Louis the Stammerer

Louis the Stammerer
King of West Francia
14th-century depiction of Louis's coronation
Reign	877–879
Coronation	8 October 877 in Compiègne
Predecessor	Charles the Bald
Born	1 November 846
Died	10 April 879 (aged 32) Compiègne
Burial	Saint-Corneille Abbey, Compiègne, France
Spouse	Ansgarde of Burgundy Adelaide of Paris
Issue	Louis III of France Carloman II Hildegarde of France Gisela of France Ermentrude of France Charles the Simple
Dynasty	Carolingian
Father	Charles the Bald
Mother	Ermentrude of Orléans

Louis the Stammerer (French: Louis le Bègue) (1 November 846 – 10 April 879) was the King of Aquitaine and later the King of West Francia. He was the eldest son of emperor Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans. Louis the Stammerer was physically weak and outlived his father by only two years.

He succeeded his younger brother Charles the Child as the ruler of Aquitaine in 866 and his father in West Francia in 877, but he was never crowned Emperor. In the French monarchial system, he is considered Louis II.

Louis was crowned king on 8 October 877 by Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, at Compiegne^[1] and was crowned a second time in August 878 by Pope John VIII at Troyes while the pope was attending a council there.^[2] The pope may have even offered him the imperial crown, but it was declined. Louis had relatively little impact on politics. He was described "a simple and sweet man, a lover of peace, justice, and religion". In 878, he gave the counties of Barcelona, Girona, and Besalú to Wilfred the Hairy. His final act was to march against the invading Vikings, but he fell ill and died on 9 April or 10 April 879, not long after beginning this final campaign. On his death, his realms were divided between his two sons, Carloman II and Louis III of France.

Denier of Louis II

Family

During the peace negotiations between his father and Erispoe, duke of Brittany, Louis was betrothed to an unnamed daughter of Erispoe in 856. It is not known if this was the same daughter who later married Gurivant. The contract was broken in 857 after Erispoe's murder.

Louis was married twice. His first wife Ansgarde of Burgundy had two sons: Louis (born in 863) and Carloman (born in 866),^[1] both of whom became kings of West Francia, and two daughters: Hildegarde (born in 864) and Gisela (865–884).

His second wife Adelaide of Paris had one daughter, Ermentrude (875–914) and a posthumous son, Charles the Simple,^[1] who would become, long after his elder brothers' deaths, king of West Francia.

Ancestry

Ancestors of Louis the Stammerer

16. Pepin the Short               8. Charlemagne                       17. Bertrada of Laon               4. Louis the Pious                             18. Gerold of Vintzgau               9. Hildegard                       19. Emma of Alamannia               2. Charles the Bald                                   10. Welf                       5. Judith of Bavaria                             11. Hedwig, Duchess of Bavaria                       1. Louis the Stammerer                                         24. Gerold of Vintzgau (= 18)               12. Adrian, Count of Orléans                       25. Emma of Alamannia (= 19)               6. Odo I, Count of Orléans                             13. Waldrada of Orléans                       3. Ermentrude of Orléans                                   28. Beggo, Count of Toulouse               14. Leuthard, Count of Fézensac                       29. Alpais               7. Engeltrude of Paris

Notes

1. Rosamond McKitterick, The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, (Pearson Education Limited, 1999), 258.
2. John VIII, Pierre Riche, The Papacy: Gaius-Proxies, Vol. 2, ed. Philippe Levillain, (Routledge, 2002), 837.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "^{article name needed}". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.