Louis the Stammerer (; 1 November 846 – 10 April 879) was the king of Aquitaine and later the king of

West Francia In medieval historiography, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () constitutes the initial stage of the Kingdom of France and extends from the year 843, from the Treaty of Verdun, to 987, the beginning of the Capet ...

. He was the eldest son of Emperor

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, 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 series of civil wars during t ...

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. She was the daughter of Odo, count of Orleans and Engeltrude de Fézensac. Queenship The traditional historiography on ...

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

Aquitaine Aquitaine (, ; ; ; ; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne (), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former Regions of France, administrative region. Since 1 January 2016 it has been part of the administ ...

in 866 and his father in

in 877, but he was never crowned

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

. He was crowned king on 8 October 877 by

Hincmar Hincmar (; ; ; 806 – 21 December 882), archbishop of Reims, was a Frankish jurist and theologian, as well as the friend, advisor and propagandist of Charles the Bald. He belonged to a noble family of northern Francia. Biography Early life Hincm ...

archbishop of Reims The Archdiocese of Reims or Rheims (; French language, French: ''Archidiocèse de Reims'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastic territory or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. Erected as a diocese around 250 by Sixtus of Reims, the diocese w ...

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

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

while the

pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the po ...

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 as "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 northeastern coast of 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 c ...

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

Vikings Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

, but he fell ill and died on 10 April 879 at Compiègne, 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.

Family

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

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

, Louis was betrothed to a daughter of Erispoe in 856. The daughter's name is not known, nor is it 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 Louis may refer to: People * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer Other uses * Louis (coin), a French coin * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also ...

(born in 863) and Carloman (born in 866), both of whom became kings of

, and three daughters: Hildegarde (born in 864), Gisela (865–884). By his second wife, Adelaide of Paris,he had Ermentrude (874–914) and a posthumous child,

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 memb ...

, who became, long after his elder brothers' deaths, king of West Francia. With his first wife, Ansgarde of Burgundy, Louis had the following children: * Louis III of France * Carloman II *Hildegarde (born in 864) *Gisela (865–884) With his second wife, Adelaide of Paris, Louis had: *

* Ermentrude (874–914)

References

Sources

* * * * * * * {{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