The Time of Troubles in the Frankish State (830–834)

In October 818, the first wife of Louis I the Pious, Empress Irmengard , died. By this time, each of the three sons of Louis and Irmengard already owned the lands that the emperor, according to Ordinatio imperii , allocated them in July 817 :

• the eldest son, Lothar , was the co-emperor of his father and received a significant part of the Frankish kingdom ( Neustria , Australia , Saxony , Thuringia , Alemannia , Septimania , Provence and Italy );
• the second son - Pepin - retained Aquitaine , whose king he had been for 3 years, as well as Vasconia and the Spanish mark ;
• the third - Louis - received Bavaria and Carinthia .

In 819, 4 months after the death of his first wife, Emperor Louis married the beautiful daughter of Count Argengau Welfi Judith , who was 17 years younger than him.

However, for the empire, the emperor’s second marriage had disastrous consequences. The influence of the former, prudent advisers of Louis the Pious began to yield more and more to the influence of the young empress and her family. Judith’s power over her husband especially increased after she gave birth to his son Karl in June 823 . A beautiful and educated woman, much superior to Louis by her mind, Judith tried to share all his studies with him and entangled and enchanted her husband so much that he could not refuse her anything. Having gained such power over her husband, Judith began to convince him that her son should receive his kingdom, as well as the three others born from their first marriage.

In 829, Louis I the Pious finally agreed to fulfill her wish and singled out to six-year-old Carl Alemania with Alsace, part of modern Switzerland and Upper Burgundy . The Empress could triumph. Soon, however, it became clear that her enemies were not dumbfounded by failures. By intrigue and slander they did their best to undermine its influence. It was rumored that Judith was living in an illegal relationship with the royal treasurer Bernard Septimansky and wanted to make him emperor. It is not known how true these accusations were, but even the emperor’s loyal advisers were embarrassed by the closeness established between the empress and Bernard. As for the eldest sons of Louis, the farther they were, the more they hated the stepmother and feared from her all sorts of intrigues. This family strife soon grew into a real war.

In 830, Louis I began a campaign against the Bretons . Pepin, king of Aquitaine , was concerned that the war had unfolded at the very borders of his kingdom. Instead of going with his aquitonians to help his father, he rebelled, and through Orleans moved to Paris . Imperial troops went over to his side. Lothar I took the side of his younger brother and announced that he would protect the division of land that was established in 817. Louis the German , who was with his father, secretly fled from his camp and joined Pepin. Hearing about this, the emperor completely froze. With him there were so few warriors that he could not enter the battle with the army that Pipin led at him, and decided to submit. Meanwhile, Pipin learned that his stepmother Judith was hiding not far from Compiegne in one of the monasteries. The empress was brought to the camp and offered a choice - either to become a nun or to instill the idea of ​​cutting the emperor himself. With these proposals, the empress was taken to the camp to her husband. Emperor Louis replied that he could not decide to be tonsured without the consent of the nobles and bishops of both sides. After the empress returned with this answer to Pepin, she was sent to Poitiers and tonsured in the monastery of St. Radegund .

Then Pipin convened a congress of nobles in Compiegne, which was to decide the fate of his father. They write that the emperor entered the courtroom with modesty, showing his despondency: he did not want to sit on the throne and in a speech to those gathered began to make excuses for his actions. Most of the nobles were touched by the fate of their monarch. Surrounding Louis, they began to console him and almost seated him on the throne. However, on this all their disposition for the unfortunate ended: the congress deprived him of supreme power and transferred it to Lothar. The latter, however, did not last long on the throne. Moreover, his power was destroyed from the side where he least expected. Among the monks assigned to Louis, there was one, dexterous and cunning, named Gundbald. Instead of serving Lothar and persuading the emperor to final abdication, he offered his services to Louis. Louis trusted Gundbald and did not miscalculate. Under the guise of church affairs, Gundbald came to Pepin and Louis the German and began to describe to them the suffering and resentment that their father suffered under the will of Lothar. He awakened a voice of conscience in them and at the same time deftly inspired the idea that with the old and weak Louis they could much more hope to enlarge their kingdoms and their independence than with the young Lotard. Both brothers willingly bowed to his persuasion.

Meanwhile, Lothar was preparing a new congress, which, according to the supporters, was supposed to completely deprive his father of the imperial title and thereby completely remove him from power. The younger brothers for the species agreed with these plans, but secretly prepared treason. At the last moment, the meeting place of the congress was moved from the west bank of the Rhine to the east, to Nimwegen , to that part of the empire where the supporters of Louis the Pious were strong. Here, the younger brothers, and, above all, Louis the German, abandoned their pretense and stood up for their father. Based on this support, adherents of the old emperor gained an edge over his opponents. The congress unanimously decided to return to Louis all the previous power and give him a wife. This decision was a complete surprise for Lothar. His friends urged him not to lose time, to convene an army and crush the resistance with military force. But he, a characterless man and embarrassed by reproaches of conscience, did not dare to fight his father, humbled himself, begged his father to forgive him, and vowed not to leave his filial obedience. His friends, on whom all the blame of the rebellion was piled, Lothar sacrificed to the opponents. The former order was restored, and Judith with great honors was delivered from the monastery.

For a final resolution of cases in 831, a congress was convened in Aachen . Judith here vowed her innocence, Pope Gregory IV declared her tonsure invalid and the rights of the emperor’s wife were returned to her. Probably, at the same time, an act was drawn up on a new division of the state. In this important document, the exclusive rights of Lothar, which he had after 817, were destroyed. Although he retained the imperial title, however, of all the possessions he retained only Italy. The youngest son, Karl, father granted the royal title. In addition to Swabia, he received even more of Burgundy , Provence , Dauphine and Septimania , lands on both banks of the Moselle , as well as Lahn and Reims . Thus, the situation in the state returned to its starting point: Judith was again next to her husband, again subjugated him with her charm, and, as before, tried for the sake of her son (whom she, in her then expression, “wanted to do, like Joseph, above elder brothers or give him, like Benjamin, five times more than them ” ). The older brothers constantly felt the threat emanating from this side and, inevitably, had to rally for a new struggle.

The first to show his displeasure was Pipin, who felt more than others the suspicious disagreement of his father and the hatred of his stepmother. In October 831, he refused to come to Thionville for the next congress. Louis outwardly reacted calmly to this, but 2 months later, when Pepin arrived in Aachen , he was detained and put into custody. He escaped at night with several companions and returned to his kingdom. In September 832, a congress in Orleans stripped Pipin of his royal title. Father handed over to Aquitaine Karl. Pepin was seized and sent to Trier with his family. However, he again managed to escape, returned to Aquitaine and raised a new indignation here. Due to the beginning of winter, Louis could not suppress the rebellion at the very beginning. In winter, Pepin was supported by Lothar I and Pope Gregory IV.

In the spring of 833, Lothar crossed the Alps and connected with Pepin and Louis the German near Colmar on a plain called the Red Field. In June, Louis the Pious brought his troops there, but instead of starting the battle immediately, he began negotiations with his sons. This delay ruined his case. The sons, having begun to confer in appearance for peace, tried more hard to turn to their side those nobles who remained loyal to the emperor. Using the support of the pope, as well as the general dislike of Judith, they very quickly succeeded in their work. One by one, the nobles began to leave Louis and go to the camp of his sons. Only a few days passed, and the emperor was left without his army - he was surrounded only by a handful of soldiers and several bishops. Louis ordered him to go to his sons and declare that he did not want bloodshed and did not want anyone to be killed for him. Sons ordered to answer that nothing threatens his life, as well as the life of his loved ones. On June 29, the emperor with his wife, youngest son and small retinue arrived at the camp of sons and surrendered to their hands. They accepted the father with feigned respect, but dealt with him as a prisoner. Judith was sent for the Alps and imprisoned in Torton . Louis was sent to Soissons and held in custody in the monastery of St. Medard , and Charles was taken to Prüm Abbey.

A council of army commanders was convened, which unanimously decided to depose Louis and transfer the throne to Lothar. After a feigned excuse, he allowed himself to be proclaimed emperor. However, he could not feel at peace until his father held the imperial title. Again, like three years ago, every effort was made to force Louis the Pious to get a haircut as a monk. But Louis remained adamant. He was not even affected by the false news that Judith was dead. To achieve his goal, Lothar I took a last resort: the Congress in Compiegne , held on October 7, 833 , declared Louis guilty of serious crimes and deprived him of the right to bear arms. The emperor accepted the decree with humility. In the church of St. Medard he, with a large gathering of people in the clothes of a repentant sinner, confessed his sins in tears. He then gave the sword to Archbishop Reims Ebbon , but still refused to accept tonsure. This scene, however, did much more harm to his persecutors. The mass of the people, who saw the humiliation of their monarch, was imbued with the most sincere sympathy for him. Many of his weaknesses were forgotten, but they recalled his everlasting simplicity, kindness and ability to forgive. It also seemed to the brothers of Lothar I that, having subjected their father to public humiliation, he exceeded the acceptable limit. Louis the German first began to experience reproaches of conscience and persistently asked Lothar I to treat his father not so severely. Lothar sharply replied that he would not tolerate interference in his affairs, and began to constrain the emperor more than ever, strengthening his supervision. Then Louis the German announced that filial duty compelled him to free his father, and convened a militia in Frankfurt am Main . Lothar left for Paris, left his father there and went to Burgundy to gather troops. Dissatisfaction with the despotic policies of Lothar showed up quite quickly. Even during the trial of Louis in Compiegne, many spoke out against the overthrow of the emperor. Numerous supporters of the emperor, fearing revenge from the victors, fled after the Rhine to Louis the German. It was from them that the initiative came to restore Louis the Pious on the throne.

Ten days after his departure, on March 1, 834 , several archbishops released the emperor from imprisonment, removed church punishment from him, and again placed the imperial vestments on him. With joyful cries of the people, it was announced that the power of Louis the Pious was restored. He went to the Kiersky Palace, reconciled with Pepin and Louis, and then went to Aachen , where Judith and Karl were already waiting for him. He sent ambassadors to Lothar, offering him forgiveness on condition of sincere repentance. But Lothar did not want to put up, because he understood that this world would not give him anything but a new humiliation. Soon, the imperial army was defeated by Matthew at the border of the Breton mark . Many counts were killed in battle. Then Lothar I took Chalon , robbed him and fiercely condemned to execution many noble adherents of his father, and did not spare either men or women. But in the next battle of Blois , in June 834 , Lothar was defeated. He and his followers were forced to beg for mercy. Louis allowed them to come to his camp. Lothar I fell at his father's feet and swore allegiance. Louis forgave his son, but took all his possessions beyond the Alps, leaving Italy alone in his hands. He did not dare to touch the other sons so far, retaining for them the possessions that they had acquired as a result of the division of the kingdom of Charles.

• Astronomer . Life of Emperor Louis // Historians of the Carolingian era / trans. with lat. A.V. Tarasova. - M .: “Russian Political Encyclopedia” (ROSSPEN), 1999. - P. 37-94. - 1,000 copies. - ISBN 5-86004-160-8 .
• Tegan . The Acts of Emperor Louis . - SPb. : Publishing house "Aletheya", 2003. - 192 p. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 5-89329-603-6 .
• Bertin Annals = Annales Bertiniani . 830–882. // MGH SS. - T. I. - P. 419-515.
• The Carolingian Legacy. IX-X centuries / Per. with fr. T.A. Chesnokova . - M .: Scarab, 1993 .-- T. 2 .-- 272 p. - (A new history of medieval France). - 50,000 copies. - ISBN 5-86507-043-6 .