Charles the Simple
| Charles III of France | |
|---|---|
 A 921 meeting between Charles and Henry I of Germany resulted in a treaty. In 923 Henry supported Robert against Charles and promptly attempted to annex Lotharingia.
|
|
| Spouse(s) | Frederuna m. 906 -wid. 917 Eadgifu of Wessex m. 919 - his death |
|
Issue Ermentrude Frederuna Adelaide Gisela Rotrude Hildegarde By Eadgifu: Louis IV of France |
|
| Noble family | Carolingian dynasty |
| Father | Louis the Stammerer |
| Mother | Adelaide of Paris |
| Born | 17 September 879 |
| Died | 7 October 929 (aged 50) Péronne |
Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin Carolus Simplex), was the King of Western Francia from 898 until 922 and the King of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–23. He was a member of the Carolingian dynasty.
Contents |
Early life [edit]
Charles was the third and posthumous son of Louis the Stammerer by his second wife, Adelaide of Paris.[1] As a child, Charles was prevented from succeeding to the throne at the time of the death in 884 of his half-brother Carloman.[2] The nobles of the realm instead asked his cousin, Charles the Fat, to rule them.[3] He was also prevented from succeeding the unpopular Charles, who was deposed in November 887 and died in January 888, although it is unknown if his deposition was accepted or even made known in West Francia before his death. The nobility elected as king Odo, the hero of the Siege of Paris, though there was a faction that supported Guy III of Spoleto. Charles was put under the protection of Ranulf II, the Duke of Aquitaine, who may have tried to claim the throne for him and in the end used the royal title himself until making peace with Odo.
King of Western Francia [edit]
Finally, in 893 Charles was crowned by a faction opposed to Odo at Reims Cathedral, though he only became the effectual monarch with the death of Odo in 898.[4]
In 911, a group of Vikings lead by Rollo besieged Paris and Chartres. After a victory near Chartres on 26 August, Charles decided to negotiate with Rollo. The talks, led by Hervé, the Archbishop of Reims, resulted in the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, which granted Rollo and his soldiers all the land between the river Epte and the sea "in freehold and good money." It also granted him Brittany, "for his livelihood". At the time, Brittany was an independent country which France had unsuccessfully tried to conquer. In exchange, Rollo ensured the king his loyalty, which involved military assistance for the protection of the kingdom. As a token of his good will, Rollo also agreed to be baptised and to marry Gisela, a daughter of Charles. The territory covered by the treaty corresponds to the northern part of today’s Upper Normandy down to the Seine, but it would eventually extend west beyond the Seine to form the Duchy of Normandy, named after the Norsemen who ruled it.
Also in 911, Louis the Child, the King of Germany, died, and the nobles of Lotharingia, who had been loyal to him, under the leadership of Reginar Longneck declared Charles their new king, breaking from Germans who had elected Conrad of Franconia king.[4] Charles had tried to win their support for years, for instance by marrying in April 907 a Lotharingian woman named Frederuna. He also defended the country against two attacks by Conrad, King of the Germans.[5] Queen Frederuna died on 10 February 917 leaving six daughters and no sons.[6] so the succession was uncertain. On 7 October 919 Charles married again to Eadgifu, the daughter of Edward the Elder, King of England, who bore his only son, the future King Louis IV of France. By this time Charles' excessive favouritism towards a certain Hagano had turned the aristocracy against him. He endowed Hagano with monasteries that were already the benefices of other barons, alienating them. In Lotharingia he earned the enmity of the new duke, Gilbert, who declared for the German king Henry the Fowler in 919.[4] Opposition to Charles in Lotharingia was not universal, however; he retained the support of Wigeric.
Revolt of the nobles [edit]
The nobles, completely exasperated with Charles' policies and especially his favoritism of count Hagano, seized Charles in 920.[7] But after negotiations by Archbishop Herveus of Reims the king was released.[7] In 922 the Frankish nobles revolted again led by Robert of Neustria.[7] Robert, who was Odo's brother, was elected king by the rebels and crowned in opposition to Charles, who had to flee to Lotharingia. On 2 July 922, Charles lost his most faithful supporter, Herveus of Reims, who had succeeded Fulk in 900. Charles returned with a Norman army in 923 but was defeated on 15 June near Soissons by Robert, who died in the battle.[4] Charles was captured and imprisoned in a castle at Péronne under the guard of Herbert II of Vermandois.[8] Robert's son-in-law Rudolph of Burgundy was elected to succeed him.[9] In 925 the Lotharingians were subsumed into the Kingdom of Germany. Charles died in prison on 7 October 929 and was buried at the nearby abbey of Saint-Fursy. His only son by Eadgifu would eventually be crowned in 936 as Louis IV of France.[10] In the initial aftermath of Charles's defeat, Eadgifu and Louis had fled to England.[10]
Family [edit]
Charles married first, in May 907, Frederuna, daughter of Dietrich, Count in the Hamaland.[1] Together they had six daughters:
- Ermentrude[1]
- Frederuna[1]
- Adelaide[1]
- Gisela, wife of Rollo of Normandy[11]
- Rotrude[1]
- Hildegarde[1]
Charles married secondly, in 919, Eadgifu of Wessex.[1] Together they had:
- Louis IV of France (10 September 920–10 September 954), who eventually succeeded to the throne of West Francia in 936[1]
Charles also had several illegitimate childen:
- Arnulf[1]
- Drogo[1]
- Rorice († 976), Bishop of Laon[1]
- Alpais, who married Erlebold, count of Lommegau[1]
Notes [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Detlev Schwennicke, Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten, Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 1
- ^ The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 9919–966, ed. & trans. Steven Fanning; Bernard S. Bachrach (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. xv
- ^ Pierre Riché, The Carolingians; A Family who Forged Europe, trans. Michael Idomir Allen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), p. 216
- ^ a b c d Michel Parisse, "Lotharingia", The New Cambridge Medieval History, III: c. 900–c. 1024, ed. Timothy Reuter (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 313–15.
- ^ Cambridge Medieval History, Vol. III—Germany and the Western Empire, eds. H. M. Gwatking; J. P. Whitney, et al. (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1922), p. 74
- ^ Genealogiæ Comitum Flandriæ, Witgeri Genealogica Arnulfi Comitis MGH SS IX, p. 303.
- ^ a b c Pierre Riché, The Carolingians; A Family who Forged Europe, trans. Michael Idomir Allen (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1993), p. 250
- ^ Jean Dunbabin, "West Francia: The Kingdom", The New Cambridge Medieval History, III: c. 900–c. 1024, ed. Timothy Reuter (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2005), 378–79.
- ^ The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 9919–966, ed. & trans. Steven Fanning; Bernard S. Bachrach (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. xvi
- ^ a b The Annals of Flodoard of Reims, 9919–966, ed. & trans. Steven Fanning; Bernard S. Bachrach (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2011), p. xvii
- ^ Orderic Vitalis, The Ecclesiastical History of Oderic Vitalis, ed. Marjorie Chibnall, Volume II, Books III And IV (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1993), p. 9
|
Charles the Simple
Born: 17 September 879 Died: 7 October 929 |
||
| Preceded by Odo |
King of Western Francia 898–922 |
Succeeded by Robert I |
| Preceded by Louis the Child |
King of Lotharingia 911–919/23 |
Succeeded by Gilbert |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
