Charles the Bald
Karolus Calvus
King of West Francia · Emperor of the Romans
823 – 877
Biography
Youngest son of Louis the Pious, his birth from a second marriage triggering the brothers' war. The Treaty of Verdun gave him West Francia — the kernel of what would become the kingdom of France. He spent his reign defending it against Viking raiders to whom he frequently paid tribute, and against his brother and nephew in dynastic squabbles. Crowned emperor in 875.
Events
Three-way partition of the Carolingian Empire among the surviving sons of Louis the Pious after three years of civil war. Lothair I retained the imperial title and a long, narrow Middle Francia stretching from the Low Countries through Burgundy into Italy. Louis the German received East Francia, the kernel of medieval Germany; Charles the Bald received West Francia, the kernel of France. The borders sketched in 843 shaped European politics for the next millennium.
Also there: Lothair I, Louis the German
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