An Empire in Spite of Itself - The Carolingians - Charlemagne's Heirs

10 important questions on An Empire in Spite of Itself - The Carolingians - Charlemagne's Heirs

Who of Charlemagne's sons remained alive?

When Charlemagne died, only one of his sons remained alive: Louis, nicknamed "the Pious."

What was Louis the Pouis' territory like?

Louis was emperor (from 814 to 840), but his "empire" was a conglomeration of territories with little unity.

What did Louis had to contend with?

  • Louis had to content with the revolts of his sons, the depredations of outside invaders, the regional interests of counts and bishops, and above all an enormous variety of languages, laws, customs, and traditions, all of which tended to pull his empire apart.
  • He contented with gusto, his chief unifying tool being Christianity.
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What was the imperial model of Louis the Pious?

  • His imperial model was Theodosius I, who had made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire.
  • Calling on the help of the monastic reformer Benedict of Aniane (d.821), Louis imposed the Benedictine Rule on all the monasteries in Francia.
  • He employed monks and abbots as his chief advisors. Organizing inquests by the missi, Louis looked into allegations of exploitation of the poor, standardized the procedures of his chancery, and put all Frankish bishops and monasteries under his control.

How did Louis include his family into politics?

Early in his reign he had his wife crowned empress; he named his first-born son, Lothar, emperor and co-ruler; and he had his other sons, Pippin and Louis (later called "the German"), agree to be sub-kings under their older brother.

Who is Judith? Who is her son?

  • When Louis's first wife died, he married Judith, daughter of a relatively obscure kindred (the Welfs) that stemmed from the Saxon and Bavarian nobility and would later become enormously powerful.
  • In 823 Judith and Louis had a son, Charles (later "the Bald"), and this upset the earlier division of the Empire. 

What did the episode of Louis show?

The episode showed how Carolingian rulers could portray themselves as accountable to God and yet, through that act very act of subservience, make themselves even more sacred and authoritative in the eyes of their subjects.

What happened after Louis's death?

After Louis's death, a period of war and uncertainty (840-843) among the three remaining brothers (Pippin had died in 838) ended with the Treaty of Verdun (843).

What contributed to the breakup of the Carolingian Empire?

  • Dynastic problems contributed to it. So did invasions by outsiders - Vikings, Muslims, and, starting in 899, Magyars (Hungarians) - which harassed the Frankish Kingdoms throughout the ninth century.
  • These certainly weakened the kings: without a standing army, they were unable to respond to lightning raids, and what regional defense there was fell into the hands of local leaders such as counts.

How did the Carolingian Empire atomize?

The Carolingian Empire atomized because linguistic and other differences between regions - and familial and other ties within regions - were simply too strong to be overcome by directives from a central court.

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