Louis I

Louis was the Emperor of the West following the Wars of Carolingian Succession. The ‘West’ refers to the western segment of Charlemagne’s empire and maps to most of modern-day France.

He is one of my maternal 32 x great-grandfathers.

A picture of Louis the Pious — Louis the Pious Public Domain, **Link**

Louis, or Hloudowic¹, was born on an island in the Rhine in August², 778³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶, son⁷ of Charlemagne and his wife Hildegard⁸ ⁹ ¹⁰.

He was a twin with his brother Hlothar¹¹.

Titles

Pope Hadrian I crowned him King of the Aquitanians in Rome on 15 April 781.

Pope Stephen IV¹² crowned him as Emperor of the West¹³ ¹⁴ as Louis I “The Fair” on October 5th, 816¹⁵. He ruled from 814 to 840¹⁶ ¹⁷. His coronation was in Reims cathedral¹⁸ ¹⁹.

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He also was King of France²⁰ and King of Italy but he didn’t want to use these titles because he preferred emphasising the unity of Empire²¹.

Family

Louis married three times²², but his third relationship may not have been as formal as we think²³:

A photo of the plaque in Reims Cathedral attesting Louis' coronation (Taken in August 2017) — *A plaque in Reims Cathedral, attesting Louis’ coronation – as seen by author in 2017.*

In 794²⁴ he married Ermengarde of Hesbaye²⁵ ²⁶. Together they had six children:
- Lothaire, who became Emperor Lothaire I.
- Pepin, who became King of Aquitaine.
- Hrotrud
- Berta
- Hildegarde²⁷, who married Gerard, Count of Auvergne.
- Louis, who became King of the East Franks.
In 819, he married the Bavarian Judith of Altdorf²⁸. Together they had one son, Charles the Bald, who inherited the title of Emperor of the West.
His third wife, or mistress, is unknown.

Notable events

As King of Aquitaine, his armies occupied cities in northern Spain in 785 – Girona, Urgel and Cerdanya²⁹. In 802 he besieged Barcelona³⁰. He created buffer states between the Arab-dominated Iberian peninsula and his Carolingian Empire. (This is one reason why the region of Catalunya has a distinct identity today.)

A photo of the Cathedral in Reims, under restoration in 2017 — *The Cathedral in Reims, 2017, under restoration*

The only buffer state that still exists to this day is the state of Andorra.

In 806 Charlemagne partitioned these territories at Thionville. Louis became the sovereign of Aquitaine, Gascony, Septimania, Provence and southern Burgundy³¹. In 813, his father nominated him as his successor and crowned him joint-emperor at Aix-La-Chapelle³².

Inheritance

In 817 Louis produced the Ordinatio Imperii in Worms. This document dictated who of his sons was to inherit different parts of empire. It is a detailed document and would have made sense had he not tried to change it later to favour children from his second marriage.

His sons thought it unfair that Louis went back on his promises. This led to the War of Carolingian Succession.

One of the battles of this war was the Battle of Fontenoy where Louis’ son-in-law, Gerard, died.

A picture showing Charlemagne crowning his son Louis as emperor — *Charlemagne crowning his son Louis as emperor*

It was normal to split your inheritance between your male sons even if, in this case, it led to great wars. Louis didn’t have this problem himself because he was the only surviving male son when his father died. It’s a shame he didn’t learn from that.

Five generations later, Italian nobles offered Louis’ descendant – William V – the crown of Italy. If Louis hadn’t botched his will, William would have never received that offer.

In November 824 Louis placed Pope Eugene II under his protection³³. This subordinated the pope to Imperial control³⁴.

A picture of Louis, Emperor of the West — *Louis, Emperor of the West*

In 833, Count Rorrick of Maine – another ancestor of mine – donated a monastery in Anjou to Emperor Louis. Rorrick’s daughter went on to marry Louis’ grandson.

Louis the Pious had an interest in all parts of his domain. He made an impact in education when he mandated that a scholasticus – a master teacher – should be appointed in all churches³⁵. In those days, all teaching took place inside churches, so this added structure.

In popular culture

In 835, Louis established 1 November as the day to honour saints, after persistent demands by Pope Gregory III³⁶. On Hallowtide, as they called the eve of All Saints’ Day, people dressed up and paraded around bonfires to ward away ghosts, before the saints were honoured³⁷. Some stopped at homes, offering prayers for the dead in exchange for beer and food³⁸.

This tradition continues today with Halloween and All Saints’ Day.

Death

He died on 20 June 840³⁹ ⁴⁰ ⁴¹ but I don’t know what he died of.

There was a solar eclipse before he died⁴². Superstitious people took this as a sign, and Louis’ death fed the conspiracy theory that eclipses are bad omens.

They buried him in the Abbey of Saint-Arnould, Metz, France⁴³ ⁴⁴.