Louis the Stammerer

Louis the Stammerer
King of West Francia

14th-century depiction of Louis's coronation
Reign 877–879
Coronation 8 October 877 in Compiègne
Predecessor Charles the Bald
Born (846-11-01)1 November 846
Died 10 April 879(879-04-10) (aged 32)
Compiègne
Burial Saint-Corneille Abbey, Compiègne, France
Spouse Ansgarde of Burgundy
Adelaide of Paris
Issue Louis III of France
Carloman II
Hildegarde of France
Gisela of France
Ermentrude of France
Charles the Simple
Dynasty Carolingian
Father Charles the Bald
Mother Ermentrude of Orléans

Louis the Stammerer (French: Louis le Bègue) (1 November 846 – 10 April 879) was the King of Aquitaine and later the King of West Francia. He was the eldest son of emperor Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans. Louis the Stammerer was physically weak and outlived his father by only two years.

He succeeded his younger brother Charles the Child as the ruler of Aquitaine in 866 and his father in West Francia in 877, but he was never crowned Emperor. In the French monarchial system, he is considered Louis II.

Louis was crowned king on 8 October 877 by Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, at Compiegne[1] and was crowned a second time in August 878 by Pope John VIII at Troyes while the pope was attending a council there.[2] The pope may have even offered him the imperial crown, but it was declined. Louis had relatively little impact on politics. He was described "a simple and sweet man, a lover of peace, justice, and religion". In 878, he gave the counties of Barcelona, Girona, and Besalú to Wilfred the Hairy. His final act was to march against the invading Vikings, but he fell ill and died on 9 April or 10 April 879, not long after beginning this final campaign. On his death, his realms were divided between his two sons, Carloman II and Louis III of France.

Denier of Louis II

Family

During the peace negotiations between his father and Erispoe, duke of Brittany, Louis was betrothed to an unnamed daughter of Erispoe in 856. It is not known if this was the same daughter who later married Gurivant. The contract was broken in 857 after Erispoe's murder.

Louis was married twice. His first wife Ansgarde of Burgundy had two sons: Louis (born in 863) and Carloman (born in 866),[1] both of whom became kings of West Francia, and two daughters: Hildegarde (born in 864) and Gisela (865–884).

His second wife Adelaide of Paris had one daughter, Ermentrude (875–914) and a posthumous son, Charles the Simple,[1] who would become, long after his elder brothers' deaths, king of West Francia.

Ancestry

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Rosamond McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, (Pearson Education Limited, 1999), 258.
  2. ↑ John VIII, Pierre Riche, The Papacy: Gaius-Proxies, Vol. 2, ed. Philippe Levillain, (Routledge, 2002), 837.

References

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Louis the Stammerer
Born: 1 November 846 Died: 10 April 879
Preceded by
Charles the Child		 King of Aquitaine
866–877 		Vacant
Title next held by
Ranulf II
Preceded by
Charles the Bald		 King of Neustria
856–879 		Succeeded by
Louis III
King of West Francia
877–879 		Succeeded by
Louis III and Carloman
New title Count of Meaux
862–877 		Succeeded by
Theodebert
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