After Charlemagne`s death, Louis was appointed ruler of the Carolingian Empire. During his reign, he divided the empire so that each of his sons could rule over his own kingdom under his father`s greater rule. Lothar I received the title of emperor, but because of several divisions of his father and the resulting revolts, he became much less powerful. When Louis the Pious died in 840, his eldest son, Lothar I, claimed supremacy over his father`s entire kingdom in order to regain the power he had at the beginning of his reign as emperor. He also supported his nephew Pippin II`s claim to Aquitaine, a large province in the west of the Frankish Empire.[1] Lothar`s brother, Louis the German, and his half-brother Charles the Bald refused to recognize Lothar`s supremacy and declared war on him. After a bloody civil war, they defeated Lothar at the Battle of Fontenay in 841 and sealed their alliance in 842 with the Oaths of Strasbourg, which declared Lothar unfit for the imperial throne, after which he prepared to negotiate an agreement.[1] Edited, researched and written by: Amy Jobst Tresa Kappil Minh Phu October 13, 1999 Since the Kingdom of Middle Franconia combined long and vulnerable land borders with poor internal communication when it was separated from the Alps, it was not a viable and soon fragmented entity. This made it difficult for a single ruler to reconstitute Charlemagne`s empire. Only Charlemagne succeeded for a short time. Under the terms of the treaty, Lothar was allowed to retain the title of emperor, but he no longer had any real authority over his brothers. It received the central part of the empire, which included parts of present-day Belgium and much of the Netherlands, part of eastern France and West Germany, most of Switzerland and a considerable part of Italy. Charles received the western part of the empire, which encompassed most of present-day France, and Louis took charge of the eastern part, which encompassed most of present-day Germany. Each of the three brothers already resided in a kingdom: Lothar in the Kingdom of Italy; Louis the German in the Kingdom of Bavaria; and Charles the Bald in the Kingdom of Aquitaine. The Treaty of Verdun divided the empire that Charlemagne had built into three parts, which would be ruled by his three surviving grandchildren.

It is important because it not only marked the beginning of the dissolution of the Empire, but also defined the general boundaries of what the individual nation-states of Europe would become. The Treaty of Verdun, signed in August 843, was the first of the treaties that divided the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms between the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne. The treaty signed at Verdun-sur-Meuse ended the three-year Carolingian Civil War. After Lothar`s death in 855, Upper Burgundy and Lower Burgundy (Arles and Provence) passed to his third son, Charles of Provence, and the remaining region north of the Alps to his second son, Lothar II, after whom the hitherto unnamed region was named Lotharingia. It will then become modern Lorraine. Lothar`s eldest son, Ludwig II, inherited Italy and his father`s claim to the imperial throne. After Charlemagne`s death, his only surviving son, Louis the Pious, inherited the entire Carolingian Empire. But Louis had several sons, and although he wanted the empire to remain a contiguous whole, he divided the territory – and divided it so that everyone could rule their own kingdom.

The eldest, Lothair, was given the title of emperor, but in the midst of the redistribution and the resulting revolts, his real imperial power was severely reduced. Map of the medieval source book Internet. The Sourcebook is a collection of public domain and copyable texts on medieval and Byzantine history. The original electronic text is (c)Paul Halsall August 1996 [email protected] The powerful Carolingian empire with its great history of skillful rulers was divided by the Treaty of Verdun. His rise was started by Pippin von Herstal and his son Karl Martell. His family took power during the fall of the Merovingian dynasty. Meanwhile, Pippin von Herstal, Karl Martell and his grandson, Pippin the Short, became the most powerful men in the Frankish state. In 751 AD, Pippin the Short got rid of the reigning Merovingian king and became king of the Franks. He also received a special anointing from the pope. However, the greatest emperor was Charlemagne. Charlemagne was crowned Holy Roman Emperor.

On Charlemagne`s death, his son Louis the Pious inherited the throne. For more encyclopedia articles, see: Treaties and Alliances After Louis` death in 840, Lothar tried to regain the power he had initially wielded as emperor, but his two surviving brothers, Louis the German and Charles the Bald, joined forces against him, and a bloody civil war ensued. Lothar was eventually forced to admit defeat. After long negotiations, the Treaty of Verdun was signed in August 843. The division reflected adherence to the ancient Frankish custom of divisible or divisible inheritance between the sons of a sovereign and not primogeniture (i.e. the inheritance of the eldest son), which would soon be taken over by the two Frankish kingdoms. The Treaty of Verdun was one of the most important treaties in Europe. He divided Charlemagne`s vast empire and laid the foundations for what the independent states of France and Germany would become. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. In 855, the northern part became fragile Lotharingia, which became contested by the most powerful states that developed from Western Franconia (i.e.

France) and Eastern Franconia (i.e. Germany). Generations of kings of France and Germany were unable to establish firm rule over the kingdom of Lothar. [3] While northern Lotharingia at that time consisted of independent countries, the southern third of Lotharingia, Alsace-Lorraine, was traded between France and Germany from the 18th to the 20th century. In 1766, after the death of Stanisław Leszczyński, who had acquired the german Habsburg region by the Treaty of Vienna (1738), which ended the War of the Polish Succession (1733-1738), it fell into the hands of France. In 1871, Alsace-Lorraine became German after the victory of Prussia and its German allies over the French in the German-French War (1870-1871). In 1919, he became French again by the Treaty of Versailles (1919) after the French victory over the Germans in the First World War (1914-1918). In 1940, Germany reannexed Alsace-Lorraine after Germany`s successful invasion of France. Finally, in 1945, after the Second World War (1939-1945), Alsace-Lorraine consolidated into French territory that it remains to this day, more than a thousand years after the Treaty of Verdun. The collapse of the Kingdom of Middle Franconia also exacerbated the disunity of the Italian peninsula, which lasted until the 19th century.

The kingdom of the Western Franks was harassed by the Vikings who devastated their land. There were also problems with the administration of the province of Aquitaine. Nevertheless, Charles the Bald kept control. After his death, the Empire of the Western Franks passed to his son Louis II the Stammer. Around the year 840, after the death of Louis the Pious, a war broke out between his three sons. Lothar, the eldest, was to receive most of the land. In search of a piece of this rich heritage, Charles the Bald and Louis the German allied themselves against their half-brother Lothar for his country and title. After Lothar`s defeat at Fontenoy and Aachen, he asked for peace. The war was officially concluded by the Treaty of Verdun. Charles the Bald gained the kingdom of the Western Franks. Louis the German received the Eastern Franks, and Lothar received the Middle Band – which includes Lorraine and the Papal States.

He also retained the title of Holy Roman Emperor. R. E. Sullivan, D. Sherman, J.B. Harrison, A Short History of Western Civilization, eighth edition, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, 1994. Ludwig der Deutsche regierte das Königreich der Ostfranken. When he died, he divided his kingdom among his sons. Lotharingia was the least stable of the three kingdoms divided by the Treaty of Verdun. It was also divided between Lothar`s three sons, who went to war with each other and eventually led him to ruin. .