bovine epidemic killing virtually all the cattle. That created a great loss of milk, cheese and meat for the people. His son Pepin also died that year followed in a few months by son Charles. That left Charlemagne’s least favorite son as heir. Charles began tidying his affairs to assure succession. At a major assembly in Aachen, he crowned his son Louis as joint emperor. Charles’ could only hope that Louis could control regional loyalties and rivalry between the aristocrats. Charles then focused on maintaining peace with the Danes and Byzantines. The following map shows his Empire, the inset is after it has been divided among threes grandsons, children of Louis the Pious. Emperor Charles was 71 when died on Jan 28th 814 and buried in Aachen’s church basilica. Charles’s son: Louis I8 the Pious was age 26 when his father died. Although well educated and very religious, he could not retain the loyalty of the aristocracy who were vital to his administration. He also lacked his father’s energy and personality that caused the beginning of the disintegration of an empire made up of a collection of tribes who wished to advance their own local positions. Louis I divided the empire among his sons in 817 who were caught up in a family conflict. To resolve that issue, Louis I put his own sisters and half brothers in religious houses and murdered his nephew, Bernard, King of Italy. His father’s large domain was now filled with ruffians and pirates rummaging its waterways. Its lands run by tribal groups headed by aristocratic warrior leaders. Their only interest was in social and financial positions to pass on to their heirs. Yet they were also the benefactors of the great Abbeys and Monasteries. The clergy’s interest was little different and each managed to govern in their particular area. Louis did keep the fortresses and coastal watchtowers his father erected manned. Louis’ first wife was Ermengarde of Hasbaigne who died Oct 3rd 818. His sons were quarrelsome like their grandfather and his brother. Louis died on Jun 20th 840 near Mainz, Germany. His sons were: +1) Lothair I of Italy; 2) Charles the Bald of Aquitaine; and 3) Ludwig the German of Bavaria. Each were dissatisfied with their lot which led to a three year war. In 843 the empire was dismembered at the Treaty of Verdun, the first division of the Carolingian empire which ended Europe’s political unity. Charles the Bald received West Francia (modern France), Lothair the middle Kingdoms with the empty title of emperor, and Ludwig the German East Francia. Charles the Bald died in 877 and Charles III (the Fat) ruled France beginning in 884 until he died in 888. The next year after the beginning of his reign an immense fleet of 700 Viking vessels led by Viking chieftains, Sigfred and Orm, sailed up the Seine River in mid November penetrating the heart of France. They concentrated at first on the Ile de la Cité in the middle of the Seine. They shot arrows, hurled stones and spears, and flung flaming torches setting the isle ablaze. Three days later they turned on Paris. Meanwhile Muslims were striking from Africa into Lothair’s domain where they found little of interest. Before the century ended, Magyars came from the east into the middle and eastern lands. These invasions helped speed up the development of feudalism. Small farmers sought protection from their neighbors who had armed retainers [knights]. Louis the Pious’ eldest son continues the family line. Lothair I9 married 1st Irmengard of Tours and Orleans Oct 15th 821. He became Emperor of the West in 824 and subsequently divided his realm between his three sons: Louis II, Lothair II, and Charles. Lothair I died in Sep 855 at Pruem, Germany. Lothair’s daughter:

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