Louis II, known as Louis the Stammerer (french: Louis le Bègue; 1 November 846 – 10 April 879), was the

king of Aquitaine The Duchy of Aquitaine ( oc, Ducat d'Aquitània, ; french: Duché d'Aquitaine, ) was a historical fiefdom in western, central, and southern areas of present-day France to the south of the river Loire, although its extent, as well as its name, fluc ...

and later the king of West Francia. He was the eldest son of Emperor

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ...

and

Ermentrude of Orléans Ermentrude of Orléans (27 September 823 – 6 October 869) was the Queen of the Franks by her marriage to Charles II. Queenship The traditional historiography on queenship has created an image of a queen who a king's "helpmate" and provid ...

. Louis the Stammerer was physically weak and outlived his father by a year and a half. He succeeded his younger brother Charles the Child as the ruler of

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

in 866 and his father in West Francia in 877, but he was never crowned

emperor An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...

. Louis was crowned king on 8 October 877 by Hincmar,

archbishop of Reims The Archdiocese of Reims (traditionally spelt "Rheims" in English) ( la, Archidiœcesis Remensis; French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese a ...

, at Compiegne and was crowned a second time in August 878 by

Pope John VIII Pope John VIII ( la, Ioannes VIII; died 16 December 882) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 14 December 872 to his death. He is often considered one of the ablest popes of the 9th century. John devoted much of his papacy ...

at Troyes while the

pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

was attending a council there. 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 Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Girona Girona (officially and in Catalan , Spanish: ''Gerona'' ) is a city in northern Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 103,369 in 2020. Girona is the capital ...

, and Besalú to Wilfred the Hairy. His final act was to march against the invading

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

, 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 Carloman II ( 866 – 6 December 884) was the King of West Francia from 879 until his death. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he and his elder brother, Louis III, divided the kingdom between themselves and ruled jointly until the latter's d ...

and Louis III of France.

Family

During the peace negotiations between his father and Erispoe, duke of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, 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),Rosamond McKitterick, ''The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians'', (Pearson Education Limited, 1999), 258. both of whom became kings of West Francia, and three daughters: Hildegarde (born in 864), Gisela (865–884) and Ermentrude (874–914). He had a posthumous son,

Charles the Simple Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a mem ...

, by his second wife,

Adelaide of Paris ; c. 850/853 – 10 November 901) was a Frankish queen. She was the second wife of Louis the Stammerer, King of West Francia and mother of Charles the Simple. Life Adelaide was daughter of the count palatine Adalard of Paris. She was chosen by Charl ...

, who would become, long after his elder brothers' deaths, king of West Francia. With his first wife, Ansgarde of Burgundy , he had the following children: * Louis III of France *

* Princess Ermentrude (874–914). *Princess Hildegarde (born in 864) *Princess Gisela (865–884) With his second wife,

, he had: *

References

*
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 02 Of France 9th-century kings of West Francia 846 births 879 deaths Frankish warriors Counts of Meaux Dukes of Maine Carolingian dynasty Sons of emperors