Karl (Lower Lorraine)

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Karl and his brother Lothar of France
Karl's grave in the Servatius basilica in Maastricht
Lithograph from around 1850 with the signature of Fondateur de Bruxelles

Karl von Niederlothringen (* summer 953 in Reims , † 991 in the dungeon at Orléans , buried in Maastricht in the church of St. Servatius) was Duke of Niederlothringen (977-991) and 987 pretender to the West Franconian Kingdom .

origin

Karl came from the West Franconian branch of the Carolingian dynasty , which at that time was already extinct in East Franconia , but was still the ruling royal dynasty in West Franconia .

He was a grandson of Charles III. the simple- minded , King of West Franconia (898–922) and King of Lower Lorraine (911–922), who was deposed in 922 and died in 929; from his second marriage to Edgiva of Wessex († after 951) a daughter of King Edward I of Wessex .

His parents were the West Franconian King Ludwig IV called the Überseeische († September 10, 954) and his wife Gerberga of Saxony († May 5, 984), a sister of Emperor Otto I the Great .

Life

When King Ludwig IV died in an accident in 954, only two of his five sons were still alive, the thirteen-year-old Lothar and the only one-year-old Karl. Perhaps Ludwig had considered dividing the empire, but there was no longer any question of little Karl participating in the inheritance; With the consent of the most powerful crown vassal, Hugos the Great from the Robertin family , Lothar was crowned the sole king of the west of France, while no part of the empire or fiefdom was planned for Karl. Karl lived at his brother's court. As he grew up, the fact that he was not properly equipped created tension.

Karl had no function; military activity could bring him closer to his goal of gaining a domain. An opportunity arose after Otto the Great's death (973) in the dispute over the county of Hainaut , which belonged to the Duchy of Lorraine , which was then subordinate to the East Franconian ruler. The local Count Reginar III. After a defeat by the Ottonians in 958, Langhals had to go into exile, with which his sons Reginar IV and Lambert I , who were still underage at the time, lost their right of inheritance. They fled to western France. As soon as Otto the Great was no longer alive, they took up arms to retake Hainaut. The new King Otto II repulsed a first attack . 976 attacked the two again, where they were supported by the West Franconian court; Karl took part in the campaign, but it failed.

Lothar still refused to give his younger brother territorial equipment. A serious split broke out between the two. Charles accused Queen Emma of adultery with Bishop Adalbero of Laon . Because of this scandal, Karl had to leave his brother's empire. Emma and Adalbero were later exonerated of all charges at the Council of Saint-Macre near Reims.

In this situation Otto II made a surprising move; he not only returned most of their inheritance to Reginar and Lambert, but also drew Charles over to his side by enfeoffing him with the Duchy of Lower Lorraine (the northern part of the Duchy of Lorraine). Lothar interpreted this as a hostile act and in 978 tried in vain to capture Otto by means of a surprise attack on Aachen .

When Otto counterattacked Lothar's empire in the same year, Karl joined the invasion force. The Ottonian army conquered two Falzes and the city of Laon , but otherwise achieved little, as the West Franconian nobility remained loyal to their king. Therefore, a plan to set the ambitious, still dissatisfied Karl as the counter-king against his brother, did not come to fruition. In May 980, Lothar and Otto made peace, and Karl was left behind again.

When Lothar died in 986, his son Ludwig V , who was already co-king, was able to succeed him without any problems, but when Ludwig had a fatal accident fourteen months later, on May 21, 987 and left no heir, Karl had a new chance. Now Karl was the only surviving Carolingian with inheritance rights and as such the natural candidate for the successor to his nephew Ludwig. However, it was passed over one more time, because now significant aristocratic circles decided to make use of their right to vote and to raise the Robertin Hugo Capet , the son of Hugo the great, to be king. Allegedly it was argued that Karl was unsuitable because, as Duke of Lower Lorraine, he was a vassal of a foreign ruler and had entered into an improper marriage; but these reasons, if they were put forward at all, were only pretended. In the same year Hugo was able to achieve that his son Robert II was crowned co-king, with no election taking place. In this way the dynastic succession was secured and the Carolingian family was finally replaced by the new dynasty, which was later named Capetian after Hugo's nickname .

Karl didn't want to accept that. In the following year he took up arms in order to enforce his claim to the throne by force. He took Laon; there his enemy, the queen widow Emma, ​​and her alleged lover, Bishop Adalbero, fell into his hands. Hugo's two attempts to retake failed. The Empress Theophanu , to whom Karl, as an Ottonian vassal, had turned for help, made a mediation proposal; Karl should release Emma and Adalbero and Hugo should give up the siege of Laon. Hugo accepted, Karl refused.

In August 989, Charles achieved a major success by conquering Reims , the city whose bishop used to crown the West Franconian and French kings. He succeeded in doing this through the betrayal of the local bishop Arnulf , who was a Carolingian (not entitled to inheritance), an illegitimate son of King Lothar and thus Karl's nephew. Arnulf had only recently been appointed bishop by Hugo Capet. Charles did not use the opportunity to confirm his claim to the royal dignity with an election and coronation in Reims; this failure showed his weakness, which was due to the small number of his followers.

Adalbero von Laon escaped from custody, but then joined Karl and was reinstated by him in his diocese. He managed to gain Karl's trust. Adalbero used the position he had achieved to betray him. On the night of March 29-30, 991 he opened the city gates of Laon and let in Capetian troops. Karl, surprised in his sleep, was taken prisoner along with his family. He remained in custody in Orléans until his death . He is buried in Maastricht in the Church of St. Servatius .

In Lower Lorraine, Karl had left a son named Otto who was his successor as Duke there.

family

Before 979, probably around 975, Karl married Adelheid, about whom nothing else is known, and had five children with her:

reception

The betrayal to which Karl fell victim caused a sensation and was branded as an outrage by posterity and compared with the betrayal of Judas Iscariot to Christ.

In the 16th century, Lorraine historians tried to increase the legitimacy of the Dukes of Lorraine by establishing a direct link with the Carolingians ; They therefore called the Duke Karl von Niederlothringen, who died in 991, as Karl I and began counting the Dukes of (Upper) Lorraine with that name as Karl II .; this approach has been preserved to this day.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ European Family Tables New Series, Volume II. Plate 1; Verlag JA Stargardt 1984
predecessor Office successor
Gottfried I. (Duke)
Richar (owner of executive power)		 Duke of Lower Lorraine
977–991 		Otto
personal data
SURNAME Karl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Duke of Lower Lorraine
BRIEF DESCRIPTION younger son of King Louis IV of France
DATE OF BIRTH 953
PLACE OF BIRTH Reims
DATE OF DEATH 991