sowing discord among his older sons, restored him to
authority in October, 830. Although abortive, the coup
claimed a victim when the vision of empire outlined in
the 817 Ordinatio imperii was annulled. The new Divisio
regnum of 831 restored traditional Frankish practice
when it partitioned the empire into four approximately
equal kingdoms on Louis’s death. The new status quo,
however, was only temporary. Adherents of a unifi ed
empire agitated against the Divisio, while confl ict among
the brothers continued and was exacerbated when enter-
prising nobles took sides. On June 30, 833, Louis met
with Lothar near Colmar in Alsace to compose their
differences, but instead the emperor found himself on the
“Field of Lies” facing a coalition of his older sons, their
supporters, Pope Gregory IV, and several leading clergy,
who took him and Judith into custody. Judith was sent
to a monastery in Italy while Louis was confi ned to the
monastery of Saint-Medard in Soissons. Leading clerics,
including Agobard of Lyon and Ebbo of Reims, argued
that Louis failed as a king and must abdicate the throne.
In a humiliating ceremony, he acknowledged his crimes,
removed his imperial regalia, and was condemned to
perpetual penance. This mistreatment of a father by his
sons, another round of confl ict among the older broth-
ers and their supporters, and increasing violence soon
swung sympathy and support back to Louis who, from
his confi nement, was orchestrating his return. Freed
from captivity, his weapons, his wife, and his youngest
son were restored to him.
Emperor once again, Louis continued to rule ener-
getically, bestowing key appointments on his supporters
and punishing those such as Agobard and Ebbo who
had betrayed him. He continued successfully to provide
for Charles against the resistance of the younger Louis.
When Pippin died in 838, Louis ignored the complaints
of Pippin’s son and granted the kingdom of Aquitaine to
Charles. Lothar dedicated himself to his Italian lands and
never challenged his father again. Louis rebuilt his own
political network by holding frequent assemblies after
835 and by presiding at ceremonial and ritual activities,
especially hunting, his favorite pastime. He continued
to see to the collection of public revenue and directed
successful military campaigns. In 839, an embassy from
the Byzantine Empire arrived to congratulate him for
his stout defense of Christendom.
On June 20, 840, Louis died on Petersaue, an island
in the Rhine near his palace at Ingelehim. His last words
reportedly were Hutz, hutz (German for “Away, away”),
shouted as his mourners imagined to circling evil spirits.
He was laid to rest in the monastery of Saint-Arnulf
of Metz beside his mother and his sisters, Rotrud and
Hilde-gard. Bishop Drogo, his half-brother, chose a late
antique sarcophagus for him that depicted the fl ight of
the Israelites across the Red Sea before the pursuing
Egyptians. The motif symbolized baptism and triumph.
Bitter civil war broke out among his sons, resulting in
843 in the formal division of the empire recorded in the
Treaty of Verdun.
See also Charlemagne; Judith, Empress; Lothair IFurther Reading
Boshof, Egon. Ludwig der Fromme. Darmstadt: Primus, 1996.
De Jong, Mayke. “Power and Humility in Carolingian Society:
The Public Penance of Louis the Pious.” Early Medieval
Europe 1 (1992): 29–52.
Godman, Peter, and Roger Collins, eds. Charlemagne’s Heir:
New Perspectives on the Reign of Louis the Pious. Oxford:
Clarendon Press, 1992.
John J. ContreniLOUIS XI (1423–1483)
The eldest son of Charles VII, Louis XI was raised in
isolation from his father, and their subsequent animosity
made Louis XI a political force long before he ascended
the throne. Charged with the defense of Languedoc in
1439, he fell under the infl uence of rebellious nobles and
joined the Praguerie. He was soon forgiven, but the con-
tinuing animosity between Louis and Charles seems to
have increased after the death of Louis’s wife, Margaret
of Scotland, in 1445 and Louis retired to his apanage of
the Dauphiné in 1447. There he began an apprenticeship
for the throne by reforming provincial government. A
disobedient remarriage to Charlotte of Savoy completed
the family breach, and Louis fl ed the realm in 1456.
Louis began his reign in 1461 by ambitiously seeking
to expand his authority both abroad, through the invasion
of Catalonia, and at home, with his vengeful dismissal
of his father’s advisers and foolish rejection of previous
allies. He barely survived the subsequent Guerre du Bien
Publique and the indecisive Battle of Montlhéry in July
1465, but the rest of the reign was marked by a remark-
able ability to learn from his mistakes. Henceforth,
Louis handled his domestic adversaries by isolating and
destroying each in turn and sought international success
through diplomacy rather than war.
By judicious gifts and appointments, Louis rec-
onciled himself to his father’s advisers, Dunois and
Chabannes and such dangerous peers as the duke of
Bourbon. He isolated his brother Charles of France by
the award of the apanage of Guyenne. Louis supported
fi rst the Lancastrians and then the Yorkists to prevent
English intervention in France, subsidized Swiss re-
sistance to Burgundy, and supported Angevin ventures
in Italy to secure the southwest. The birth of a son in
1470 (the future Charles VIII), the death of his brother
Charles in 1472, the destruction of remaining Armag-
nac strongholds in 1473, the execution of the count of
Saint-Pol in 1475—all these combined to secure Louis’s
domestic authority.LOUIS XI