Lothair (French: Lothaire; Latin: Lothārius; 941 – 2 March 986), sometimes called Lothair II, III or IV, was the penultimate Carolingian king of West Francia, reigning from 10 September 954 until his death in 986.
Lothair was born in Laon near the end of 941, as the eldest son of King Louis IV and Gerberga of Saxony. He succeeded his father on 10 September 954 at the age of thirteen and was crowned at the Abbey of Saint-Remi by Artald of Reims, Archbishop of Reims on 12 November 954. Lothair had already been associated with the throne since the illness of his father in 951, this being a custom in the royal succession since the founding of the Kingdom of the Franks by the Merovingian dynasty.
Queen Gerberga made an arrangement with her brother-in-law Hugh the Great, Duke of the Franks and Count of Paris, who had been an adversary of Lothair's father. In exchange for supporting Lothair's rule Hugh was given rule over Duchy of Aquitaine and much of the Kingdom of Burgundy as more or less a regent. Lothair inherited a fragmented kingdom, where the great magnates took lands, rights and offices almost without any regard for the authority of the king. Magnates like Hugh the Great and Herbert II, Count of Vermandois were always a veiled threat.
In 955 Lothair and Hugh the Great together took Poitiers by siege. With Hugh the Great's death in 956 Lothair, only fifteen, came under the guardianship of his maternal uncle Bruno, archbishop of Cologne, brother of East Francia's king Otto I. With Bruno's advice, Lothair mediated between Hugh's sons – Hugh Capet and Otto, Duke of Burgundy. The King gave Paris and the title of dux francorum (Duke of the Franks) to Hugh Capet, and invested Otto with the Duchy of Burgundy in 956.
Worsening relations with the Holy Roman Empire
The guardianship of Archbishop Bruno of Cologne lasted until 965 and oriented Lothair towards policy of submission towards East Francia, which was evolving into the German Holy Roman Empire. Despite his youth, Lothair wanted to rule alone and reinforced his authority over his vassals. This desire of political independence led to a deterioration in relations between the King and his maternal relatives and a struggle with the new Holy Roman Empire. Despite this, Lothair wanted to maintain ties with Emperor Otto I by marrying Princess Emma of Italy (the only daughter of Empress Adelaide of Burgundy – second wife of Otto I, from her first marriage with King Lothair II, member of the Bosonids dynasty) in early 966.
In 962 Baldwin III, Count of Flanders, son, co-ruler, and heir of Arnulf I, Count of Flanders died and Arnulf bequeathed Flanders to Lothair. On Arnulf's death in 965, Lothair invaded Flanders and took many cities, but was eventually repulsed by the supporters of Arnulf II, Count of Flanders. He temporarily remained in control of Arras and Douai. Lothair attempted to increase his influence in the Lotharingia, once held by his family, and in turn Emperor Otto II encouraged resistance to Lothair's overtures.
In 976 the brothers Reginar IV, Count of Mons and Lambert I, Count of Louvain, after being dispossessed from their paternal inheritance by Emperor Otto II, made an alliance with Charles (King Lothair's younger brother) and Otto, Count of Vermandois and with an army they marched against the Imperial troops. A great battle, which remained undecided, took place in Mons. Although Lothair secretly encouraged this war, he did not intervene directly to help his brother.
Charles took advantage of the situation and established himself in Lotharingia. His main interest was to break the harmony between Lothair and the House of Ardennes, loyal to Emperor Otto II and very powerful in Lotharingia and to which belonged both the Chancellor-Arbishop Adalberon of Reims and his namesake Bishop Adalberon of Laon.
In 977, Charles accused Queen Emma of adultery with Bishop Adalberon of Laon. The Synod of Sainte-Macre, led by Archbishop Adalberon of Reims, took place in Fismes to discuss the matter. Due to a lack of evidence, both the Queen and Bishop were absolved, but Charles, who maintained the rumors, was expelled from the kingdom by Lothair. The House of Ardennes and the Lotharingian party, who were favorable to an agreement with Otto II, seemed all-powerful at the court of Lothair.
Otto II, however, committed the mistakes of restoring the County of Hainaut to Reginar IV and Lambert I, and of appointing Charles as Duke of Lower Lorraine, a region corresponding to the northern half of Lotharingia, separate from the Upper Lotharingia since the late 950. Rewarding Charles, who had questioned the honor of the wife of the King of the Franks, was a way to offend the King himself.
War with the Holy Roman Empire
In August 978 Lothair mounted an expedition into Lorraine accompanied by Hugh Capet and upon their crossing the Meuse river took Aachen, but did not capture Otto II or Charles. Lothair then sacked the imperial Palace of Aachen for three days, and reversed the direction of the bronze eagle of Charlemagne to face east instead of west.
In retaliation Otto II, accompanied by Charles, invaded West Francia in October 978 and ravaged Reims, Soissons (where he stopped at the Abbey of St. Medard, Soissons for devotions) and Laon. Lothair was able to escape from the Imperial troops, but Charles was proclaimed King of the Franks in Laon by Bishop Dietrich I of Metz, a relative of Emperor Otto I. The Imperial army advanced to Paris, where they faced Hugh Capet's army. On 30 November 978, Otto II and Charles, unable to take Paris, lifted their siege of the city and turned back. The Frankish royal army led by Lothair pursued and defeated them while crossing the river Aisne and being able to recover Laon, forcing Otto II to flee and take refuge in Aachen with Charles, the puppet-King he wanted to impose on West Francia.
In West Francia the hasty retreat of Emperor Otto II had a considerable impact and long after was evoked as a great victory of Lothair. Thus, written in 1015, the Chronicles of Sens gives an epic description: there Lothair was exalted as a warrior-king who pursued the German Emperor to the heart of Lorraine, destroying on the banks of the Argonne a great multitude of enemies, then returned to the Kingdom of the Franks covered with glory. The chronicler say: "As for the Emperor Otto, followed by those of his people who were able to escape, he returned to his country in the greatest confusion; after which neither he nor his army ever returned to France". Contemporary documents speak of the event with the same triumphal accents: written after the retirement of Otto II, a diploma of the Abbey of Marmoutier near Tours dated during the reign "of the great King Lothair, in his twenty-sixth year (of rule; although apparently wrong), in which he attacked the Saxon and forced the Emperor to escape ". These retrospectives were observed by some historians such as Karl Ferdinand Werner as one of the first manifestations of national feeling.
Reconciliation with the Holy Roman Empire
The unity of Western Franks against Otto II had the consequence of placing the dynasty of Robertians in a prominent place in the person of Hugh Capet, whose contemporaries attested that he faithfully served king Lothair. The fight with the Emperor strengthened the power of Hugh Capet, which was shown in 980 when he captured Montreuil-sur-Mer from Arnulf II, Count of Flanders.
Lothair wanted to thwart the ambitions of his exiled brother Charles, and decided to follow his father's steps to secure the succession for his own son. On 8 June 979 Prince Louis was crowned as associated ruler or Junior King (iunior rex) – although he did not actually assume power until Lothair's death in 986 – being the second time of this new practice in the kingdom of West Francia, which later was adapted by the Capetians.