Charles
"le Chauve" (the Bald) (Karolus Calvus, Karl
"der Kahle") Charles
"le Chauve" (the Bald) (Karolus Calvus, Karl
"der Kahle")The youngest son of the emperor Louis I, much of the reign of Charles involved a struggle with his brothers for fragments of the dismembered empire, a struggle which was only partially settled by the Treaty of Verdun in 843, which gave Charles the western third of the empire [Ann. Bertin., s.a. 843, 29-30]. In 870, following the death of his nephew king Lothair II of Lorraine, he came to an agreement with his brother over the division of Lorraine [Ann. Bertin., s.a. 870, 108-9]. In 875, having heard about the death of his nephew, the emperor Louis II, king of Italy, Charles advanced into Italy, where he received the submission of most of the men of Italy. He then went to Rome where he was received by the pope at St. Peter's on 17 December. Charles was then crowned as emperor by pope John VIII on Christmas day, 875 ["Karolus, quibusdam de primoribus ex Italia ad se non venientibus, pluribus autem receptis, Romam invitante papa Iohanne perrexit, et 16. Kalendas Ianuarii ab eo cum gloria magna in ecclesia sancti Petri susceptus, anno Domini 876, in die nativitatis Domini beato Petro multa et pretiosa munera offerens, in imperatorem unctus et coronatus atque imperator Romanorum appelatus est." Ann. Bertin., s.a. 875-6, 127; since the annalistic year begins on Christmas, the date is Chrsitmas 875 by the present calendar]. He was succeeded as king of France, but not as emperor, by his son Louis II.
Date of Birth: 13 June 823.
["823. Id. Iun. natus est Karolus
filius Iudith." Annales Weissemburgensis, MGH
SS 1: 111]
Place of Birth: Frankfurt.
[Settipani (1993), 301, no source
cited]
Date of Death: 6 October 877.
Place of Death: "Brios"
["Carolus vero febre correptus, pulverem bibit, quem
sibi nimium dilectus ac credulus medicus suus Iudaeus nomine
Sedechias, transmisit, ut ea potione a febre liberaretur;
insanabili veneno hausto, inter manus portantium, transito monte
Cinisio, perveniens ad locum qui Brios dicitur, misit pro
Richilde quae erat apud Moriennam, ut ad eum veniret, sicut et
fecit. Et 11. die post venenum haustum in vilissimo tugurio
mortuus est 2. Nonas Octobris." Ann. Bertin.,
s.a. 877, 136-7; the identity of Brios is uncertain]
Father: Louis/Ludwig I, d. 840, Emperor.
Mother: Judith, d. 843, daughter of count Welf.
Spouses:
[see Hyam (1990)]
(1) m. Quierzy, 13 December
842, Ermentrude, d. Saint-Denis, 6 October 869, daughter
of Eudes, count of Orleans.
["Karolus Carisiacum palatium
veniens, Ermendrud, neptem Adalardi comitis, uxorem ducit, ..."
Ann. Bertin., s.a. 842, 29; "Karolus in villa
Duciaco 7. Idus Octobris certo [nuntio] comperiens, obisse
Hyrmentrudem uxorem suam 2. Nonas Octobris in monasterio sancti
Dionysii, ubi et sepulta est, exsequente Bosone, filio Buvini
quondam comitis, hoc missaticum apud matrem et materteram suam
Teutbergam, Hlotharii regis relictam, sororem ipsius Bosonis
nomine Richildem mox sibi adduci fecit et in concubinam accepit."
Ann. Bertin., s.a. 869, 107; "Accepit quidem
Karolus, uti praefatum est, in coniugio Hirmentrudem, Uodonis et
Ingeltrudis filiam et neptem Adelardi." Nithard iv, 6,
MGH SS 2: 671] The date of 13 December appears in two acts of
Charles [RHF 8: 579, 582].
(2) m. 22 January 870, Richilde,
living 910, daughter of count Bivin.
["Et in die festivitatis septuagesimae paedictam
concubinam suam Richildem desponsatam atque dotatam in coniugem
sumpsit." Annales Bertin., s.a. 870, 108 (see
also above, s.a. 869)] Richilde was still alive in 910, when she
appears in two charters donating to the abbey of Gorze [Cart.
Gorze, 157-162 (#87, #88)].
Children:
["Karolus imperator genuit ex Hyrmentrudi regina
quattuor filios et totidem filias, id est Hludovicum Karolum
Karlomannum et Hlotharium + Iudith quoque et Hildegardim,
Hirmintrudim et Gislam." Witger, Genealogia Arnulfi
Comitis, MGH SS 9: 303]
(by Ermentrude)
Judith, b. ca. 844, d. after 870;
m (1) 1 October 856, Æthelwulf, d. 858, king of Wessex;
m. (2) 858, Æthelbald, d. 860, king of Wessex;
m. (3) 863, Baldwin
I, count of Flanders.
Louis II, b. 1 November, ca. 846, d. 10 April 879; king of
Neustria, 856; king of Aquitaine, 867; king of France 877-9;
m (1) March 862, Ansgard, daughter
of count Harduin;
m. (2) ca. 870, Adelaide, daughter
of count Adelard.
Charles (Karolus minor), b.
847×8, d. 29 September 866, king of Aquitaine, 855-863, 865-6,
m. 862, NN, widow of count
Humbert.
Charles was not yet 15 when he married the widow of
count Humbert ["Karolus rex Aquitanorum, Karoli regis
filius, necdum quindecim annos complens, persuasione Stephani
relictam Humberti comitis sine voluntate et conscientia patris in
coniugem ducit." Annales Bertin., s.a. 862,
58]. His head was accidently struck by one of his companions in
864, injuring him seriously [Ann. Bertin., s.a. 864, 67]
and he died in 866, having suffered from epileptic seizures for
some time ["Karoli filius nomine Karolus et Aquitanorum
rex, ex plaga quam in capite ante aliquot annos acceperat cerebro
commoto, diutius epelemtica passione vexatus, 3. Kalendas
Octobris in quadam villa secus Bosentiacas moritur, et a
Karolmanno, fratre suo, atque a Vulfado in aecclesia sancti
Sulpitii apud Biturigum sepelitur." [Ann. Bertin.,
s.a. 866, 83].
Carloman, tonsured 854, blinded 873, d.
877×8; abbot of Saint-Médard de Soissons, Moutier-Saint-Jean,
Saint-Riquier (in Ponthieu), Saint-Germain d'Auxerre,
Saint-Amand, and Monstier-Ramé; abbot of Echternach.
["Karlus rex Karlomannum, filium
suum, tonsura ecclesiastica dedicat." Ann. Bertin.,
s.a. 854, 44; Ann. Bertin., s.a. 873, 121-2; Catalogi
abbatum Epternacensium, MGH SS 13: 739, 741; Monumenta
Epternacensia, MGH SS 23: 31; Settipani (1993), 310; Wampach (1935), 107-8 (#105)]
Lothair, d. 865 (before 25 December),
abbot of Saint-Germain, Auxerre.
["Karolus, dimissis custodibus contra eosdem Nortmannos,
Silvanectis revertitur, nativitatis dominicae sollemnia
celebraturus. Ubi ei Hlotharius, filius suus et abbas monasterii
Sancti Germani, mortuus nunciatur." Ann. Bertin.,
s.a. 865, 80]
Hildegard.
Ermentrude, fl. 877, abbess of Hasnon.
She is named as abbess of Hasnon in an act
of her father in 877 [RHF 8, 662]
Gisela.
Drogo (twin), d. before 866.
Pépin (twin), d. before 866.
These twins are known from an epitaph ["Epitaphium
Geminorum filiorum Karoli Regis: Quisque videns nostras sollerti
corde figuras, / Perspice, quam subito deflaut orbis honor. /
Rege sati fuimus, nomen qui nomine duxit / De magni magnus, de
Karoli Karolus. / Nec licuit totum vitae complectier annum, / Sed
rapuit nostras debita mors animas. / Si, genitor, nostram
dignaris visere tumbam, / Rex, nostros obitus ne doleas, petimus.
/ Terris sublati, placida regione locati / Cum sanctis requie
perpetua fruimur. / Vos nostri memores felices este, parentes: /
Hoc Pipinus ego posco simulque Drogo." MGH Poet. Lat.
3, 677-8; see also Hyam (1990), 159, n. 36, for the placement of
these sons as children who died before 866, correcting Werner
(1967), who places them as sons of Richilde].
(by Richilde)
Rothilde, d. not long before 929, m. Roger, count of Maine.
She is called an amita of Charles
the Simple by Flodoard, who calls her socrus
(mother-in-law) of Hugues le Grand ["... Rothildis,
amitae suae, socrus autem Hugonis, ..." Flodoard, s.a.
922, MGH SS 3: 370]. Flodoard refers to her as recently deceased
in the first entry of his annals for 929 ["Heribertus et
Hugo comites contra Bosonem, Rodulfi regis fratrem, profiscuntur,
propter quisdam Rothildis alodes nuper defunctae, quos a Bosone
pervasos repetebat Hugo, gener ipsius Rothildis."]. Her
mother is not explicitly identified, but chronology would seem to
make her more likely as a daughter of Richilde. [see Werner
(1967), 422-8 (Excurs I)]
NN, b. 23 March 875, d. soon after
birth.
["Et Richildis, uxor eius, noctu ante quartam feriam
paschae aborsu filium peperit, qui baptizatus mox obiit;"
Annales Bertin., s.a. 875, 126]
Charles, b. 10 October 876, d. early
877.
["Richildis autem, audiens 7. Idus
Octobris de fuga hostis imperialis et ipsius imperatoris, ab
Heristallio movet; et fugiens, subsequenti nocte galli cantu in
via peperit filium, quem post partum famulus suus ante se
portans, fugiendo usque ad Antennacum detulit." Annales
Bertin., s.a. 876, 133; "Ubi dum moraretur, filius
eius, qui, antequam Richildis ad Antennacum veniret, in via natus
fuerat, infirmatur, et a Bosone, avunculo suo, de fonte
susceptus, Karolus nominatus, moritur et ad monasterium sancti
Dionysii sepeliendus defertur" Annales Bertin.,
s.a. 877, 134]
Supposed daughter:
Rotrud, abbess-designate of
Sainte-Radegonde, Poitiers.
[Werner (1967), 453-4;
Settipani (1993), 311; however, neither explicitly states the
evidence for making her a daughter of Charles]
Falsely attributed
daughter:
Hersende, m. Regnier I, d. 915, count.
[Chaume (1925), 1: 549 (table XI)] The
existence of this wife of Regnier I is not certain (see the page
of Regnier I), and in any case there appears to be no good reason to
regard her as a daughter of Charles.
Ann. Bertin. = G. Waitz, ed., Annales Bertiniani (MGH SRG 5, Hannover, 1883).
Cart. Gorze = A. d'Herbomez, Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Gorze (Mettensia 2, Paris, 1898).
Hyam (1990) = Jane Hyam, "Ermentrude and Richildis", in Margaret T. Gibson & Janet L. Nelson, eds., Charles the Bald - Court and Kingdom (Variorum, 1990), 153-168.
MGH SS = Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores series.
RHF = Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France.
Settipani (1993) = Christian Settipani, La préhistoire des Capétiens 481-987 (Première partie - Mérovingiens, Carolingiens et Robertiens) (Villeneuve d'Ascq, 1993).
Wampach (1935) = Camillus Wampach, Urkunden- und Quellenbuch zur Geschichte der altluxemburgischen Territorien bis zur burgundischen Zeit, I (Luxemburg, 1935).
Werner (1967) = Karl Ferdinand Werner, "Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen bis um das Jahr 1000 (1.-8. Generation)", Karl der Große 4 (1967): 403-483.
Compiled by Stewart Baldwin
First uploaded 23 May 2007.
Minor revision uploaded 5 June 2008: added falsely attributed daughter Hersende and removed questionable identification of "Brios".