The Kingdom of East Francia: Formation of the Carolingian Empire

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Carloman, Carolingian Empire, Charlemagne, Charles Martel, Charles the Great, Emperor of the Romans, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, Kingdom of East Francia, Pepin III the Short, Pope Leo III, Pope Stephen II, Pope Zachary

Before we can discuss the Kingdom of East Francia I would like to discuss the Carolingian Empire and how the Kingdom of East Francia became part of that great empire.

The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lombards in Italy from 774. In 800, the Frankish king Charlemagne was crowned emperor in Rome by Pope Leo III in an effort to transfer the Roman Empire from the Byzantine Empire to western Europe. The Carolingian Empire is considered the first phase in the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

Nomenclature

The term “Carolingian Empire” is a modern convention and was not used by its contemporaries. The language of official acts in the empire was Latin. The empire was referred to variously as universum regnum (“the whole kingdom”, as opposed to the regional kingdoms), Romanorum sive Francorum imperium (“empire of the Romans and Franks”), Romanum imperium (“Roman empire”), or even imperium christianum (“Christian empire”).

Charles Martel (c. 688 – October 22, 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesman Pepin of Herstal and Pepin’s mistress, a noblewoman named Alpaida.

Charles, also known as “The Hammer” (in Old French, Martel), successfully asserted his claims to power as successor to his father as the power behind the throne in Frankish politics. Continuing and building on his father’s work, he restored centralized government in Francia and began the series of military campaigns that re-established the Franks as the undisputed masters of all Gaul.

His son and successor Pepin III the Short (c. 714 – September 24, 768), also called the Younger was King of the Franks from 751 until his death in 768. He was the first Carolingian to become king.

The younger was the son of the Frankish prince Charles Martel and his wife Rotrude, Pepin’s upbringing was distinguished by the ecclesiastical education he had received from the monks of St. Denis. Succeeding his father as the Mayor of the Palace in 741, Pepin reigned over Francia jointly with his elder brother Carloman. Pepin ruled in Neustria, Burgundy, and Provence, while his older brother Carloman established himself in Austrasia, Alemannia, and Thuringia.

The brothers were active in suppressing revolts led by the Bavarians, Aquitanians, Saxons, and the Alemanni in the early years of their reign. In 743, they ended the Frankish interregnum by choosing Childeric III, who was to be the last Merovingian monarch, as figurehead King of the Franks.

Being well disposed towards the church and papacy on account of their ecclesiastical upbringing, Pepin and Carloman continued their father’s work in supporting Saint Boniface in reforming the Frankish church, and evangelizing the Saxons.

After Carloman, who was an intensely pious man, retired to religious life in 747, Pepin became the sole ruler of the Franks. He suppressed a revolt led by his half-brother Grifo, and succeeded in becoming the undisputed master of all Francia.

Giving up pretense, Pepin then forced King Childeric III into a monastery and had himself proclaimed King of the Franks with support of Pope Zachary in 751. The decision was not supported by all members of the Carolingian family and Pepin had to put down a revolt led by Carloman’s son, Drogo and again by Grifo.

As king, Pepin embarked on an ambitious program to expand his power. He reformed the legislation of the Franks and continued the ecclesiastical reforms of Boniface. Pepin also intervened in favour of the papacy of Pope Stephen II against the Lombards in Italy. In the midsummer of 754, Stephen II anointed Pepin afresh, together with his two sons, Charles and Carloman.

The ceremony took place in the Abbey Church of St. Denis, near Paris, and the Pope formally forbade the Franks ever to elect as king anyone who was not of the sacred race of Pepin. He also bestowed upon Pepin and his sons the title of ‘Patrician of Rome’.

Pepin died during a campaign, in 768 at the age of 54. He was interred in the Basilica of Saint Denis in modern-day Metropolitan Paris. His wife Bertrada was also interred there in 783. Charlemagne rebuilt the Basilica in honor of his parents and placed markers at the entrance.

The Frankish realm was divided according to the Salic law between his two sons: Charlemagne and Carloman I.

Charlemagne: or Charles the Great (Latin: Carolus Magnus; German: Karl der Große; April 2, 747 – January 28, 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the Emperor of the Romans from 800.

Charlemagne, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards, Emperor of the Romans

Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of western and central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded was the Carolingian Empire. He was canonized by Antipope Paschal III—an act later treated as invalid—and he is now regarded by some as beatified (which is a step on the path to sainthood) in the Catholic Church.

Charlemagne was the eldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon. He was born before their canonical marriage. He became King of the Franks in 768 following his father’s death, and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I until the latter’s death in 771.

As sole ruler, he continued his father’s policy towards protection of the papacy and became its sole defender, removing the Lombards from power in northern Italy and leading an incursion into Muslim Spain. He also campaigned against the Saxons to his east, Christianizing them (upon penalty of death) which led to events such as the Massacre of Verden.

He reached the height of his power in 800 when he was crowned Emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day at Old St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

Charlemagne has been called the “Father of Europe” (Pater Europae), as he united most of Western Europe for the first time since the classical era of the Roman Empire, as well as uniting parts of Europe that had never been under Frankish or Roman rule.

His reign spurred the Carolingian Renaissance, a period of energetic cultural and intellectual activity within the Western Church. The Eastern Orthodox Church viewed Charlemagne less favourably, due to his support of the filioque and the Pope’s preference of him as emperor over the Byzantine Empire’s first female monarch, Irene of Athens. These and other disputes led to the eventual split of Rome and Constantinople in the Great Schism of 1054.

Charlemagne died in 814 after contracting an infectious lung disease. He was laid to rest in the Aachen Cathedral, in his imperial capital city of Aachen.

He married at least four times, and had three legitimate sons who lived to adulthood. Only the youngest of them, Louis the Pious, survived to succeed him. Charlemagne is the direct ancestor of many of Europe’s royal houses, including the Capetian dynasty, the Ottonian dynasty, the House of Luxembourg, the House of Ivrea and the House of Habsburg.

Kingdom of East Francia

Tags

Carolingian Empire, Charlemagne, East Francia, Emperor of the Romans, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, King of East Francia, Otto I the Great, Pope John XII, Pope Leo III

From the Emperor’s Desk: This post is merely to announce the coming of a new series…the Kingdom of East Francia.

One of my favorite topics in studying European Royalty is studying the Holy Roman Empire. It is actually a very large topic considering the Empire lasted, depending on when you date the start of the Empire, for about 1,000 years.

And one of the most interesting aspects of the Holy Roman Empire that I like to focus on is the origins of the Empire itself.

Many believe that the Holy Roman Empire began with the coronation of Charlemagne, King of the Franks, by Pope Leo III on Christmas Day in the year 800CE with the Imperial title.

Although many historians do accept this date and the coronation of Charlemagne as the start of the Holy Roman Empire, other historians, myself included, tend to view the coronation of Otto I the Great, King of East Francia, by Pope John XII at Old St. Peter’s Basilica on February 2, 962, as the authentic starting point of the Holy Roman Empire.

Whichever date you support for the founding of the Holy Roman Empire, one point is certain…the Empire was something that evolved over time.

That evolution can get confusing.

Pope Leo III crowns Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans

Even though I believe the coronation of Otto I the Great as Emperor is a more logical choice for the start of the Holy Roman Empire, I certainly cannot ignore the Empire that started with Charlemagne! It was an essential and an important part of the process in the development of the Holy Roman Empire. Indeed the coronation and the very life of Charlemagne is vitally important to the history of the Holy Roman Empire.

However, I tend to call the Empire started by Charlemagne as the Carolingian Empire, named after the dynasty to which Charlemagne belonged. I consider this Carolingian Empire as a proto-Holy Roman Empire.

Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first “Emperor of the Romans” from 800. Charlemagne succeeded in uniting the majority of western and central Europe and was the first recognized emperor to rule from western Europe after the fall of the Western Roman Empire around three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state that Charlemagne founded is often better known in history as the Carolingian Empire.

Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans, King of the Franks, King of the Lombards

It was an Empire that was divided within 26 years after the death of Charlemagne. With the death of his son, Louis the Pious, in 840, the Empire was divided between his three sons. As Emperor, Louis the Pious included his adult sons, Lothair, Pepin and Louis, in the government and sought to establish a suitable division of the realm among them.

However, this arrangement was not suitable. Louis the Pious died on June 20, 840 in the presence of many bishops and clerics and his son Lothair was proclaimed Emperor.

However, soon dispute plunged the surviving brothers of Louis the Pious into yet another civil war. It lasted until 843 with the signing of the Treaty of Verdun, in which the division of the empire into three sovereign entities was settled.

These three sovereign kingdoms were West Francia and East Francia and Middle Francia. West and East Francia became the kernels of modern France and Germany respectively. Middle Francia was only short-lived until 855 and later reorganized as Lotharingia.

It was through the Kingdom of East Francia, initially a Frankish Kingdom, that eventually evolved into a Germanic Kingdom that produced the Ottonian Dynasty of which Otto I the Great belonged. It was also through the Kingdom of East Francia from which the Holy Roman Empire formed.

Although this may seem somewhat straightforward but there are some issues which can be confusing.

Otto I the Great, Emperor of the Romans, King of East Francia

For during this time period from the Treaty of Verdun in 843 to the coronation of Otto I the Great in 962 and beyond, terminology developed to describe the political entity which can be confusing.

Such terminology not only surrounded the name of the political entity but the titles of the monarch himself. These titles were:

King of East Francia
King of Germany
King of the Romans
Holy Roman Emperor

Therefore this series will examine these terms, thier history and usage in an attempt to make sense of it all.

Charles the Bald and his Ordinal Number

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Carolingian Empire, Charlemagne, Charles III, Charles the Bald, Charles The Fat, Charles the Great, Charles the Simple, Holy Roman Empire, Kingdom of East Francia, Kingdom of West Francia, Ordinal Numbers

From the Emperor’s Desk: Yesterday I wrote about Charles the Bald, Emperor of the Carolingian Empire, King of Italy and King of West Francia. In the past I’ve written about the subject of the ordinal numbers of the French Kings and I would like to touch on this topic once again.

The numbering of early Frankish Kings can be confusing and even inaccurate. Thus is the case with Charles the Bald.

I have seen some lists where Charles the Bald is listed as Charles I of France. I have also seen where Charles the Bald is called Charles II.

In the early days of both the Holy Roman Empire and the kingdom of France many kings and emperors would rule at various places within the empire. With many monarchs going by the names of Louis or Charles and with them ruling an Empire that was constantly being divided it has caused confusion about what ordinal numbers they have.

What complicates the matter even further is how to reference or count Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Emperor of the Romans, the Father of Europe and the one who started it all.

The name Charlemagne, which the emperor is normally known in English, comes from the French Charles-le-magne, meaning “Charles the Great”. His given name was simply Charles (Latin Carolus, Old High German Karlus, Romance Karlo). He was named after his grandfather, Charles Martel, a choice which intentionally marked him as Martel’s true heir.

The nickname magnus (great) may have been associated with him already in his lifetime, but this is not certain. The contemporary Latin Royal Frankish Annals routinely call him Carolus magnus rex, “Charles the great king”. As a nickname, it is only certainly attested in the works of the Poeta Saxo around 900 and it only became standard in all the lands of his former empire around 1000.

Charlemagne is often listed as Charlemagne instead of Charles the Great without an ordinal. However, in the realms that eventually evolved into the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne is counted as Holy Roman Emperor Charles I; but it is France where the name and number (or lack thereof) is problematic.

In my opinion Charlemagne should be counted as Charles I of France. This would mean that Charles the Bald should be Charles II of France. However, under this method the numbering of kings of France named Charles would be off by one. The last King of France named Charles was Charles X (1826 – 1830). Corrected he would be Charles XI.

What continues to complicate the matter is that those who count Charles the Bald as Charles I of France, instead of Charlemagne, use the 843 Treaty of Verdun as the starting point for the numbering of the French kings.

The problem with using the Treaty of Verdun and Charles the Bald as the starting point for numbering the Kings of France, is that the son and successor of Charles the Bald is counted as Louis II of France. The issue here is that if Louis II is numbered as such, following after Louis I the Pious, who was Emperor/King before the Treaty of Verdun, then why exclude Charlemagne as Charles I of France who was also Emperor/King prior to the Treaty of Verdun? It’s inconsistent.

Moving forward, the issue becomes how to count Charles the Fat? He was Emperor of the Carolingian Empire and the last Carolingian to rule it as a united Empire. He was also King of West Francia (884-887). I have seen lists where he is counted as Emperor Charles III and King Charles III of West Francia, and in some lists he is called Charles II of West Francia (France) and East Francia.

Charlemagne, Emperor of the Romans, King of the Franks and King of the Lombards.

Charles the Fat’s numeral “III” is roughly contemporary. Regino of Prüm, a contemporary of Charles recording his death, calls him “Emperor Charles, third of that name and dignity” (Latin Carolus imperator, tertius huius nominis et dignitatis).

The issue with calling Charles the Fat, “Charles III of France” is because the next Frankish King of West Francia, also named Charles, Charles the Simple, is also called Charles III of France.

I believe this can be reconciled by calling Charles the Fat as Charles II in West Francia and Charles III as Emperor. I guess the same solution can be applied to Charles the Bald. He could be counted as Charles I of West Francia (France) after all West Francia was a new State after the Treaty of Verdun, and Charles II as Emperor of the Carolingian Empire a proto-Holy Roman Empire.

After Charles III the Simple, King of West Francia, there would not be another King of France by that name until 1322 a full 400 years later! Even then Charles IV was known contemporarily by his sobriquet as Charles the Fair.

October 6, 877: Death of Charles the Bald, Carolingian Emperor, King of Italy and King of West Francia

Tags

Carolingian Emperor, Carolingian Empire, Charles the Bald, East Francia, Louis I the Pious, Treaty of Verdun, West Francia

Charles the Bald (June 13, 823 – October 6, 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). 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.

Charles was a grandson of Charlemagne and the youngest son of Louis I the Pious by his second wife, Judith, the daughter of Count Welf of Bavaria and Saxon noblewoman Hedwig. No surviving sources provide a record of Judith’s exact date and year of birth.

Charles was born on June 13, 823 in Frankfurt, when his elder brothers were already adults and had been assigned their own regna, or subkingdoms, by their father. The attempts made by Louis the Pious to assign Charles a subkingdom, first Alemannia (Germany) and then the country between the Meuse and the Pyrenees (in 832, after the rising of Pepin I of Aquitaine) were unsuccessful.

The numerous reconciliations with the rebellious Lothair and Pepin, as well as their brother Louis the German, 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. Pepin of Aquitaine died in 838, whereupon Charles at last received that kingdom, which angered Pepin’s heirs and the Aquitainian nobles.

The death of the Emperor Louis I the Pious 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 Battle of Fontenoy-en-Puisaye on June 25, 841.

In the following year, the two brothers confirmed their alliance by the celebrated Oaths of Strasbourg. The war was brought to an end by the Treaty of Verdun in August 843. The settlement gave Charles the Bald the Kingdom of the West Franks (West Francia) which he had been up until then governing and which practically corresponded with what is now France, as far as the Meuse, the Saône, and the Rhône, with the addition of the Spanish March as far as the Ebro.

Louis the German received the eastern part of the Carolingian Empire, known then as East Francia and later as Germany. Lothair retained the imperial title and the Kingdom of Italy. He also received the central regions from Flanders through the Rhineland and Burgundy as king of Middle Francia.

Reign in the West

Shortly after Verdun, Charles went on to an unsuccessful campaign against Brittany, on the return from which he signed the Treaty of Coulaines with his nobility and clergy. After that, the first years of his reign, up to the death of Lothair I in 855, were comparatively peaceful.

In 858, Louis the German, invited by disaffected nobles eager to oust Charles, invaded the West Frankish kingdom. Charles was so unpopular that he was unable to summon an army, and he fled to Burgundy. He was saved only by the support of the bishops, who refused to crown Louis the German king, and by the fidelity of the Welfs, who were related to his mother, Judith.

In 860, he in his turn tried to seize the kingdom of his nephew, Charles of Provence, but was repulsed. On the death of his nephew Lothair II in 869, Charles tried to seize Lothair’s dominions by having himself consecrated as King of Lotharingia (Middle Francia) at Metz, but he was compelled to open negotiations when Louis found support among Lothair’s former vassals. Lotharingia was partitioned between Charles and Louis in the resulting treaty (870).

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 December 25. 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.

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 (August 28, 876), Charles in his turn attempted to seize Louis’s kingdom, but was decisively beaten at the Battle of Andernach on October 8, 876.

In the meantime, Pope 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 October 6, 877.

Burial and succession

According to the Annals of St-Bertin, Charles was hastily buried at the abbey of Nantua, Burgundy because the bearers were unable to withstand the stench of his decaying body. A few years later, his remains were transferred to the Abbey of Saint-Denis where he had long wished to be buried, in a porphyry tub which may be the same one known as “Dagobert’s tub” (cuve de Dagobert), now in the Louvre. It was recorded that there was a memorial brass there that was melted down at the Revolution.

Charles was succeeded by his son, Louis. Charles was a prince of education and letters, a friend of the church, and conscious of the support he could find in the episcopate against his unruly nobles, for he chose his councillors from among the higher clergy, as in the case of Guenelon of Sens, who betrayed him, and of Hincmar of Reims.

Baldness

It has been suggested that Charles’s nickname was used ironically and not descriptively; i.e. that he was not in fact bald, but rather that he was extremely hairy. 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 an age where his brothers already had been sub-kings for some years.

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

The Genealogy of Frankish Kings, a text from Fontanelle dating from possibly as early as 869, and a text without a trace of irony, names him as Karolus Calvus (“Charles the Bald”). Certainly, by the end of the 10th century, Richier of Reims and Adhemar of Chabannes refer to him in all seriousness as “Charles the Bald”.

Marriages

In 842 Charles married Ermentrude, daughter of Odo I, Count of Orléans and his wife Engeltrude de Fézensac.
She died in 869.

In 870, Charles married Richilde of Provence, who was descended from a noble family of Lorraine.

With both wives Charles the Bald had many children.

Origins of the Holy Roman Empire. Conclusions

Tags

Carolingian Empire, Charles V, Emperor-Elect, Francis II, Golden Bull, Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation, King of Rome, Kingdom of Germany, Pope, Roman Catholic Church

The Imperial title

Another aspect of examining the origins of the Holy Roman Empire is to examine the history of the Imperial title itself. In other words, the history of the title gives us some understanding of the history of the empire itself.

The Holy Roman Emperor’s standard designation was simply, originally and officially “August Emperor of the Romans.” In Latin this was translated as “Romanorum Imperator Augustus.” In native German the title was translated as Kaiser der Römer.

Let me expand on this a little further. In German-language historiography, the term Römisch-Deutscher Kaiser (“Roman-German Emperor”) is used to distinguish the title from that of Roman Emperor on one hand, and that of German Emperor (Deutscher Kaiser) on the other, the title held by the Hohenzollern Emperors from 1871 until 1918.

The English term “Holy Roman Emperor” is modern shorthand for “Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire” and not corresponding to the actual historical style or title. In other words, the adjective “holy” is not intended as modifying “emperor.” The English term “Holy Roman Emperor” gained currency in the interbellum period (the 1920s to 1930s); formerly the title had also been rendered “German-Roman Emperor” in English.

The Empire was considered by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only legal successor of the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages and the early modern period. Since Charlemagne, the realm was merely referred to as the Roman Empire. The term sacrum (“holy”, in the sense of “consecrated”) in connection with the medieval Roman Empire was used beginning in 1157 under Friedrich I Barbarossa. “Holy Empire”: was the term added to reflect Friedrich’s ambition to dominate Italy and the Papacy. The form “Holy Roman Empire” is attested from 1254 onward.

In a decree following the Diet of Cologne in 1512, the name was changed to the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation (German: Heiliges Römisches Reich Deutscher Nation, Latin: Sacrum Imperium Romanum Nationis Germanicæ), a form first used in a document in 1474. The new title was adopted partly because the Empire lost most of its territories in Italy and Burgundy to the south and west by the late 15th century, but also to emphasize the new importance of the German Imperial Estates in ruling the Empire due to the Imperial Reform.

By the end of the 18th century, the term “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation” fell out of official use. Contradicting the traditional view concerning that designation, Hermann Weisert has argued in a study on imperial titulature that, despite the claims of many textbooks, the name “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation” never had an official status and points out that documents were thirty times as likely to omit the national suffix as include it.

In a famous assessment of the name, the political philosopher Voltaire remarked sardonically: “This body which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire.

The title of emperor in the West implied recognition by the pope. It was the pope who had the power to create an emperor. But as the power of the papacy grew during the Middle Ages, popes and emperors came into conflict over church administration. The best-known and most bitter conflict was that known as the investiture controversy, fought during the 11th century between Heinrich IV and Pope Gregory VII.

The office of Holy Roman Emperor was traditionally elective, although frequently controlled by dynasties. As we have seen since 911, the various German princes had elected the King of the Germans, technically, King of East Francia, from among their peers. The King of the Germans would then be crowned as emperor following the precedent set by Charlemagne.

Beginning with the reign Heinrich II (1002–1024, emperor from 1014) the title King of the Romans (Latin: Rex Romanorum; German: König der Römer) was the title used by the German king following his election the mostly German prince-electors, the highest-ranking noblemen of the empire. Technically they would retain the title “King of the Romans”, until they were officially crowned emperor by the Pope. However, the Papacy’s hold over the emperor wained greatly after the Protestant Reformation as many states became officially Protestant despite the Habsburg emperors remaining Roman Catholic.

Charles V was the last emperor to be crowned by the pope, and his successor, Ferdinand I, merely adopted the title of “Emperor-Elect” in 1558. Despite holding the title Emperor-Elect and forgoing the papal coronation the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire were still simply referred to as emperor. As we began this blog entry, we have seen that the final Holy Roman emperor-elect, Franz II, abdicated in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars that saw the Empire’s final dissolution.

Having read its complex history I see the Carolingian Empire that began with Charlamagne as a “Frankish Empire” and was the first phase in the evolution of the Holy Roman Empire. This Frankish Carolingian Empire eventually died out in 924. Then, with the Revival of the Imperial title under Otto the Great, I view this act as a transition from Frankish Empire to the creation of a “German Empire” which is what came to define the Holy Roman Empire in its essense. As a Germanic Empire it helped foster and grow a diverse German culture signifying an important part of German history.

Coronation of Charles III, Holy Roman Emperor & King of the Franks

Tags

Carolingian Empire, Charlemagne, Charles III, Charles The Fat, Charles the Great, Guy II of Spoleto, Holy Roman Emperor, Holy Roman Empire, King of France, King of Italy, King of the Franks, Pope John VII

On this day in history: February 12, 881. Charles III “The Fat” was Crowned Emperor by Pope John VIII.

Charles III (June 13, 839 – January 13, 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the Carolingian Emperor from 881 to 888. King of East Francia, 882-887. King of West Francia 884-887, Holy Roman Emperor, 881-887.

The youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, Charles was a great-grandson of Charlemagne (Charles the Great) He was the second-last emperor of the Carolingian dynasty and the last to rule, briefly, over a re-united Frankish empire.

Over his lifetime, Charles became ruler of the various kingdoms of Charlemagne’s former Empire. Granted lordship over Alamannia in 876, following the division of East Francia, he succeeded to the Italian throne upon the abdication of his older brother Carloman of Bavaria who had been incapacitated by a stroke. Crowned Emperor in 881 by Pope John VIII, his succession to the territories of his brother Louis the Younger (Saxony and Bavaria) the following year reunited the kingdom of East Francia. Upon the death of his cousin Carloman II in 884, he inherited all of West Francia, thus reuniting the entire Carolingian Empire.

Nickname and number

The nickname “Charles the Fat” (Latin Carolus Crassus) is not contemporary. It was first used by the Annalista Saxo (the anonymous “Saxon Annalist”) in the twelfth century. There is no contemporary reference to Charles’s physical size, but the nickname has stuck and is the common name in most modern European languages (French Charles le Gros, German Karl der Dicke, Italian Carlo il Grosso).

His numeral is roughly contemporary. Regino of Prüm, a contemporary of Charles’s recording his death, calls him “Emperor Charles, third of that name and dignity” (Latin Carolus imperator, tertius huius nominis et dignitatis).

On July 18, 880, Pope John VIII sent a letter to Guy II of Spoleto seeking peace, but the duke ignored him and invaded the Papal States. John responded by begging the aid of Charles in his capacity as King of Italy and crowned Charles Emperor on February 12, 881. This was accompanied by hopes of a general revival in western Europe, but Charles proved to be unequal to the task. Charles did little to help against Guy II. Papal letters as late as November were still petitioning Charles for action.

In some lists of the kings of France both Charles the Fat and Charles the Simple are listed as Charles III. I have also seen some lists where Charles the Bald is listed as Charles I of France and Charlemagne is listed as Charlemagne instead of Charles the Great without an ordinal. The lists where Charles the Bald is listed as Charles I, Charles the Fat is listed as Charles II. There are some lists that omit Charles the Fat entirely.