Charles the Younger

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Charles the Younger (* 772/773; † December 4, 811 ) was the second son of Charlemagne , the eldest from his marriage to the Alemannic duke's daughter Hildegard . His father already had a son from his first marriage, Pippin the Hunchback , but this connection was later declared invalid, making Charles the Younger heir to the throne.

Life

Karl appeared for the first time in 784 during the Saxon Wars . Charlemagne divided the Frankish army and moved to Thuringia, while the 12-year-old Charlemagne stayed in Westphalia . After an equestrian battle in Dreingau an der Lippe, he returned victorious to Worms. The royal family spent Christmas at the Eresburg .

In 788 he was appointed king in Neustria - a sure sign that his father intended him to be the successor to his younger brothers Pippin / Karlmann and Ludwig , to whom he had already assigned Italy and Aquitaine in 781 . Consequently, he was anointed and crowned king at his father's coronation on December 25, 800.

Charlemagne suggested to King Offa of Mercien in 789 that a daughter of Offa (probably Ælfflæd ) should marry his son Karl the Younger, which Offa replied by suggesting that his son Ecgfrith should marry Karl's daughter Bertha in return. This led to a conflict between Mercia and the Frankish Empire . Karl broke off all contact with the Anglo-Saxons and forbade Anglo-Saxon ships to call at Franconian ports.

Charlemagne held an imperial assembly in Paderborn in 799 and sent his son Karl with half of the army to the Bardengau to stabilize the situation there.

When Pope Leo III. When he traveled to the Franconian court at the beginning of 805, Charles the Younger was sent to him as representative of the ruler as far as the Alps and then accompanied him to Reims . In the same year the emperor sent an army to Bohemia under his son Karl . This devastated their entire country and killed their Duke Lecho . In the following year (806) Karl emerged victorious as military commander against the Sorbs under their dux (duke) Miliduoch .

When Charlemagne announced his succession plan at a meeting in Diedenhofen in 806 and had it sworn by the greats ( Divisio Regnorum ), the Franconian core area from the Loire to the Rhine and the acquisitions between the Elbe and Danube fell to Charles . In addition, it was determined that he should be the sole owner of the family property and that the majority of the royal palaces , monasteries and estates should belong to him, which once again documented his position as the main heir. A disposition over the imperial title - which is indivisible in contrast to the royal title - was not made at that time, among other things because Karl was the only adult married imperial sons who was unmarried and without an heir (and remained so until his death).

In 808 the Danish King Gudfred attacked the Abodrites who had been settled in Wagrien by Charlemagne to protect the Franconian northern border . Charles the Younger led a retaliatory campaign against the Linonen and Smeldinger , allied with the Danes , whose lands he devastated.

In the years 810 and 811, the inheritance regulation that Charlemagne had provided for became obsolete. On July 8, 810, Pippin of Italy died, the following year Pippin the Hunchback (as a monk in Prüm ) and finally Charles the Younger on December 4, 811, so that of the emperor's adult sons only the youngest, Ludwig, died in the last years experienced his father.

swell

literature

Theodor Schieffer :  Karl the Younger. In: New German Biography (NDB). Volume 11, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 1977, ISBN 3-428-00192-3 , p. 174 f. ( Digitized version ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Annales regni Francorum
  2. ↑ from the article Offa of Mercia acquired
  3. ↑ a b Einhard, Vita Caroli Magni chap. 14th

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Charlemagne King of the Franks
800–811 		Louis the Pious (Emperor)
personal data
SURNAME Charles the Younger
BRIEF DESCRIPTION second son of Charlemagne
DATE OF BIRTH 772 or 773
DATE OF DEATH 4th December 811