In 869, Lothair II of Lotharingia died without any legitimate children but instead of the Kingdom passing to his brother Louis II of Italy, The Kingdom was divided between his uncles Louis II "the German" of Germany and Charles II "the Bald" of France. In 876 Louis the German died and his Kingdoms were divided between his sons Carloman, Louis and Charles. Louis inherited Saxony and Eastern Lotharingia. Charles the Bald tried to take the Eastern Parts of Lotharingia, but was defeated by the new king. In 878, Louis the Stammerer and Louis the Younger agreed to respect each others sons succession, but when Louis the Stammerer died the next year, Joscelin the Abbot invited Louis to succeed his cousin and Liutgard, Louis' wife also wanted him to invade, he went as far as Verdun but Louis III and Carloman II of France ceded Western Lotharingia to Louis the Younger, who then retreated. But what if he decided to take France anyway and then won? Assuming Louis still dies without an heir, he would be succeeded by his brother Charles the Fat, who would've reunited the Carolingian Empire 2 years earlier. How would this affect the Capetians and Ottonians? Would Charles be able to consolidate his rule over France or would he still be overthrown?
WI: Louis III of Germany conquers France
- Thread starter Alphalol
- Start date
I quite agree with @John Fredrick Parker, I don't see big changes in allowing Charles the Fat to reunify the entire Carolingian empire 2 years early, except perhaps for a faint feeling of greater cohesion between the different kingdoms and perhaps some joint action against Saracens and Vikings on the part of the Emperor ( but I wouldn't bet much on it, without forgetting the beginning of the first Magyar raids ), I do not see great differences forming, except perhaps in the careers of Arnulf of Carinthia, Guido II of Spoleto ( previous thorn in the side of Louis II of Italy, together with Adelchi from Benevento ) Richard of Burgundy ( first progenitor of the royal dynasty of Arelate, he obtained the duchy of Burgundy in 886 ), and of Odo of Neustria ( who may have died during the siege of Paris in 885 - 886 or in the subsequent battle against them in 888 ), in particular the first who would have a precedent in attempting to claim the entire Carolingian heritage and perhaps even possible supporters there, and also to a lesser extent in the Roman curia and aristocracy, where at the time there existed a strong pro-"German" component against which first Pope Nicholas I and then John VIII had to fight
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