Foulques
Lothair I, Frankish Emperor
Lothair, b. 795, d. Sept. 29, 855, the eldest son of Emperor LOUIS I,came to rule the Middle Frankish Kingdom, which included most of what isnow the Low Countries, Alsace-Lorraine, Switzerland, and northern Italy.Lothair was designated to succeed his father as emperor in 817. In 822 hebecame king of Italy, and the next year he was crowned coemperor by thepope. Friction with Louis over the future of Lothair's half brotherCharles (later Emperor CHARLES II) led to open conflict in 830 and againin 834 between the emperor and his coemperor.
When Louis I died in 840, civil war erupted between Lothair, his brotherLOUIS THE GERMAN, and Charles. Lothair was defeated by his brothers atthe Battle of Fontenoy (841), and in 843 he concluded the Treaty ofVerdun (see VERDUN, TREATY OF), by which the Frankish empire was dividedinto three parts. Lothair received the Middle Kingdom as well as theimperial title. After dividing his kingdom among his three sons, Lothairentered the monastery of Prum in 855.Lothair I (795?-855), Holy Roman emperor (840-55), and eldest son of HolyRoman Emperor Louis I, the Pious, and grandson of Charlemagne. Lothairbecame coruler with his father in 817 and was crowned by the pope sixyears later. He twice conspired with his brothers in revolts againsttheir father. In 839 Lothair received the eastern part of the empire inaddition to Italy, which he had received in 822. After the death of LouisI, Lothair attempted to assert his power over his brothers, but he wasdefeated by them at Fontenoy, France, on June 25, 841. By the Treaty ofVerdun (843), the title of Holy Roman emperor was guaranteed to Lothair,together with sovereignty over Italy, Burgundy, Alsace, Lorraine, and theLow Countries. After having divided his kingdom among his three sons,Lothair retired to a monastery. His second son, sometimes called LothairII, reigned from 855 to 869 over the kingdom of Lotharingia.
