Louis IV of France

Louis IV
A denier from the reign of Louis IV, minted at Chinon
King of the Franks (more...)
Reign	936–954
Coronation	936 in Laon
Predecessor	Rudolph
Successor	Lothair
Born	September 920 / September 921 Laon
Died	10 September 954 (aged 33-34) Reims
Burial	Compiègne Abbey, Saint-Corneille, France
Spouses	Gerberga of Saxony
Issue Detail	Lothair, King of the Franks Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine Matilda, Queen of Burgundy
House	Carolingian
Father	Charles the Simple
Mother	Eadgifu of Wessex

Louis IV (September 920 / September 921 – 10 September 954), called d'Outremer or Transmarinus (both meaning "from overseas"), reigned as King of Western Francia from 936 to 954.

A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son of Charles III and Eadgifu, a daughter of King Edward the Elder of Wessex.

After the dethronement and capture of Charles III in 923, Eadgifu and their infant son took refuge in England (for this he received the nickname of d'Outremer) at the court of his maternal grandfather King Edward, and after his death, of his uncle King Æthelstan. Louis IV became in the heir of the French branch of the Carolingian dynasty after the death of his father in captivity in 929, and was recalled from England by the powerful Hugh the Great, Margrave of Neustria, to succeeded King Raoul, who died in early 936.

His reign was mostly known thanks to the Annals of Flodoard and the later Historiae of Richerus. Once he took the throne, Louis IV wants to leave the tutelage of Hugh the Great, who, with his title of Duke of the Franks became in the second force of the Kingdom after the King. At first, the young monarch started with the conquest of Lotharingia (939); however, the expedition was a failure and his brother-in-law King Otto I of Germany not long after besieged the city of Reims (940). Secondly, following the death of William I Longsword, Count of Normandy, Louis IV tried to conquest his lands, but he was kidnapped by the men of Hugh the Great (945).

The Synod of Ingelheim (948) finally allowed the excommunication of Hugh the Great and the final release of Louis IV. From 950, the King gradually imposed his rule in the northeast of the Kingdom building many alliances (especially with the Counts of Vermandois) and under the protection of the Kingdom of Germany.

Life

Deposition of Charles III the Simple

The only child of King Charles III the Simple and his second wife Edwige de Wessex, Louis was born in the heart of the Carolingian limited area between Laon and Reims around 920/921. From his father's first marriage with Frederuna (d. 917), he had six half-sisters; in consequence, since birth Louis was the only male heir of his father.

On 6 December 884 King Carloman II of Western Francia dies without a male heir and his half-brother, the future Charles III the Simple, was a five-years-old boy. For this, their cousin Charles the Fat, already Holy Roman Emperor and King of East Francia, was invited by the nobles of the Kingdom to assumed the throne. Since the beginning, the new monarch was forced to deal with the constant raids of the Vikings, with little success. After three years of incompetent government, Charles the Fat was finally deposed by the Diet of Tribur (887). Faced with the growing threat of northern invaders, the local nobles again rejected the succession of Charles III the Simple because he was too young, and Odo, Count of Paris (member of the Robertians dynasty) was chosen as the new King of Western Francia, after successfully defending Paris against Rollo. Aided by Archbishop Fulk of Reims, Charles III the Simple attempts to reclaim the throne (893) in vain. By 897, the young prince only ruled the city of Laon before Odo, on his deathbad, designated him his successor. Following the death of Odo, in January 898, Charles III the Simple finally assumed the title of King of Western Francia. Soon, the new monarch showed his ambition to conquest Lotharingia, the main objective of all the monarchs of Western Francia since Charles the Bald. However, Arnulf of Carinthia, King of East Francia, already prevents this by entrusting the land to his son Zwentibold since 895; but being his rule disturbed because of the hatred of his subjects, Charles III the Simple decided to intervene in 898 after being called by Count Reginar of Hainaut. After seizing Aachen and capturing Charlemagne's Palace at Nijmegen, he returned to France at the request of the German bishops. A few years later, in September 911, the Lotharingian aristocracy again called Charles III the Simple after the death of Louis the Child, the last Carolingian ruler in Germany.

Charles III the Simple was crowned King of Lotharingia in early November 911. However, the constant absences of the new monarch (who preferred to stay in Aachen or Thionville), quickly irritates the Lotharingian nobility (which fears for their own independence) and the nobles of France, who see this inclination as an affront. The situation was even more complicated because, according to Flodoard, Charles III the Simple refused to marched against the Hungarians who threatened Lotharingia (only Archbishop Hervé de Reims was present there) and finally caused an open rebellion when he attempt to dispossess his own aunt, Abbess Rothilde (also mother-in-law of Hugh the Great), from Chelles Abbey in order to give it to his favourite, Hagano (a relative of his first wife Frederuna).

Between 920-922, Charles III the Simple finds himself in trouble. Although he pacified his relations with Henry the Fowler, the new King of Germany, he had to fight on two fronts: one against Duke Giselbert of Lotharingia and the other against Hugh the Great, irritated by the threatment to his mother-in-law. Defeated, in June 922 Charles III the Simple took refuge in Lotharingia, and the nobles of the Kingdom declared him deposed from the throne, chosing as new King Robert, Count of Paris, brother of the late King Odo and father of Hugh the Great.

A youth in exile

Charles III the Simple returns to France to regain the throne. His army, supported by a Lotharingian army and and a group of soldiers, faced with King Robert's army at Soissons in June 923. According to Richerus, Robert was killed in battle by Count Fulbert or according to other historians, by Charles III the Simple. Despite the death of Robert, his army win the battle and Charles III the Simple was forced to escape from the battlefield. The French nobles elected Raoul of Burgundy (Robert's son-in-law) as their new King, with his coronation taking place on 13 July 923 at St Médard, Soissons.

During the summer, Charles III the Simple was captured by Herbert II, Count of Vermandois (another son-in-law of King Robert) at Château-Thierry; in the meanwhile, King Henry I of Germany took advantage of the situation to seize Lotharingia to his domains, after giving his daughter Gerberga in marriage to Duke Giselbert.

After the capture of her husband, Queen Eadgifu (known in France as Edwige or Ogive) flees with her son, Prince Louis, to the Kingdom of Wessex at the court of her father, King Edward the Elder and then of her brother King Æthelstan. Young Louis was raised in the Anglo-Saxon court until his teens, time during which he enjoyed with legendary stories of Edmund the Martyr, King of East Anglia and ancestor of his maternal family who heroically fought against the Vikings.

After some time at Château-Thierry, the humiliated Charles III the Simple was transferred in 924 to Péronne, where he died on 7 October 929 and was immediately buried in the local Monastery of Saint-Fursy. Now, the legitimate Carolingian heir was the eight-years-old Louis, but King Raoul retained the throne and ruled until his death on 15 January 936 at Auxerre, being buried in the Abbey of Sainte-Colombe of Sens. The nobility then discussed who could be the next King, because Raoul had died without surviving male heirs; thanks to the decisive support of Hugh the Great, finally the nobles unanimously summoned back Louis to France to became in their new King.

Reign

Withdrawal of Hugh the Great. Return to France

During the spring of 936, Hugh the Great sent an embassy to Wessex, inviting Prince Louis to "come and take the head of the kingdom" (Flodoard). King Æthelstan, his uncle, after forced the embassy to swear that the future king will have the homage of all his vassals, permitted him the return to France with his mother Eadgifu, some bishops and faithful servants. However, it is surprising that Flodoard expressly described the coronation without mentioning the election. After a few hours of journey, Louis receives on the beach of Boulogne the homage of Hugh and some Frankish nobles, who kissed his hands. Richerus gives us another anecdote about this first encounter:

Then the Duke hastily brought a horse decorated with the royal insignia. By the time he wants to put the King in the saddle, the horse runs in all directions; but Louis, an agile young men, jump suddenly, without stirrups, and tame the animal. This pleased all the presents and caused the recognition from all.

Louis and his court began the trip in the direction of Laon which where had to take place the coronation ceremony.

Historians have wondered why the powerful Hugh the Great called the young Carolingian prince instead to take the throne from himself, as his father had done fifteen years ago. Firstly, he had many rivals, especially Hugh the Black (King Raoul's brother) and Count Herbert II of Vermandois, who probably would questioned his election. But above all, it seems that he was shocked by the early death of his father. Richerus explains that Hugh the Great remembered his father who had died for his "pretentions" and this was the cause of his short and turbulent reign. It was then that "the Gauls, anxious to appear free to elect their King, assembled under the leadership of Hugh to deliberate about the choose of a new King". According to Richerus, Hugh the Great say the following speech:

King Charles died miserably. If my father and us, we hurt your Majesty by some of our actions, we must use all our efforts to erase the trace. Although following your unanimous desire my father committed a great crime reigning, since only one had the right to rule and was alive, he deserved to be imprisoned. This, believe me, wasn't the will of God. Also I never had to take the place of my father.

Hugh the Great knows that Robertians dynasty has not left large traces in the history of the Kingdom: his uncle Odo died after a few years of reign, abandoned by the nobles, his father Robert I was killed during the battle of Soissons after months of reign, his brother-in-law Raoul couldn't stop the troubles that have multiplied in the Kingdom during his reign, and finally, Hugh still wasn't had a legitimate male heir: his first wife Judith (daughter of Count Roger of Maine and Princess Rothilde) died in 925 after eleven years of childless union; in 926 he married secondly with Princess Eadhild of Wessex, full-sister of Queen Eadgifu, who also didn't bore him any child. In addition, the marriage with Eadhild, actively promoted by Eadgifu, was made in order sever the dangerous link between Hugh and Count Heribert II of Vermandois.

Coronation

Arrived on the continent, Louis IV was a young man of fifteen years, who spoke neither Latin or French but probably old english. He knows nothing of his Kingdom and he has almost nothing. Hugh the Great, after negotiating with the most powerful nobles of the Kingdom (William I Longsword of Normandy, Herbert II of Vermandois and Arnulf of Flanders), was appointed guardian of the new King. Louis IV was crowned King by Artald, Archbishop of Rheims, on Sunday 19 June 936, probably at the Abbey of Notre-Dame and Saint-Jean in Laon, perhaps at the request of the King since it is a symbolic Carolingian town and probably he was born in this town. The chronicler Flodoard records the events as follows:

Brittones a transmarinis regionibus, Alstani regis praesidio, revertentes terram suam repetunt. Hugo comes trans mare mittit pro accersiendo ad apicem regni suscipiendum Ludowico, Karoli filio, quem rex Alstanus avunculus ipsius, accepto prius jurejurando a Francorum legatis, in Franciam cum quibusdam episcopis et aliis fidelibus suis dirigit, cui Hugo et cetero Francorum proceres obviam profecti, mox navim egresso, in ipsis littoreis harenis apud Bononiam, sese committunt, ut erant utrinque depactum. Indeque ab ipsis Laudunum deductus ac regali benedictione didatus ungitur atque coronatur a domno Artoldo archiepiscopo, praesentibus regni principibus cum episcopis xx et amplius.

"The Bretons, returning from the lands across the sea with the support of King Athelstan, came back to their country. Duke Hugh sent across the sea to summon Louis, son of Charles, to be received as king, and King Athelstan, his uncle, first taking oaths from the legates of the Franks, sent him to the Frankish kingdom with some of his bishops, and other followers. Hugh and the other nobles of the Franks went to meet him and committed themselves to him[;] immediately he disembarked on the sands of Boulogne, as had been agreed on both sides. From there he was conducted by them to Laon, and, endowed with the royal benediction, he was anointed and crowned by the lord Archbishop Artold, in the presence of the chief men of his kingdom, with 20 bishops."

During the ritual, Hugh the Great acts as squire bearing the King's arms. Almost nothing was known about the coronation ceremony of Louis IV. Nevertheless, it seems certain that the King would wear the crown and scepter of his predecessor. Is equally obvious that he must had to promise before the bishops of France to respect the privileges of the Church. Maybe was he received the ring (a religious symbol), the sword and the stick of Saint Remigius (referring to the baptism of Clovis I). Finally, the new King (perhaps like his ancestor Charles the Bald) used a blue silk coat called Orbis Terrarum with cosmic allusions (referring to the Vulgate) and the purple robe with precious stones and gold incrustations also used by Odo (888) and his son Lothair during his own coronation (954).

The young King will quickly become the puppet of Hugh the Great, who had reigned France de facto since the death of his father Robert in 923. Territorially, Louis IV is quite helpless since he possessed only few lands around the ancient Carolingian domains (Compiègne, Quierzy, Verberie, Ver-lès-Chartres and Ponthion), and some abbeys (Saint-Jean in Laon, Saint-Corneille in Compiègne, Corbie and Fleury-sur-Loire) and finally the revenues of the province of Reims. We know that the sovereign has the power to appoint the suffragants of the Archbishopric of Reims. Laon definitely becomes in the center of the small Carolingian legitimacy, compared with the possessions in the Loire Valley by the Robertians.

Hugh the Great, the second of the Kingdom

In 936, Hugh the Great was able to gain supremacy over the Kingdom. Its power comes in two forms: from the extraordinary title of Dux Francorum (Duke of the Franks) that Louis IV confirmed over him successively in three years (936, 943 and 954) and his rule over the Marches of Neustria, where he reigned as a truly princeps (territorial Prince). This title was for the first time formalized by the Royal Chancery.

Thus the royal diplomas of the second half of the year 936 confirm the pervasiveness of Hugh the Great: it is said Duke of the Franks "in all reigned after us". This content also means that Hugh denies the existence of the principality of Burgundy that Hugh the Black thought he had acquired after the death of his brother King Raoul. Moreover, from the beginning of 937, was believed that began Louis IV's efforts to halt the virtual regency of the Duke of the Franks; in the contemporary charters Hugh the Great appears only as "Count" as if the ducal title was taken from him by the King. But Louis IV hesitated about this move, because the ducal title was already given to Hugh the Great by his Charles III the Simple in 914. But a serious misconduct was probably took place at that time, because Louis IV remove the title from him.

For his part, Hugh the Great continues to claim to be the Duke of the Franks. The royal acts show that Hugh that further strengthens its legitimacy. In a letter from 938, the Pope called him Duke of the Franks, three years later (941) he presided a meeting in Paris during which he raised personally, in the manner of a King, his viscounts to the rank of counts. Finally, Hugh the Great had the decisive respect of the entire episcopate of France.

Difficulties during the early years of rule (938–945)

Louis IV and his supporters (938–939)

The rivalries between the nobility appears as the only hope for the King to emancipate himself from the tutelage of Hugh the Great. In 937, Louis IV began to relies more on his Chancellor Artaud, Archbishop of Reims, Hugh the Black and William I Longsword, all enemies of Hugh the Great. He also receives the homage of other important nobles like Alan II, Duke of Brittany (who also spent part of his life in England) and Sunyer, Count of Barcelona. Nevertheless, the support for the King was still limited, until the Pope clearly favored him after he forced the French nobles to renewed their homage to the King in 942.

However the King's power in the south was symbolic since the death of the last Count of the Spanish March (878). Hugh the Great response to the King's alliances approximating Herbert II of Vermandois, a very present ruler in minor France: it possessed a tower, called château Gaillot in the city of Laon. The following year, the King seized the tower but Herbert II conquered the fortresses of Reims. The King then looks to the Lotharingia, the land of his ancestors and began his attempts to recovered it. In 939, Duke Gislebert (then rebelled against King Otto I of Germany) offer him the crown; Louis IV receives the homage of the Lotharingian aristocracy in Verdun on his way to Aachen.

Shortly after (2 October 939) drowned at the Rhine while escaping from the forces of Otto I after his defeat at the Battle of Andernach. Louis IV took this opportunity to strengthen his domain over Lotharingia by marrying Giselbert's widow, Gerberga of Saxony (end 939), without the consent of her brother King Otto I. The wedding, however, didn't stopped the plans of the German King, who, after being allied with Hugh the Great, Herbert II of Vermandois and William I Longsword, reasumed his invasion to Lotharingia and advanced towards Reims. Flodoard related the events as follows:

But Louis, called by the archbishop Artaud returned and besieged Laon where a new citadel was built by Herbert. He undermine and overthrow many machines walls and finally took it with great difficulty.

Crisis of the Royal identity (940–941)

In 940, the invaders finally conquered the city of Reims, where archbishop Artald was expelled and replaced by Hugh of Vermandois, a younger son of Herbert II, who also seized the precious patrimony of Saint-Remi. About this, Flodoard wrote:

These are the same Franks who want this King, who crossed the sea at their request, the same ones who sworn loyalty to him and lied to God and that King?.

Flodoard also publishes at the end of his Annals the testimony of a girl from Reims (the Visions of Flothilde) who predicted the expulsion of Artald from Reims. Flothilde mentioned that the saints are alarmed about the disloyalty of the nobles against the King. This testimony was widespreaded believed, especially among the population of Reims, who believed that the internal order and peace come from the oaths of loyalty to the King, while Artald was blamed of having forsaken divine service. Contemporary christian tradition affirmed that Saint Martin attended the coronation of 936. Now the two royal patrons saints, Saint Remi and Saint Denis, seems to have turned back to the King's rule. To soften the anger of the saints, in the middle of the siege of Reims by Hugh the Great and William I Longsword, Louis IV goes to Saint Remi Basilica and promised to the saint to pay him a pound of silver every year.

In the meanwhile, Hugh the Great and his vassals have sworn allegiance to Otto I, who moved to the Carolingian Palace of Attigny before his unsuccessfully siege of Laon. In 941 the royal army, which tried to oppose the German invasion, was defeated and Artald was forced to submitted to the rebels. Now Louis IV was enclosed in the only property that remains in his hands: the city of Laon. The king of Germany believes that the power King of France is sufficiently diminished and propose a reconciliation with the Duke of the Franks and the Count of Vermandois: from now Otto I was the new arbitrator in the West.

Louis IV fell from his horse and died on 30 September 954 at Rheims, in the Marne, where he is interred at Saint Rémi Basilica.

Ancestry

Family of Louis IV of France

16. Louis the Pious 8. Charles the Bald 17. Judith of Bavaria 4. Louis the Stammerer 18. Odo I, Count of Orléans 9. Ermentrude of Orléans 19. Engeltrude of Paris 2. Charles the Simple 10. Adalhard of Paris 5. Adelaide of Paris 1. Louis IV of France 24. Æthelwulf of Wessex 12. Alfred the Great 25. Osburga of Isle of Wight 6. Edward the Elder 26. Æthelred Mucil 13. Ealhswith 27. Eadburga 3. Eadgifu of England 14. Ealdorman Æthelhelm 7. Ælfflæd

Marriage and children

In 939, Louis became involved in a struggle with the Holy Roman Emperor Otto the Great on the question of Lorraine, but he then married Otto's sister Gerberga of Saxony (914 – 5 May 984). They were parents to eight children:

• Lothair of France (941–986)
• Matilda, b. about 943; married Conrad of Burgundy
• Hildegarde b. about 944
• Carloman b. about 945
• Louis b. about 948
• Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine (953–993)
• Alberade b. before 953
• Henri b. about 953

References

• Flodoard, Annales, ed. Philippe Lauer, Les Annales de Flodoard. Collection des textes pour servir à l'étude et à l'enseignement de l'histoire 39. Paris: Picard, 1905.