The Empire, after the death of Charles the Bald, was under attack in the north
and west by the Vikings and was facing internal struggles from Italy to the
Baltic, from Hungary in the east to Aquitaine in the west. Charles the Bald
died in 877 crossing the Pass of Mont Cenis, and was succeeded by his son,
Louis the Stammerer as King of the Western Franks, but the title of Holy
Roman Emperor lapsed. Louis the Stammerer was physically weak and died
two years later, his realm being divided between his eldest two sons: Louis III
gaining Neustria and Francia, and Carloman gaining Aquitaine and
Burgundy. The Kingdom of Italy was finally granted to King Carloman of
Bavaria, but a stroke forced him to abdicate Italy to his brother Charles the
Fat and Bavaria to Louis of Saxony. Also in 879, Boso, Count of Arles founded
the Kingdom of Lower Burgundy in Provence.
In 881, Charles the Fat was crowned the Holy Roman Emperor while Louis III of Saxony and Louis III of Francia died the
following year. Saxony and Bavaria were united with Charles the Fat's Kingdom, and Francia and Neustria were granted
to Carloman of Aquitaine who also conquered Lower Burgundy. Carloman died in a hunting accident in 884 after a
tumultuous and ineffective reign, and his lands were inherited by Charles the Fat, effectively recreating the Empire of
Charlemagne.
Charles, suffering what is believed to be epilepsy, could not secure the kingdom against Viking raiders, and after buying
their withdrawal from Paris in 886 was perceived by the court as being cowardly and incompetent. The following year his
nephew Arnulf of Carinthia, the illegitimate son of King Carloman of Bavaria, raised the standard of rebellion. Instead of
fighting the insurrection, Charles fled to Neidingen and died the following year in 888, leaving a divided entity and a
succession mess.
The Empire of the Carolingians was divided: Arnulf maintained Carinthia, Bavaria, Lorraine and modern Germany; Count
Odo of Paris was elected King of Western Francia (France), Ranulf II became King of Aquitaine, Italy went to Count
Berengar of Friuli, Upper Burgundy to Rudolph I, and Lower Burgundy to Louis the Blind, the son of Boso of Arles, King
of Lower Burgundy and maternal grandson of Emperor Louis II. The other part of Lotharingia became the duchy of
Burgundy.
[9]
The largest cities in the Carolingian Empire around the year 800:
Rome 50,000. Paris 25,000. Regensburg 25,000. Metz 25,000. Mainz 20,000. Speyer 20,000. Tours 20,000. Trier
15,000. Cologne 15,000. Lyon 12,000. Worms 10,000. Poitiers 10,000. Provins 10,000. Rennes 10,000. Rouen
10,000.
[10][11][12]
Decline (877–888)
Copy of the Ludwigslied, an epic
poem celebrating the victory of Louis
III of West Francia over the Vikings
Divisions in 887–88
Demographics
Government