3) The Politics of Succession and the Origins of the Kingdom of the Eastern Franks
- Created by: Sammy98Jayne
- Created on: 06-01-18 15:54
Kings, Aristocrats and Partitive Inheritance
There was a kind of unwritten contract between kings and aristocrats where each provided crucial services for the other. Aristocrats transmitted the authority of the king to the regions and served as a sort of civil service. Kings protected the aristocrats' ownership of their land and rights, and ensured their sons inherited these lands (family's honour was at its most vulnerable during periods of succession so this was important).
Aristocratic sons were sent to the royal court, or to the courts of powerful lords, to ingratiate themselves with the future king and his advisors, or with future powerful people in the interests of securing the survival of the family. At around 15-16 years old, boys had the chance to prove themselves militarily, but not all would survive. But, unexpected deaths, and partitive inheritance (where each son got a portion of the kingdom) complicated this process as it became difficult to guess who would become king of their region.
Girls also received a portion of the land and it was ensured that they were married off to powerful people. It was important not to marry the boys off too early as attention would have been drawn onto the son rather than the actual king leading to a potential loss of power.
Charlemagne and the Succession
Originally, Charlemagne's kingdom was to be divided up between each of his three sons: Charles, Pippin and Louis the Pious. The eldest, Charles, was to get the greatest percentage, and the best region, the northern third. The next eldest, Pippin, was to get Italy and Bavaria, and Louis the Pious was to inherit an enlarged Aquitaine and Provence. This was all agreed in the Divisio Regnorum, 'the Division of the Kingdoms' of 806.
But, Charles and Pippin died before their father, leaving Louis the Pious as the sole heir. When Charlemagne was dying, he was summoned from Aquitaine to become co-emperor, and a year later Charlemagne died leaving Louis the Pious everything.
Louis the Pious and the Succession
In the early years of his reign, Louis was under immense pressure to set out a plan for his succession, but he did so in a unique way. When he came to power in 814, he already had 3 near-adult sons.
He was injured in his palace at Aachen when the wooden arcade fell on top of him, probably due to the bad materials that had been used. But he believed it was God, and so decided he must defend the unity of the empire, given to him by God.
Following his death, it was planned that the empire would be split again in the Ordinatio Imperii, ‘the Ordering of the Empire’ in 817. Lothar I, the eldest, was to receive the lion's share containing Italy, Provence, Alemannia, and the north, and he would become emperor. The brothers were to rule as sub-kings, Pippin in a reduced Aquitaine, and Louis the German in Bavaria. This was therefore a change from partitive inheritance. The aim was to produce a fraternal coalition between the 3 brothers to prevent a civil war when he died.
Things were relatively successful apart from a brief rebellion in Italy which was quickly quashed by Lothar.
The Failure of Louis the Pious’ Plans
Louis lived longer than anyone expected and had to re-marry following the death of his first wife, Irmengard, in 818. He married Judith, the daughter of Count Welf, in 819.This marriage led to a new son, which then complicated the succession. In 829, under pressure from the Welfs, Louis created a sub-kingdom for the new son, Charles the Bald, to inherit in Alsace and Alemannia. But, this led to a rebellion by Lothar, and then another more successful rebellion in 833.
Since 817, the aristocracy had been lining up behind the sons of Irmengard, expecting them to inherit specific lands that would be of use to them, but now, the new prince was changing this. This is what the problem was.
The First Kingdom of the Eastern Franks
The brothers were at odds with each other and each kept rebelling against their father, except for Charles the Bald. The brothers had built up allies in their regions, and now these regions were being taken off them. Pippin eventually died, leaving just Lothar I, Louis the German and Charles the Bald to inherit the kingdom. So, in 843, the kingdom was split again to reflect this, with each son getting an equal share including of the prosperous northern region.
Louis the Pious was eventually removed from the throne so that the princes could take over. He was sent to prison and was then released around the time that Pippin died. He tried to disown Louis the German so that he couldn't inherit anything following his death, but this was unsuccessful. Louis the Pious soon died.
Lothar began a war against Louis the German and Charles the Bald in an attempt to re-gain his lost territory that was now in Louis the German's territory. But, Louis the German and Charles the Bald joined together and were stronger, and they surrounded his land, so he failed.
Lothar I died in 855, leaving his kingdom to his son Lothar II. But Louis the German and Charles the Bald instead decided to split his kingdom between them, and so took Lothar II's land in the Treaty of Meersen in 870. Louis the German was unsure on how to divide his kingdom between his sons: Carloman, Louis the Younger and Charles the Fat. The younger two were sent to be 'counts of the marches' where they married leading aristocrats of these regions. In 865, it was made known that Carloman, the eldest, would get Bavaria, Louis the Younger would get Saxony, and Charles the Fat would get Alemannia.
Charles the Fat and the Succession
Louis the Younger had the vast majority of land to rule, leaving Charles the Bald with relatively little. But, people kept dying and so he kept receiving more and more land to rule. But, unfortunately for him, after 2 decades of marriage, he still hadn't produced a son. His empire collapsed in 887 essentially because of this.
He attempted to have his illegitmate son, Bernard, legitimised, but this fell through in 885 too when Pope Hadrian III died. He then tried to divorce/annul the marriage with his wife, despite seemingly having a strong marriage. But the claims he made against her were ludicrous as he claimed she had had an affair with Liudward, the bishop of Vercelli (his only advisor in the administration of affairs of state). He also tried saying himself and his wife had never consumated their marriage, despite being married for 10 years. So, this obviously failed too.
His failing health eventually stopped all of this going on, and he soon died leaving the throne without an heir.
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