The Historians' History of the World 07

Meanwhile, Charles the Bald was making haste to take possession of Lothair’s dominions. He had been busy with defensive measures against the Norman pirates, when the news of his nephew’s death was brought to him. The emperor Ludwig II, Lothair’s brother, was far away and his forces were insignificant, and the reports of Ludwig’s illness sounded so unfavourable that there seemed no chance of his recovery; so that Charles the Bald hoped that he might succeed in making himself Lothair’s sole heir. He hurried to Metz, where he had himself crowned king of Lorraine, and thence proceeded to Aachen to receive the homage of the nobles. Very few of the nobles, however, presented themselves. He then ventured to encroach upon the kingdom of the East Franks, for he took possession of Alsace, which Lothair had previously ceded to Ludwig in return for the assurance of his support in his matrimonial quarrel.

But Charles the Bald was not destined long to enjoy his bloodless victory; for Ludwig recovered and threatened him with war unless he consented to a fraternal division of the dominions left by Lothair. Thus came about the famous partition treaty, which was concluded at Mersen in the year 870. By this treaty one-half of Lorraine fell to the western kingdom, and the other to the eastern. The boundary line ran southwards from the mouth of the Maas [Meuse], following the course of the river for some distance until it reached Ourthe, then crossed to the middle Moselle, just touched upon the Marne, and then ran along the Saône to the level of the Lake of Geneva. Thus, east Lorraine, Alsace, and north Burgundy, passed to Germany. The Treaty of Mersen was a corollary to the Treaty of Verdun; all the purely Germanic elements of the population were now combined with the eastern kingdom, and the way was prepared for the formation of two great states and nations, the one Germanic and the other Romance.

LAST YEARS OF LUDWIG THE GERMAN

[870-876 A.D.]

In the latter years of his life, King Ludwig was afflicted by the same misfortune which he and his brothers had conspired to bring upon their father; for his grown-up sons rebelled against him. He had early conferred upon them a share in the sovereignty of parts of his dominions, and after his kingdom had been considerably aggrandised by the Treaty of Mersen, they demanded a corresponding extension of their dominions. Carloman, the eldest, ruled Bavaria almost as an independent kingdom, and therefore received a considerable accession of territory. The younger sons, Ludwig and Charles, felt themselves aggrieved by this proceeding, and refused to render obedience to their father any longer. This occurrence took place at an unpropitious time for the king, as the Moravian prince, Suatopluk, had just inflicted a crushing defeat upon a Bavarian contingent. Under these circumstances Ludwig endeavoured to come to a compromise with his sons. In a diet at Forchheim they were reconciled to him, on condition that they should all share equally in the heritage of Lorraine. Thereupon a great expedition against the Moravians was undertaken in 872. But fortune did not favour the Germans. A detachment of Saxons, at variance among themselves, was worsted in battle and turned back in shameful rout, and another army, under the command of Bishop Arno of Würzburg, came back with heavy loss and without having accomplished its object. Carloman was attacked in the rear by the Moravians, and forced to beat a retreat with heavy loss. The king himself was unable to take part in the war, being busy with the affairs of Italy.

A grievous domestic trouble was soon added to these military reverses. His two younger sons conceived the criminal design of dethroning their father, and holding him in captivity. The project came to light as by a miracle. Charles, burdened with an evil conscience, was seized with a fit of the epileptic disease from which he suffered, and betrayed part of his secret, probably during the convulsions. According to the ideas of the time, it was believed that the devil had entered into him, and he was taken to church, where the clergy tried to cure him by prayers and exorcisms. The sight of his brother’s ravings wrought such an effect on the mind of Ludwig the Younger that, stricken with remorse, he confessed their design to his father. The king refrained from punishing his sons; he was reconciled to them again, and left his dispositions for the succession unaltered. Grown wise by such experiences, he thenceforth granted his sons a fuller measure of independence in their subordinate dominions.