Lothair I OF ITALY (795-855)

	Lothair I, Emperor of the Romans and King of Italy		Lothair I, Emperor of the Romans and King of Italy

Individual Events and Attributes

Additional Information

Marriage

	Louis II's gravestone in Milan		Seal of Lothair II		Lothair Crystal in the British Museum		Lothair Crystal in the British Museum, Photo by Dana Otstott Shear 2012.

	Lothair Crystal in the British Museum, Photo by Dana Otstott Shear 2012.

Individual Note 1

Lothair I or Lothar I (German: Lothar, French: Lothaire, Italian: Lotario) (795 � 29 September 855) was the Emperor of the Romans (817�55), co-ruling with his father until 840, and the King of Bavaria (815�17), Italy (818�55) and Middle Francia (840�55). The territory of Lothringen (Lorraine in French and English) is named after him.

Lothair was the eldest son of the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious and his wife Ermengarde of Hesbaye, daughter of Ingerman the duke of Hesbaye. On several occasions, Lothair led his full-brothers Pippin I of Aquitaine and Louis the German in revolt against their father to protest against attempts to make their half-brother Charles the Bald a co-heir to the Frankish domains. Upon the father's death, Charles and Louis joined forces against Lothair in a three year civil war (840-843). The struggles between the brothers lead directly to the break up of the Frankish Empire assembled by their grandfather Charlemagne, and laid the foundation for the development of modern France and Germany.

Little is known of Lothair's early life, which was probably passed at the court of his grandfather Charlemagne. Shortly after the accession of his father, he was sent to govern Bavaria. He first comes to historical attention in 817, when Louis the Pious drew up his Ordinatio Imperii. In this, Louis designated Lothair as his principal heir, to whom his younger brothers Pippin of Aquitaine and Louis the German, as well as his cousin Bernard of Italy, would be subject after the death of Louis the Pious; Lothair would also inherit their lands if they were to die childless. Lothair was then crowned joint emperor by his father at Aix-la-Chapelle. At the same time, Aquitaine and Bavaria were granted to his brothers Pippin and Louis, respectively, as subsidiary kingdoms. Following the murder of Bernard, King of Italy, by Louis the Pious, Lothair also received the Kingdom of Italy. In 821, he married Ermengarde (d. 851), daughter of Hugh the Count of Tours. 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, he 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.

On his return to his father's court, his stepmother Judith won his consent to her plan for securing a kingdom for her son Charles, a scheme which was carried out in 829, when the young prince was given Alemannia as king. Lothair, however, soon changed his attitude and spent the succeeding decade in constant strife over the division of the Empire with his father. He was alternately 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, whilst the bounds of his appointed kingdom were in turn extended and reduced.

The first rebellion began in 830. All three brothers fought their father, whom they deposed. In 831, he was reinstated and he deprived Lothair of his imperial title and gave Italy to the young Charles. The second rebellion was instigated by Angilbert II, Archbishop of Milan, in 833, and again Louis was deposed and reinstated the next year (834). Lothair, through the loyalty of the Lombards and later reconciliations, retained Italy and the imperial position through all remaining divisions of the Empire by his father.

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. Negotiations with his brother Louis the German and his half-brother Charles, both of whom armed to resist this claim, were followed by an alliance of the younger brothers against Lothair. A decisive battle was fought at Fontenay-en-Puisaye on 25 June 841, when, in spite of his and his allied nephew Pepin II of Aquitaine's personal gallantry, Lothair was defeated and fled to Aachen. With fresh troops he began a war of plunder, but the forces of his brothers were too strong, and taking with him such treasure as he could collect, he abandoned to them his capital.[clarification needed] He met with the leaders of the Stellinga in Speyer and promised them his support in return for theirs, but Louis and then the native Saxon nobility put down the Stellinga in the next years.

Peace negotiations began, and in June 842 the brothers met on an island in the Sa�ne. They agreed to an arrangement which developed, after much difficulty and delay, into the Treaty of Verdun signed in August 843. By this, Lothair received the imperial title as well as northern Italy and a long stretch of territory from the North Sea to the Mediterranean, essentially along the valleys of the Rhine and the Rhone. He soon ceded Italy to his eldest son, Louis, and remained in his new kingdom, engaging in alternate quarrels and reconciliations with his brothers and in futile efforts to defend his lands from the attacks of the Northmen (as Vikings were known in Frankish writings) and the Saracens.

In 855, Lothair became seriously ill and, despairing of recovery, renounced the throne. On 23 September, he entered the monastery of Pr�m, where he died six days later. He was buried at Pr�m, where his remains were found in 1860.

Lothair's kingdom was divided between his three sons�the eldest, Louis II, received Italy and the title of emperor; the second, Lothair II, received Lotharingia; the youngest, Charles, received Provence.

He married Ermengarde of Tours, who died in 851.

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.

Ermengard (c.825-849) Name sometimes given to an unnamed daughter kidnapped and married by Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau

Bertha (c.830-852) Married to an unknown man, but later Abbess of Avenay.

Gisela (c.830-856) Abbess of San Salvatore at Brescia

Lothair II (835-869) Succeeded his father. Married Teutberga, daughter of Boso the Elder, Count of Arles.

Rotrude (c.840) Married Lambert III of Nantes.

Charles (845-863) Invested with Provence, Lyon and Transjuranian Burgundy.

One illegitimate child is known.

Carloman (853)

SOURCES:

Surviving letters of Lothar I, in Latin with English translation by Richard Matthew Pollard.

Annales Fuldenses

Nithard, Historiarum Libri, both in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica Scriptores, B�nde i. and ii. (Hanover and Berlin, 1826 fol.)

E. M�hlbacher, Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter den Karolingern (Innsbruck, 1881)

E. D�mmler, Geschichte des ostfr�nkischen Reichs (Leipzig, 1887�1888)

B. Simson, Jahrb�cher des deutschen Reiches unter Ludwig dem Frommen (Leipzig, 1874�1876)²

Individual Note 2

Lothair I, 795-855, emperor of the West (840-55), son and successor of Louis I. In 817 his father crowned him co-emperor. He was recrowned (823) at Rome by the pope and issued (824) a constitution, proclaiming his right to confirm papal elections. He twice (830, 833) revolted against his father, who favored Lothair's half brother Charles (Charles the Bald, later Charles II) at his elder son's expense, and in 833, with his brothers Pepin and Louis the German, he succeeded in temporarily deposing Louis I. However, his brothers deserted him and restored Louis. Lothair retained only Italy. He later was reconciled with his father, who in 838 allotted him almost the whole eastern half of the empire, the west (France) going to Charles. After Louis's death Charles and Louis the German made war on their brother Lothair, who tried to reunite the whole empire under his sole rule. The battle of Fontenoy (841), although indecisive, checked Lothair. Renewing their alliance in 842 (see Strasbourg, Oath of), Charles and Louis the German forced (843) Lothair to sign the fateful Treaty of Verdun (see Verdun, Treaty of), which partitioned the empire of Charlemagne among the three brothers; Lothair retained the imperial title. He subdivided his domains among his sons Louis II , who was crowned emperor at Rome in 850, Lothair, king of Lotharingia, and Charles. In 855 he abdicated and became a monk.³

Sources