Having briefly deposed his father Louis the Pious in 833-4, Lothair succeeded as sole emperor on the death of Louis in 840. The treaty of Verdun between Lothair and his brothers Louis (Ludwig) and Charles in 943 gave Lothair the middle part of the empire, which included Italy, Provence, and the region later known as Lorraine. There was a further partition at Lothair's death in 855, as his kingdom was divided among Louis II, who received Italy and the title of emperor, Lothair II, who received the region later called Lorraine, and Charles, who received Provence.
Date of Birth: ca. 795.
His epitaph states that he lived for sixty (twice thirty) years, and his birthdate is a calculation from that figure ["Epitaphium Hludharii Imperatoris: Continet hic tumulus memorandi Caesaris ossa / Hlotharii magni, principis atque pii. / Qui Francis, Italis, Romanis praefuit ipsis, Omnia sed sprevit, pauper et hinc abiit. / Nam bis tricenos monachus sic attigit annos, / Et se mutavit, ac bene post obiit. / III. Cal. Octob." MGH Poet. Lat. 2: 241].
Place of Birth: Unknown.
Date of Death: 28 or 29 September 855.
Place of Death: Prüm monastery in Ardennes (also buried there).
His date of death is given as 28 September 855 by Annales Bertiniani ["Lotharius imperator, morbo correptus vitamque desperans, monasterium Proneae in Arduenna constitutum adiit, seculoque et regno penitus abrenuncians, tonsus est, vitam habitumque monachi humiliter sumens. Dispositoque inter filios, qui secum morabantur, regno, ita ut Lotharius cognomen eius Franciam, Karlus vero Provinciam optinerent, intra sex dies vita decessit quarto Kalendarum Octobrium, atque in eodem monasterio sepulturam, ut desideraverat, consecutus est." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 855, 45]. Annales Fuldenses gives 29 September 855 ["Hlutharius imperator renuntians omnibus, quae habuit, Prumiense monasterium ingressus effectusque ibi monachaus III. Kal. Octobr. mortalem hominem exuit et ad vitam perrexit aeternam." Ann. Fuld., s.a. 855, 46], as does Annales Lobienses ["Lotharius imperator, qui mutato habitu Prumiae monachus factus fuerat, obiit 3. Kal. Octob.; cui aequivocus filius suus Lotharius successerat, qui eo anno Tiethbergam, sororem Hucberti abbatis, duxit uxorem." Annales Lobienses, s.a. 855, MGH SS 13: 232].
Louis/Ludwig I, d. 28 June 840, Emperor.
Mother: Ermengarde, d. 3 October 818, daughter of count Ingram.
["Supradictus vero Hludowicus postquam ad aetatem perbenit, desponavit sibi filiam nobilissimi ducis Ingoramni, qui erat filius fratris Hruotgangi, sancti pontificis. Supradicta vero virgo Irmingardis vocabatur, quam cum consilio et consensu patris reginam constituit, atque ex ea tres filios habuit adhuc vivente patre, quorum unus vocabatur Hlutharius, alter Pippinus, tertius aequivocus eius Hludowicus." Thegan, Vita Hludowici, c. 4, MGH SS 2: 591; see also the page of Louis/Ludwig I]
m. October 821, Ermengarde, d. 20 March 851, daughter of Hugues, count of Tours.
["Medio mense Octobrio conventus generalis apud Theodonis villam magna populi Francorum frequentia celebratur, in quo domnus Hlotharius, primogenitus domni imperatoris Hludowici, Irmingardam Hugonis comitis filiam solemni more duxit uxorem." ARF, s.a. 821, 156; "domna Hirmingarda imperatris obiit 13. Kal. April." Annales Laubacenses, s.a. 851, MGH SS 1: 15]
The three sons of Lothair and Ermengarde are abundantly documented [e.g., "Dispositoque inter filios, qui secum morabantur, regno, ita ut Lotharius cognomen eius Franciam, Karlus vero Provinciam optinerent, ..." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 855, 45; "Ludoicus imperator Italiae et Hlotharius, frater eius, rex Franciae, cum Karlo puero, germano suo, apud Urbam conveniunt." ibid.., s.a. 856, 47; "Hlotharius ymperator genuit Hludovicum Hlotharium et Karolum ex Hirmingardi regina." Witgeri Genealogia Arnulfi Comitis, MGH SS 9: 303]. The daughters are covered individually below.
Louis II, d. 12 August 875, king of
Italy; emperor, 855-875;
["Hludowicus Italiae imperator una cum uxore sua Ingelberga ..." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 866, 81; "Engilbergam vero, Hludowici Italiae regis uxorem, ..." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 882, 153] On his father's death, Louis II received Italy and the title of emperor as his share. He died 12 August 875 [Dümmler (1862-88), 2: 386, n. 3]
Helletrude, d. after 865×6;
m. Bérenger, d. before 865×6, count.
She is known only from a letter of 865×6 from pope Nicholas I to Charles the Bald, in which the pope invited Charles to intervene in favor of Helletrude, widow of a certain count Bérenger, not otherwise firmly identified, whom her brother Lothaire II had deprived of property which he had inherited from his father ["... Helletrude Berengarii comitis quondam relicta ..." PL 119: 1115-6 (dated to 866); Parisot (1898), 67, n. 5; Dümmler (1862-88), 2: 172 dates the letter to probably 865 or 866]. Chaume would give Helletrude a second marriage to count Giselbert, who is usually considered to be husband of a different daughter of Lothair [Chaume (1925), 549 (table 11)].
Bertha, fl. 853, abbess of Avenay.
Bertha appears in a charter of her father in about 853 ["Hlotarius divina ordinante providentia imperator augustus ... Berta amantissima filia nostra ..." RHF 8: 390 (#34); see also Mühlbacher #1151 (1117), #1156 (1122)]. She also appears as a daughter of empress Ermengarde in Flodoard's history of the church at Reims ["Irmingardi augustae ... Bertae, ipsius imperatricis filiae ..." Flodoard, Historia Remensis ecclesiae, iii, 27, MGH SS 13: 547] and in the work of Sedulius Scottus ["... Berta beata, vale. / Caesaris egregii proles benedicta Lothari, / Flos Ermengardis matris et altus honos ..." Sedulius Scottus, Carmina, ii, 61, "Versus ad Bertam", MGH Poet. Lat. 3: 217; see also ibid., 208, 228].
m. 846, Giselbert, fl. 840-863, count of Masau and Darnau.
In 846, Giselbert carried off an unnamed daughter of Lothair and married her ["Gisalbertus vassallus Karli filiam Hlutharii imperatoris rapuit et in Aquitaniam profectus in coniugem accepit. Hludowicus occidentem profectus mense Martio cum Karlo placitum habuit; in quo uterque eorum publice contestatus est suae non fuisse voluntatis, quod Gisalbertus filiae Hlutharii iungeretur, ut his auditis Hlutharius facilius placari potuisset." Annales Fuldenses, s.a. 846, MGH SRG 36]. This marriage appears to have been recognized in 848, when Giselbert and the emperor were reconciled ["Circa Kalendas autem Octobris general placitum habuit apud Mogontiacum, ... pro Gisalberhto, qui eodem anno ad fidem eius venerat, reconciliationis gratia direxit." Annales Fuldenses, s.a. 848, MGH SRG 37-8]. More about Giselbert can be found on the page of his conjectured son count Regnier I. Although the name of this daughter of Lothair I is not given in the sources, she has often been called Ermengarde in later sources [e.g., Anselme, 1: 43], a name whose source is unknown. Chaume would identify her with Lothair's known daughter Helletrude, widow of count Bérenger [Chaume (1925), 549 (table 11)].
Gisela, d. 28 May, 860 or before;
abbess of St. Salvatore, Brescia.
On 16 March 848, Lothair I, at the petition of his wife Ermengarde, Lothair granted to Ermengarde and his daughter Gisela the abbey of St. Salvatore in Brescia [Mühlbacher #1133 (1099)], and possession by Gisela was confirmed by Lothair and his son Louis on 8 September 851, after the death of Ermengarde [Mühlbacher #1147 (1113)]. A document of Louis II dated 12 January 861 mentions the death of his sister Gisela on a previous 28 May [Mühlbacher #1219 (1185)].
d. 8 August 869, king of Lorraine, 855-869;
m. (1) Teutberga, daughter of count Boso;
m. (2) (not recognized) Waldrada.
Lothair received Lorraine as his share of the inheritance from his father [Ann. Bertin., s.a. 855, 45 (see above)]. See further on the page of Lothair II.
Rotrude, baptized in Pavia, 835×840;
probably m. Lambert, count, possibly the same person as Lambert II, d. 852, count of Nantes.
The only explicit information about Rotrude is that she was baptized at Pavia while her parents were there ["... et suscepit filiam praedicti augusti nomine Rotrudam, ..." Agnellus, Liber pontificalis ecclesiae Ravennatis, c. 171, MGH SRL, 388; Hlawitschka places this between 835 and 840, Hlawitschka (1969), 367]. As Hlawitschka has shown, Rotrude can be identified with a high degree of probability with the Rotrude who was wife of a certain Lambert and mother of a count Witbert. This Witbert appears in a document from the monastery of Tournus from 28 January 870, in which he donated for the absolution of his lord king Lothair and of his father Lambert and mother Rotrude ["Ego Vuitbertus misericordia Dei comes, cogitans humanae conditionis casum et spem habens, sanctae genitricis Dei et almi confessoris sui Filiberti intercessione a peccatorum posse contagio liberari, sive pro absolutione domni et senioris mei Hlotharii regis, qui mihi et pater extitit et bona quaeque mercede sua largitus est, qui etiam mihi fundum Rodonionem inter caetera contulit, seu etiam pro liberatione Lanberti genitoris mei necnon et Rutrudis genitricis meae et mea, ..." Hlawitschka (1969), 369, n. 10]. Not only does Witbert speak of Lothair's generosity toward him, but more importantly, he states that Lothair was like a father to him ("qui mihi et pater extitit"). Moreover, Witbert appears to have had a similar relationship with Lothair's son Hugues (although poorly repaid), if, as seems probable, he can be identified with the Wicbert who was killed by Hugues in 883 ["Hoc etiam tempore idem Hugo Wicbertum comitem, qui ab ineunte aetate sibi faverat, interfecit; ..." Regino, Chronicon, s.a. 883, 121]. While Hlawitschka's case for identifying count Witbert's mother Rothrude with the daughter of Lothair I is good, his attempt to identify Witbert's father Lambert with Lambert II, count of Nantes, who died in 852, while possible, is less secure. For earlier conjectures on the identiy of Rotrude's husband, see the Commentary section.
Charles, d. 24 January 863, king of
Charles received Provence as his share of the inheritance from his father [Ann. Bertin., s.a. 855, 45 (see above)]. He died in 863 ["Karolus, Hlotharii imperatoris filius et rex Provinciae, diu epelemptica infirmitate vexatus, moritur." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 863, 61; see Dümmler (1862-88), 2: 49, n. 1 for the date of death].
[ NN, m. at
Worms, 841, NN.]
A daughter of Lothair was married at Worms in 841 ["Ibi celebratis filiae suae nuptiis, ..." Ann. Fuld., s.a. 841, 32]. It is unknown whether or not this daughter was identical with one of the above listed daughters.
Carloman, b. 853.
["Lotharius imperator, defuncta ante biennium Ermengarda christianissima regina, duas sibi ancillas ex villa regia copulavit; ex quarum altera Doda vocabulo filium generat, quem Karlomannum vocari iubet; aliique filii eius similiter adulteriis inserviunt." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 853, 43]
Falsely attributed children:
A number of genealogical tables, starting in the eleventh century, give Lothair a son "Hugo filius regis in monasterium trusus." [MGH SS 2: 314; MGH SS 6: 32, 176]. This is undoubtedly an error for Hugues, son of Lothair II, as the same tables erroneously place Bertha, daughter of Lothair II, as a daughter of the emperor Louis II.
Itana, m. Guido, margrave of Spoleto.
(parents of, among others, Guido of Spoleto, d. 894, emperor)
Hlawitschka attributes this claim to Sydow [Hlawitschka (1969), 380, n. 48, 383, n. 61, citing Sydow (1955), Sydow (1956) (neither seen by me)]. As noted by Hlawitschka, Adalbert II of Tuscany, husband of Lothair's granddaughter Bertha, was a granddaughter of Guido and Itana, and Sydow's conjecture would thus make Bertha a first cousin once-removed of her husband, a canonically strictly forbidden degree of relationship between spouses which would be highly unlikely.
Falsely attributed husbands of daughter Rotrude:
Udo, supposed ancestor of the "Konradiner", son of Gebhard.
This theory was proposed by Kremer, based on a charter of king Arnulf of 9 July 889 for his relative Rotrude and a count Otto [Parisot (1898), 561, n. 4, describing the argument of Kremer, Origines Nassoicae, 1: 66-8 (not seen by me)]. However, as pointed out by Parisot, there is no proof that the Otto of the document was a husband of Rotrude, or that Otto was the same as Udo, or that the Rotrude of the document was the same as Lothair's daughter. In light of Hlawitschka's later probable identification of Rotrude's marriage, Kremer's theory can be set aside.
Otto, count, count of Scarponnois.
[Stein (1872), 64] This has the same basis as Kremer's theory, without the identification of Otto and Udo. Brandenburg has Rotrude married to an otherwise unidentified count Otto, with no sources cited, but perhaps has the same basis [Brandenburg (1964), 2, with a question mark].
Ann. Bertin. = G. Waitz, ed., Annales Bertiniani (MGH SRG 6, Hannover, 1883).
Ann. Fuld. = Friedrich Kurze, ed., Annales Fuldenses (MGH SRG 7, Hannover, 1891).
Anselme = Père Anselme, Histoire généalogique et chronologique de la maison royale de France, 9 vols. (Paris, 1726-33).
ARF = Georg Pertz & Friedrich Kurze, Annales Regni Francorum (Annals of the kingdom of the Franks), MGH SRG 6 (Hannover, 1895), a collective name commonly given to two closely related sets of annals, Annales Laurissenses Maiores and the so-called Einhardi Annales (Annals of Einhard), in parallel on alternate pages until the coronation of Charlemagne in 800 (s.a. 801).
Brandenburg (1964) = Erich Brandenburg, Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen (Frankfurt, 1964).
Chaume (1925) = Maurice Chaume, Les origines du duché de Bourgogne, 4 vols. (Dijon, 1925).
Dümmler (1862-88) = Ernst Dümmler, Geschichte des Ostfränkischen Reiches (Leipzig, 1862-88).
Hlawitschka (1969) = Eduard Hlawitschka, "Waren die Kaiser Wido und Lambert Nachkommen Karls des Grossen?", Quellen und Forschungen aus italienischen Archiven und Bibliotheken 49 (1969): 366-386.
MGH Poet. Lat. = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Poetae latini aevi carolini.
MGH SRG = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Germanicarum (separate editions).
MGH SRL = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum (saec. VI-IX).
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
Mühlbacher = Johan-Friedrich Böhmer & Engelbert Mühlbacher, Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter den Karolingern (2nd ed., vol. 1, Innsbruck, 1889).
Parisot (1898) = Robert Parisot, Le Royaume de Lorraine sous les Carolingiens (1898, reprinted Geneva, 1975).
PL = P. Migne, Patrologiae Cursus Completus, series Latina, 221 vols. (Paris, 1844-1859).
Settipani (1993) = Christian Settipani, La préhistoire des Capétiens 481-987 (Première partie - Mérovingiens, Carolingiens et Robertiens) (Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1993).
Stein (1872) = Friedrich Stein, Geschichte des Königs Konrad I. von Franken und seines Hauses (Nördlingen, 1872).
Sydow (1955) = J. Sydow, "Die Gegenkaiser Arnulfs von Kärnten", Verhandlungen d. Histor. Vereins f. Oberpfalz u. Regensburg 96 (1955), 431 ff. [I have not seen this work.]
Sydow (1956) = J. Sydow, "La dignità imperiale di Guido e Lamberto duchi di Spoleto", Spoletium 3 (1956), 7-11. [I have not seen this work.]
Werner (1967) = Karl Ferdinand Werner, "Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen bis um das Jahr 1000 (1.-8. Generation)", Karl der Große 4 (1967): 403-483.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 20 September 2008.
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