provide inheritance for his sons (Lothair, Pepin I of Aquitaine, Louis the German, and Charles the Bald) initiated complex internal dynamics, undermining central authority.

• Aquitaine: Semi-Autonomous Rule

  • Pepin I, as King of Aquitaine (817–838), enjoyed substantial regional autonomy, laying the foundations for Aquitaine’s distinct political identity within the empire.

• Brittany: Independent Struggles

  • Brittany, under Nominoë, asserted independence from Frankish overlordship, beginning a protracted struggle for autonomy that characterized much of the ninth century.

Economic and Social Developments

• Carolingian Economic Stability
  • The Carolingian economic renaissance continued from Charlemagne’s era, with sustained agricultural productivity, trade, and monetization, supporting urban growth, particularly around key centers such as Tours, Orléans, and Nantes.

Religious and Cultural Developments

• Monastic and Intellectual Continuity

  • Monasteries, notably Saint Martin of Tours, preserved and expanded their cultural and intellectual role, copying manuscripts and promoting Carolingian learning and literacy.

• Continued Carolingian Renaissance

  • The Carolingian Renaissance's cultural flowering continued, fostering artistic and literary works, scriptoria productivity, and scholarly efforts, particularly in monastic centers.

Legacy

This era provided stability but also revealed underlying dynastic fragility that would soon lead to fragmentation, notably in the coming disputes among Louis the Pious's heirs. Atlantic West Europe enjoyed a continuation of Carolingian cultural and economic flourishing, even as seeds of political division were sown.

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.

Lothair, Emperor Louis’ eldest son by Ermengarde, is the heir to the entire Carolingian Empire, but has to share it with his brothers because of the traditional Frankish practice of division of patrimonies among all surviving sons.

Lothair had probably passed his early life at the court of his grandfather Charlemagne, until 815 when he became king of Bavaria.

When Louis divided the Empire between his sons in 817, Lothair had been crowned joint emperor at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) and given a certain superiority over his brothers, Pepin and Louis, who had respectively received Aquitaine and Bavaria.

Lothair was also given the Iron Crown of Lombardy, then still held by Louis the Pious' nephew Bernard.

After Bernard’s death, Lothair had received the Italian kingdom.

In 821, he had married Ermengarde, daughter of Hugh, count of Tours, and in 822 assumed the government of Italy.

On April 5, 823, he had been crowned co-emperor again by Pope Paschal I, this time at Rome.

In November 824, he promulgates a statute concerning the relations of pope and emperor which reserves the supreme power to the secular potentate, and from this time he is to issue various ordinances for the good government of Italy.

The Emperor sends his son Lothair to Pavia in August 829 to wear the Iron Crown.

Louis summons Bernard to replace his son at court, granting him the title of camerarius or Chamberlain and the custody of the young Charles, at this time just Duke of Alsace, Alemannia, and Rhaetia, but later destined to be King of West Francia.

Bernard delegates the government of his counties to his brother Gaucelm, who thereupon takes the title marchio or margrave.

After only a few months at court, Bernard has made many enemies.

Indeed, he is the prime catalyst for the revolt of Lothair the following year.

Valentine succeeds Eugene II to the papacy in 827 but dies thirty or forty days after after taking office.

Gregory IV, chosen to succeed Valentine in December 827, had recognized the supremacy of the Frankish emperor in the most unequivocal manner, but papal dependence on the Roman Emperor has loosened through the quarrels of Louis and his sons.

In the sons' rebellion against their father, Gregory supports Lothair, hoping his intervention would promote peace, but in practice this action annoys the Frankish bishops.

Gregory's response is to insist upon the primacy of St. Peter's successor, the papacy being superior to the Emperor.

Judith of Bavaria, Louis's second wife, had won the consent of her stepson Lothair on his return to his father's court,to her plan for securing a kingdom for her son Charles, a scheme that had been implemented in 829 when the young prince was given Alemannia as king.

Lothair, however, soon changes his attitude.

In Gascony and the chronically troublesome Pyrenees borderlands, Counts Hugh and Matfrid have failed to support the Louis’s military efforts, and the emperor has summarily stripped them of their positions.

This forceful action and a growing resentment of the efforts of Judith on behalf of her seven-year-old son, the target of resentment by his three adult half brothers, is the cause of a growing dispute between Louis and his son and coemperor, Lothair.

The quarrel over Charles’ future inheritance leads in 830 to open conflict.

Pepin, Louis the German, and Lothair, aided by Hugh and Matfrid, seek to “free”; the emperor from the tyranny of the “jezebel” Judith, but Louis's supporters, sowing discord among his elder sons, in October 830 restore him to authority.

The abortive coup claims a victim, however, when the Ordinatio imperii is replaced by a new Divisio regnorum, which calls for a division of the empire into four approximately equal kingdoms that are to become independent upon Louis's death, thus restoring the traditional Frankish practice of succession.

Supporters of a unified empire agitate against the Divisio, while the involvement of opportunistic nobles exacerbated the continuing conflict among the brothers.

Lothair is to spend the succeeding decade in constant strife over the division of the Empire with his father.

He will alternately be master of the Empire, and banished and confined to Italy, at one time taking up arms in alliance with his brothers and at another fighting against them, while the bounds of his appointed kingdom will in turn be extended and reduced.

In 831, Louis is reinstated; he deprives Lothair of his imperial title and gives Italy to the young Charles.

Bernard of Septimania’s Political Downfall and Shift in Loyalties (831)

After his fall from grace in 830, Bernard of Septimania makes efforts to regain favor with Empress Judith and her son, Charles the Bald, but they remain wary of restoring his influence at court. His previous political maneuvering and accusations of an illicit relationship with the Empress had made him too controversial to be fully reinstated.

The Assembly of Thionville (October 831)

At the Assembly of Thionville, Bernard personally meets with Emperor Louis the Pious, seeking to recover his former standing. However, despite his direct appeal, he fails to regain his court position. The Emperor remains reluctant to restore him, likely due to:

• The opposition from court factions still loyal to Judith and Charles.
• His previous role in supporting Pepin of Aquitaine’s rebellion.
• A general loss of trust in Bernard’s loyalty.

Bernard’s Defection to the Opposition

Having been denied a return to power, Bernard abandons his former allegiance and aligns himself with the Emperor’s enemies. This shift reflects:

• His desperation to regain political influence, even if it means betraying his former patrons.
• The deepening dynastic divisions within the Carolingian Empire.
• The growing instability of Louis the Pious’ reign, as noble factions frequently switch allegiances.

Bernard’s defection further escalates the conflict between Louis and his rebellious sons, leading to more court intrigues, shifting alliances, and civil wars that will ultimately contribute to the permanent division of the Carolingian Empire.