First battle near Andernach

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Depiction of the battle of Andernach in a French chronicle from the 14th century ( Chroniques de France ou de St Denis , approx. 1332-1350)

The first battle near Andernach between the West Franconian King Karl II. The Bald and the East Franconian King Ludwig III. the younger took place on October 8, 876 southeast of Andernach am Rhein near Kettig and ended with a crushing defeat of Charles the Bald .

prehistory

Ludwig III. was a son of the East Franconian King Ludwig II the German . When the empire was divided among his sons in 865, he was awarded the largest part of the empire. It consisted of the East Frankish Francia (Franconia), Saxony and Thuringia. Eastern Lotharingia was added by the Treaty of Mersen in 870 . King Karl II. The Bald, King of the West Franconian Empire, tried to take the entire Lotharingia and only reluctantly entered into the contract under military pressure. After the death of Ludwig the German in 876, he first tried again by negotiation to reach his goal of expanding western France eastwards to the Rhine. To this end, Charles the Bald met the King of the Eastern Empire, his nephew Ludwig III, in Sinzig on the Rhine. But it failed because of Ludwig's rejection.

battle

Charles II now demanded from Ludwig III. the surrender of the areas on the left bank of the Rhine and began with their military conquest. It came to the battle of Andernach , which later went down in history as the First Battle of Andernach . On October 8, 876, Ludwig III. the West Franconian King Karl II the Bald , his uncle, destroyed on the plain near Andernach near Kettig and thus ended all attempts at expansion of Charles II to Lorraine and the Rhine. This also ensured that Andernach and the Rhineland belonged to the Eastern Empire, from which the Holy Roman Empire later developed. The border was hardly changed until the late Middle Ages. In 877, Charlemagne died while fleeing to Italy in Avrieux , Savoy, almost one year to the day after the battle. In 880 it came with the grandchildren of Charles the Bald , Ludwig III. of France and Karlmann to the Treaty of Ribemont , through the Ludwig III. the younger also received rule over western Lotharingia . The Rhine , Maas and Scheldt estuaries now belonged to the Eastern Empire, Metz , Sedan , Strasbourg , Toul , Verdun as well as Cambrai and Antwerp , today cities in France and Belgium, became East Franconian.

See also

Second battle near Andernach

literature