She gave him a fourth son, who would become known as Charles the Bald. He also wanted to keep the empire together, despite the difficulty presented by having multiple sons, three of whom would outlive him. At that time, the emperor returned from another campaign in Brittany to find his empire at war with itself. The decree failed to create order as it omitted Bernard, who immediately began to conspire. Become a Study.com member to unlock this Louis joined his brother Pippin at the Mezzogiorno campaign in Italy against the Duke Grimoald of Benevento at least once. The margrave of Friuli, Cadolah, was sent out against him, but he died on campaign and, in 820, his margravate was invaded by Slovenes. In doing so, he followed both his father's example and Frankish traditions. Others also suffered: Theodulf of Orléans, in eclipse since the death of Charlemagne, was accused of having supported the rebellion, and was thrown into a monastic prison, dying soon afterwards; it was rumored that he had been poisoned. In 817, Louis and his advisors issued the first code for monks, the Capitulare institutum. The nobles, however, elected Pepin's son Pepin II. Above all, the Empire would not be divided: the Emperor would rule supreme over the subordinate kings, whose obedience to him was mandatory. Charlemagne wanted his son Louis to grow up in the area where he was to reign. Ebbo and Hildwin abandoned the emperor at that point, Bernard having risen to greater heights than either of them. Bernard of Septimania and Ebbo the Archbishop of Reims were also among his senior advisors. [9] He rushed to Aachen and crowned himself emperor to shouts of Vivat Imperator Ludovicus by the attending nobles. He defended the borders of his empire against hostile forces like the Moors in Barcelona. The ordinatio imperii of Aachen left Bernard in Italy in an uncertain and subordinate position as king of Italy, and he began plotting to declare independence. [13] One of Benedict's primary reforms was to ensure that all religious houses in Louis' realm adhered to the Rule of Saint Benedict, named for its creator, Benedict of Nursia. When Lothair tried to call a general council of the realm in Nijmegen, in the heart of Austrasia, the Austrasians and Rhinelanders came with a following of armed retainers, and the disloyal sons were forced to free their father and bow at his feet (831). In 797, Barcelona, the largest city of the Marca, fell to the Franks when Zeid, its governor, rebelled against Córdoba and, failing, handed it to them. On his father's death in 814, he inherited the entire Carolingian Empire and all its possessions (with the sole exception of the kingdom of Italy; although within Louis's empire, in 813 Charlemagne had ordered that Bernard, Pepin's son be made and called king). In 838, they even claimed sovereignty over Frisia, but a treaty was confirmed between them and the Franks in 839. [4], Louis was crowned King of Aquitaine as a three-year-old child in 781. Authority and Atonement in the Ages of Louis the Pious (814-840) - 1. At the start of Louis's reign, the many tribes – Danes, Obotrites, Slovenes, Bretons, Basques – which inhabited his frontierlands were still in awe of the Frankish emperor's power and dared not stir up any trouble. In 815, Louis had already given his two eldest sons a share in the government, when he had sent his elder sons Lothair and Pepin to govern Bavaria and Aquitaine respectively, though without the royal titles. Why was Louis the Pious important? If he died childless, Lothair would inherit his kingdom. [2], Louis was born while his father Charlemagne was on campaign in Spain, at the Carolingian villa of Cassinogilum, according to Einhard and the anonymous chronicler called Astronomus; the place is usually identified with Chasseneuil, near Poitiers. In 806, Charlemagne divided his empire three ways and assigned a realm to each son. Pepin was proclaimed King of Aquitaine, his territory including Gascony, the march around Toulouse, and the counties of Carcassonne, Autun, Avallon and Nevers. Mayke De Jong, "Power and Humility in Carolingian society: the Public Penance of Louis the Pious", Agobard, "Personal Attestation to the Penance of Louis the Pious" in Lievan Van Acker (ed. Similarly, he wanted all clerics to adopt monastic standards. It took many months for his courtiers and advisors to convince him to remarry, but eventually he did, in 820, to Judith, daughter of Welf, count of Altdorf. Louis the German promptly rose in revolt, and the emperor redivided his realm again at Quierzy-sur-Oise, giving all of the young king of Bavaria's lands, save Bavaria itself, to Charles. Judith was incarcerated at Poitiers and Bernard fled to Barcelona. Louis I, who was also called Louis the Pious, inherited the throne of the Frankish Empire from his father Charlemagne. Upon hearing of this, Louis immediately directed his army towards Italy, and headed for Chalon-sur-Saône. Louis reigned over the Spanish March. [11], He made Bernard, margrave of Septimania, and Ebbo, Archbishop of Reims his chief counsellors. By his first wife, Ermengarde of Hesbaye (married c. 794),[29] he had three sons and three daughters: By his second wife, Judith of Bavaria, he had a daughter and a son: By Theodelinde of Sens[citation needed], he had two illegitimate children: "Louis I the Fair" redirects here. The resigned emperor was taken to Saint-Médard de Soissons, his son Charles to Prüm, and the queen to Tortona. https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/louis-the-pious-5578.php. On the southwestern frontier, problems commenced early when c. 812, Louis the Pious crossed the western Pyrenees 'to settle matters' in Pamplona. The term Ordinatio Imperii is a modern (19th century) creation. He also confirmed his nephew, Bernard of Italy, as the rightful heir to the Italian throne. [9], Upon arriving at the imperial court in Aachen in an atmosphere of suspicion and anxiety on both sides, Louis's first act was to purge the palace of what he considered undesirable. Famous as: King of Aquitaine, King of Franks & Co-Emperor (Holy Roman Empire), Spouse/Ex-: Ermengarde of Hesbaye, Judith of Bavaria, children: Adelaide, Charles the Bald, daughter of Louis the Pious, Gisela, Hildegard, Holy Roman Emperor, Lothair I, Louis the German, Pepin I of Aquitaine, Rotrude, See the events in life of Louis The Pious in Chronological Order. On the far southern edge of his great realm, Louis had to control the Lombard princes of Benevento whom Charlemagne had never subjugated. Séguin, duke of Gascony, was then deposed by Louis in 816, possibly for failing to suppress or collaborating with the Basque revolt south of the western Pyrenees, so sparking off a Basque uprising that was duly put down by the Frankish emperor in Dax. Soon Lothair, with the support of Pope Gregory IV, whom he had confirmed in office without his father's support, joined the revolt in 833. Louis, horrified, performed a penance before the Pope in 822. Charlemagne's intention was to see all his sons brought up as natives of their given territories, wearing the national costume of the region and ruling by the local customs. Lothair was given the choice of which partition he would inherit and he chose the eastern, including Italy, leaving the western for Charles. why was louis xviii important [73], It was very soon after their arrival that Louis and Marie-Thérèse learned of the death of Tsar Paul I. Louis hoped that Paul's successor, Alexander I, would repudiate his father's banishment of the Bourbons, which he later did. Louis I established himself at the court of Aachen (Aix-la-Chapelle). The despicable show of disloyalty and disingenuousness earned the site the name Field of Lies, or Lügenfeld, or Campus Mendacii, ubi plurimorum fidelitas exstincta est.[18]. There, Ljudevit, duke of Pannonia, was harassing the border at the Drava and Sava rivers. Later he replaced Elisachar with Hildwin, abbot of many monasteries. [17] An insurrection was soon at hand. However, Charlemagne's other legitimate sons died – Pepin in 810 and Charles in 811 – and Louis was crowned co-emperor with an already ailing Charlemagne in Aachen in 813. Louis fell ill soon after his final victorious campaigns and retreated to his summer hunting lodge on an island in the Rhine near his palace at Ingelheim. Louis then, in a final flash of glory, rushed into Bavaria and forced the younger Louis into the Ostmark. In 823 Judith gave birth to a son, who was named Charles. Louis presented himself in Saxony at the royal Council of Paderborn dressed in Basque costumes along with other youths in the same garment, which may have made a good impression in Toulouse, since the Basques of Vasconia were a mainstay of the Aquitanian army. For the Polish duke, see, Louis the Pious, contemporary depiction from 826 as a. Debatable or disputed rulers are in italics. The succession problem would not, in fact, be settled until after Louis' death. What were the benefits of the feudal system? On 13 November 833, Ebbo, with Agobard of Lyon, presided over a synod at the Church of Saint Medard in Soissons which saw Louis undertake public penance for the second time in his reign. He and his brothers were all raised in the realms they would rule to ensure they would know local customs and traditions. He died on 20 June 840 in the presence of many bishops and clerics and in the arms of his half-brother Drogo as he pardoned his son Louis, proclaimed Lothair emperor and commended the absent Charles and Judith to his protection. During his reign in Aquitaine, Louis was charged with the defence of the empire's southwestern frontier. The empire now settled as he had declared it at Worms, he returned in July to Frankfurt am Main, where he disbanded the army. At Jonac, he declared Charles king of Aquitaine and deprived Pepin (he was less harsh with the younger Louis), restoring the whole rest of the empire to Lothair, not yet involved in the civil war. The armies met on the plains of the Rothfeld. Louis ruled until 840. His twin brother, Lothair died during infancy. In 818, as Louis was returning from a campaign to Brittany, he was greeted by news of the death of his wife, Ermengarde.