Louis the Pious

Louis the Pious
Emperor of the Romans
Louis the Pious, contemporary depiction from 826 as a miles Christi (soldier of Christ), with a poem of Rabanus Maurus overlaid. Vatican, Biblioteca Apostolica, Codex Reg. lat 124, f.4v
Emperor of the Carolingian Empire
Reign813–840[a]
Coronation11 September 813[b]
5 October 816[c]
PredecessorCharlemagne
SuccessorLothair I
King of the Franks
Reign814–840
PredecessorCharlemagne
Successor
King of Aquitaine
Reign781–814
PredecessorCharlemagne as
King of the Franks
SuccessorPepin I
Born778
Cassinogilum
Died20 June 840(840-06-20) (aged 61–62)
Ingelheim
Burial
SpousesErmengarde of Hesbaye
Judith of Bavaria
Issue
HouseCarolingian
FatherCharlemagne
MotherHildegarde
ReligionChalcedonian Christianity

Louis the Pious[d] (Latin: Hludowicus Pius; German: Ludwig der Fromme; French: Louis le Pieux; 778 – 20 June 840),[2] also called the Fair and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As the only surviving son of Charlemagne and Hildegard, he became the sole ruler of the Franks after his father's death in 814, a position that he held until his death except from November 833 to March 834, when he was deposed.

During his reign in Aquitaine, Louis was charged with the defence of the empire's southwestern frontier. He conquered Barcelona from the Emirate of Córdoba in 801 and asserted Frankish authority over Pamplona and the Basques south of the Pyrenees in 812. As emperor, he included his adult sons, Lothair, Pepin and Louis, in the government and sought to establish a suitable division of the realm among them. The first decade of his reign was characterised by several tragedies and embarrassments, notably the brutal treatment of his nephew Bernard of Italy for which Louis atoned in a public act of self-debasement.

In the 830s his empire was torn by civil war between his sons that was only exacerbated by Louis's attempts to include his son Charles by his second wife in the succession plans. Though his reign ended on a high note, with order largely restored to his empire, it was followed by three years of civil war. Louis is generally compared unfavourably to his father but faced distinctly different problems.[3]

  1. ^ Einhard; Stammerer, Notker the (2013). "Chronology". Two Lives of Charlemagne. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-0-14-139410-7.
  2. ^ Latin: Ludovicus or Hludowicus Pius, German: Ludwig der Fromme, French: Louis le Pieux or Louis le Débonnaire, Italian: Ludovico il Pio, Spanish: Luis el Piadoso or Ludovico Pío.
  3. ^ F. L. Ganshof (1957). "Louis the Pious Reconsidered". History. 42 (146). JSTOR: 171–180. doi:10.1111/j.1468-229X.1957.tb02281.x. JSTOR 24403332.


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