The Fall of The Carolingians -Part I

Good morning, 

Charlemagne died in 814. His only son to make it into adulthood was Loius the Pious, who Charlemagne tasked with governing Aquataine. In 813, Charlemagne, through no action of the Papacy, crowned Loius Co-Empereror. Louis the Pious had three children, one of whom was by Judith, his second wife. This was Charles the Bald; Charles the Bald's older half brothers were Loithar I and Loius the German. Louis the Pious decided that his father's empire ( Charlemagne ) would be split among his 3 sons. Charlemagne the Bald would have West Francia, Lothar I would have the central regions encompassing ( from South to North) The Kingdom of Italy, Provence, Burgundy, and the North Sea coast. Loithar, out of Loius the Pious' issue was given the title Emperor and again " King of Italy." The two titles for a thousand went hand-in-hand, as an individual who was "King of Italy" could easily lay claim to "Emeperor" by virtue of his title " King of Italy." The Treaty of Verdun formally governed these things. The kingdom that Charlemagne conquered was preserved - despite Lious the Pious' wishes- in whole and ruled one of his heirs until Guy of Spoletto recieved the Imeperatus Augustus in the 891 ( See below). 

Loius the Pious' children did not see eye to and unfortunately fought hand to hand over whether or not to break up Charlemagne's lands. Lothar I wanted no part of splitting them. Many clerics of Alcuin's thought process agreed: they viewed the Charlegmagne's empire as the vehicle through which notions of Roman concepts of order and " Symphonia."

 Louis II, upon his father's Lothair's I death, recieved with a co-ruler the title's King of Italy and Emperor. He died in 875, and the title's of " King of Italy" and Emperor went to his uncle, Charles the Bald, at the behest of Pope John VIII. Loius the German, Charles' brother, invaded Italy in hopes to seize the crown, but was not able. Charles the Bald died two years later. The crown next went to Charles the Fat, Charles the Bald's nephew, son of Louis the German. 

Time to breath, lol! The remmenants and dispersment of Charlemagne's Empire to the rise of Odo's grandson Hugh Capet is some of the most complex history ever.