Family Card - Person Sheet
Family Card - Person Sheet
NameLothair I Martel , King of Italy, Holy Roman Emperor 
Birth795, Altdorf, Bavaria
Death2 Mar 855
FatherLouis I “The Pious” Martel , King of the Franks (778-840)
MotherErmengarde of Hesbaye (778-818)
Misc. Notes
Lothair I (German: Lothar, French: Lothaire) (795 – 2 March 855), king of Italy (818 – 855) and Holy Roman Emperor (840 – 855), was the eldest son of the emperor Louis the Pious and his wife Ermengarde of Hesbaye, daughter of Ingerman, duke of Hesbaye. He was the heir to the entire Carolingian Empire, but had to share it with his brothers because of the traditional Frankish practice of division of patrimonies amongst all surviving sons. Upon their father's death, Lothair and his brothers warred for three years until the Treaty of Verdun in 843, which redivided the realm into three constituent parts. Lothair remained emperor and ruler in Italy and also received the kingship of the Middle Franks.
Little is known of his early life, which was probably passed at the court of his grandfather Charlemagne, until 815 when he became king of Bavaria. When Louis divided the Empire between his sons in 817, Lothair was crowned joint emperor at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) and given a certain superiority over his brothers, Pepin and Louis, who respectively received Aquitaine and Bavaria. Lothair was also given the Iron Crown of Lombardy, then still held by Louis the Pious' nephew Bernard. When Bernard was killed, Lothair received the Italian kingdom. In 821, he married Ermengarde (d.851), daughter of Hugh, count of Tours. In 822, he assumed the government of Italy, and on 5 April 823, he was crowned emperor again by Pope Paschal I, this time at Rome.
In November 824, he promulgated a statute concerning the relations of pope and emperor which reserved the supreme power to the secular potentate, and he afterwards issued various ordinances for the good government of Italy.
On his return to his father's court his step-mother Judith won his consent to her plan for securing a kingdom for her son Charles, a scheme which was carried out in 829, when the young prince was given Alemannia as king. Lothair, however, soon changed his attitude and spent the succeeding decade in constant strife over the division of the Empire with his father. He was alternately master of the Empire, and banished and confined to Italy, at one time taking up arms in alliance with his brothers and at another fighting against them, whilst the bounds of his appointed kingdom were in turn extended and reduced.
The first rebellion began in 830. All three brothers fought their father, whom they deposed. In 831, he was reinstated and he deprived Lothair of his imperial title and gave Italy to the young Charles. The second rebellion began in 833, again Louis was deposed and reinstated the next year (834). Lothair, through the loyalty of the Lombards and later reconcilitions, retained Italy and the imperial position through all remaining divisions of the Empire by his father.
When Louis the Pious was dying in 840, he sent the imperial insignia to Lothar, who, disregarding the various partitions, claimed the whole of the Empire. Negotiations with his brother Louis the German and his half-brother Charles, both of whom armed to resist this claim, were followed by an alliance of the younger brothers against Lothair. A decisive battle was fought at Fontenay-en-Puisaye on 25 June 841, when, in spite of his and his allied nephew Pepin II of Aquitaine's personal gallantry, Lothair was defeated and fled to Aachen. With fresh troops he began a war of plunder, but the forces of his brothers were too strong for him, and taking with him such treasure as he could collect, he abandoned to them his capital.
Peace negotiations began, and in June 842 the brothers met on an island in the Saône, and agreed to an arrangement which developed, after much difficulty and delay, into the Treaty of Verdun signed in August 843. By this, Lothair received the imperial title as well as northern Italy and a long stretch of territory from the North Sea to the Mediterranian, essentially along the valleys of the Rhine and the Rhone. He soon left Italy to his eldest son, Louis, and remained in his new kingdom, engaging in alternate quarrels and reconciliations with his brothers and in futile efforts to defend his lands from the attacks of the Northmen (as Vikings were known in Frankish writings) and the Saracens.
In 855, he became seriously ill and, despairing of recovery, renounced the throne, divided his lands between his three sons, and on September 23, entered the monastery of Prüm, where he died six days later. He was buried at Prüm, where his remains were found in 1860.
His kingdom was divided among his three sons — the eldest, Louis II, received Italy and the title of Emperor; the second, Lothair II, received Lotharingia; while the youngest, Charles, received Provence.
Little is known of his early life, which was probably passed at the court of his grandfather Charlemagne, until 815 when he became king of Bavaria. When Louis divided the Empire between his sons in 817, Lothair was crowned joint emperor at Aix-la-Chapelle (Aachen) and given a certain superiority over his brothers, Pepin and Louis, who respectively received Aquitaine and Bavaria. Lothair was also given the Iron Crown of Lombardy, then still held by Louis the Pious' nephew Bernard. When Bernard was killed, Lothair received the Italian kingdom. In 821, he married Ermengarde (d.851), daughter of Hugh, count of Tours. In 822, he assumed the government of Italy, and on 5 April 823, he was crowned emperor again by Pope Paschal I, this time at Rome.
In November 824, he promulgated a statute concerning the relations of pope and emperor which reserved the supreme power to the secular potentate, and he afterwards issued various ordinances for the good government of Italy.
On his return to his father's court his step-mother Judith won his consent to her plan for securing a kingdom for her son Charles, a scheme which was carried out in 829, when the young prince was given Alemannia as king. Lothair, however, soon changed his attitude and spent the succeeding decade in constant strife over the division of the Empire with his father. He was alternately master of the Empire, and banished and confined to Italy, at one time taking up arms in alliance with his brothers and at another fighting against them, whilst the bounds of his appointed kingdom were in turn extended and reduced.
The first rebellion began in 830. All three brothers fought their father, whom they deposed. In 831, he was reinstated and he deprived Lothair of his imperial title and gave Italy to the young Charles. The second rebellion began in 833, again Louis was deposed and reinstated the next year (834). Lothair, through the loyalty of the Lombards and later reconcilitions, retained Italy and the imperial position through all remaining divisions of the Empire by his father.
When Louis the Pious was dying in 840, he sent the imperial insignia to Lothar, who, disregarding the various partitions, claimed the whole of the Empire. Negotiations with his brother Louis the German and his half-brother Charles, both of whom armed to resist this claim, were followed by an alliance of the younger brothers against Lothair. A decisive battle was fought at Fontenay-en-Puisaye on 25 June 841, when, in spite of his and his allied nephew Pepin II of Aquitaine's personal gallantry, Lothair was defeated and fled to Aachen. With fresh troops he began a war of plunder, but the forces of his brothers were too strong for him, and taking with him such treasure as he could collect, he abandoned to them his capital.
Peace negotiations began, and in June 842 the brothers met on an island in the Saône, and agreed to an arrangement which developed, after much difficulty and delay, into the Treaty of Verdun signed in August 843. By this, Lothair received the imperial title as well as northern Italy and a long stretch of territory from the North Sea to the Mediterranian, essentially along the valleys of the Rhine and the Rhone. He soon left Italy to his eldest son, Louis, and remained in his new kingdom, engaging in alternate quarrels and reconciliations with his brothers and in futile efforts to defend his lands from the attacks of the Northmen (as Vikings were known in Frankish writings) and the Saracens.
In 855, he became seriously ill and, despairing of recovery, renounced the throne, divided his lands between his three sons, and on September 23, entered the monastery of Prüm, where he died six days later. He was buried at Prüm, where his remains were found in 1860.
His kingdom was divided among his three sons — the eldest, Louis II, received Italy and the title of Emperor; the second, Lothair II, received Lotharingia; while the youngest, Charles, received Provence.