Charles the Fat

Charles the Fat (in French: Charles le Gros) (c.839 – January 13, 888) was the king of East Franks, king of Italy, king of France and, as Charles III, Holy Roman Emperor. He was a son of Louis the German. Granted lordship over Alemannia in 876, he became King of Italy in 879 upon the abdication of his older brother Carloman. Crowned Emperor in 881, his succession to the territories of his brother Louis the Younger the following year reunited the entire Kingdom of the East Franks (Germany). Upon the death of Carloman, the King of the West Franks (France), on December 12, 884, he achieved that throne as well, thus reviving, if only briefly, the entire Carolingian Empire, aside from Provence, which was in rebellion under Boso.

Youth and rise

Charles was the youngest of the three sons Louis the German, king of East Francia (later to become Germany). An incidence of demonic possession is recorded in his youth, in which he was said to have been foaming at the mouth before he was taken to the altar of the church. This greatly affect his father and himself, he was described as "a very Christian prince, fearing God, with all his heart keeping His commandments, very devoutly obeying the orders of the Church, generous in alms-giving, practising unceasingly prayer and song, always intent upon celebrating the praises of God."

In 863, his rebellious eldest brother Carloman revolted against their father. The next year, Louis the Younger followed Carloman in revolt and Charles joined him. Carloman was invested with Bavaria as co-king. In 865, the elder Louis was forced to divide his lands amongst his heirs: Bavaria went to Carloman; Saxony (with Franconia and Thuringia) went to Louis; and Alemannia (Swabia with Rhaetia) went to Charles. In 876, Louis died and the inheritance went as planned. The brothers acted cooperatively and there was no war over the division of the patrimony: a rare occurrence in Dark Age Europe. In 877, Carloman inherited Italy from their uncle Charles the Bald of West Francia. In 879, he was incapacitated by a stroke and divided his domains between his brothers: Bavaria to Louis and Italy to Charles.

Emperor

His rise to power was accompanied by hopes of a general revival in western Europe, but he proved unequal to the task. Lethargic and inept — he is known to have had repeated illnesses which are believed to have been epilepsy — he conducted several unsuccessful expeditions in Italy against Saracen incursions, and purchased peace with Viking raiders at the siege of Paris in 886.

In 885, he sought to have his illegitimate son, Bernard, confirmed as his successor at the Diet of Worms, for he was childless in his marriage to Richardis. Pope Hadrian III died en route to Worms at Nonantula. The nobility, however, soundly rejected any such course and events in Italy took his attention away.

With Charles increasingly seen as spineless and incompetent, matters came to a head in late 887. First, he accused his wife Richardis of having an affair with his chief minister and archchancellor, Liutward, bishop of Vercelli. She proved her innocence in an ordeal of fire and left him for the monastic life. Then, his first cousin once removed, Ermengarde, daughter of Emperor Louis II and wife of Boso of Provence, brought her son Louis to him for protection. Charles confirmed Louis in Provence and allowed them to live at his court. However, an ambitious nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia, then fomented a general rebellion and seized Germany in November. Charles did nothing to prevent the move and, retiring to Neidingen, died two months later, on January 13, 888. His empire broke asunder, never to be restored — Arnulf retained Germany and Lotharingia, France was obtained by Odo, Count of Paris, Italy by Berengar of Friuli, Upper Burgundy by Rudolph and Provence by Louis the Blind.

Sources

Leyser, Karl. Communications and Power in Medieval Europe: The Carolingian and Ottonian Centuries. London, 1994.
Duckett, Eleanor. Death and Life in the Tenth Century. University of Michigan Press, 1968.

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Youth and rise

Emperor

Sources