Charles the Child
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Charles the Child (in the Latin of the Annales Bertiniani, Karolus puer) (c.849, Frankfurt am Main–September 29, 866, Buzançais, Indre département) was the king of Aquitaine from October 855 in opposition to Pepin II and sole king only for the final two years of his life (864-866).
He was the second son of Charles the Bald and brother of Louis the Stammerer. He was the choice of his father, who himself had claimed the Aquitainian throne since 838 at the death of his uncle Pepin I. His father had apprehended the younger Pepin and imprisoned him in 852, but his candidate then, his nephew Louis the Younger, didn't come west until 855 and came no further than Limoges. So in that year, Charles had his son and namesake crowned king instead, in Limoges.
Unlike previous kings of Aquitaine within the Frankish Empire or the Frankish Kingdom (Louis the Pious, Pepin I, Pepin II), Charles the Child had no real authority at all. The aristocracy wanted independence from the West Frankish ruling house, and so they chose Pepin II again when he escaped imprisonment in 855. He had their support until caught again (864) and imprisoned, until death, in Senlis.
Charles married in 862, but all that is known is that she was the widow of some Count Humbert. The marriage was dissolved in 863. Charles died without known descendants.
He is sometimes referred to as Charles III, though he was not really the third Charles of Aquitaine or third Charles of anything, for that matter.
| Preceded by Pepin II |
King of Aquitaine 855–866 |
Succeeded by unknown |
