Treaty of Verdun
The grandsons of Charlemagne ended their civil war by dividing the Carolingian Empire into three kingdoms — West Francia, East Francia and Lothair’s middle realm — prefiguring France and Germany.
- Date
- August 843month known
- Place
- Verduntoday: Verdun, Meuse, France · Western and Central Europe
- Participants
- Lothair I, Louis the German, Charles the Bald, Carolingian Empire, West Francia, East Francia, Middle Francia
- Threads
- Early medieval Europe (500–1000)
- Also known as
- Partition of Verdun; Раздел в Вердене; Battle of Fontenoy; Битва при Фонтене; Oaths of Strasbourg; Страсбургские клятвы
After the death of Louis the Pious in 840 his eldest son Lothair claimed authority over the whole empire. His brothers Louis the German and Charles the Bald defeated him at Fontenoy on 25 June 841 and confirmed their alliance in the Oaths of Strasbourg in February 842, sworn in early forms of Romance and German. After more than a year of negotiations, during which commissioners toured the empire to survey its lands, the three brothers met at Verdun and agreed on the partition around 10 August 843.
Charles received the lands west of the Scheldt, Meuse, Saône and Rhône; Louis the lands east of the Rhine; Lothair kept the imperial title and a long middle kingdom from Frisia through Aachen and Burgundy to Italy with Rome. The unity of the empire was never restored; the middle kingdom soon fell apart, and its lands — Lotharingia, Burgundy, Italy — were fought over for centuries.
Connections
Related events
- Coronation of Charlemagne25 December 800 · Western and Central EuropeThe partition of the empire created by Charlemagne
Same participants
- Viking siege of Parisbetween 24 November and 25 November 885 – October 886 · Western and Central Europevia West Francia
- Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basinbetween 894 and 895 – 907 · Western and Central Europevia East Francia
Adjacent events in the thread
- Christianization of Bulgaria864 · Balkans and Anatolia
Meanwhile in the world
Other regions, within 25 years of this event
Eastern Europe
- Construction of Sarkelbetween 833 and 841
- Calling of the Varangians862
- First Christianization of the Rus’between 860 and 867
- Askold and Dir rule in Kyiv862–882
- The Khazar rulers adopt Judaismbetween 740 and 861
Balkans and Anatolia
- Rus’ attack on Constantinople18 June – 4 August 860
- Christianization of Bulgaria864
- Byzantine Iconoclasmbetween 726 and 730 – 11 March 843
The same period
Sources
- Wikipedia (English): Treaty of Verdun
- Wikipedia (Russian): Верденский договор
- Nelson J. L. Charles the Bald. — London: Longman, 1992.
- Goldberg E. J. Struggle for Empire: Kingship and Conflict under Louis the German, 817–876. — Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2006.
- Wikidata: Q134840