It was as this point Charles the Fat, now around 16 or 17, could start to take a more active role politically. However, the political situation was still extremely uncertain for Louis who continued to have to put down Slav rebellions and handing political power to his young son would have been a risky move. In the 860s, this was emphasised even further by the rebellion of Charles' older brother, Carloman. He made an alliance with a Slavic tribe and annexed a part of his father's kingdom. Louis responded by exiling some of Carloman's key supporters. After an extended period of disturbance. Carloman and Louis reached a peace agreement in which Louis granted to Carloman the land he had taken in exchange for a vow of loyalty. Towards the mid 860s, Louis began to show signs of wanting to distribute more power among his sons as well as thinking about their longer term future. Charles, by now in his mid 20s, married the daughter of a count but he was left behind as his father set out on campaign against the Wends. He wanted his nephew Lothar to join him, but showing some of the treachery that is becoming quite a theme in the Carolingian family, Lothar failed to show up for military duties. So, in his place, went Louis the younger, the middle son. Despite all that effort, the campaign ended rather dismally and Louis retreated back to Frankfurt with his tail between his legs. In 864, Louis faced more treachery from Carloman who, after pretending to go hunting, slipped away to cause more mischief. Louis managed to make peace quicker this time. Though less seriously, Louis was left more than a little miffed when his middle son, Louis, made a marriage without his permission.
It wasn't until the 870s, that Charles the Fat began to play a more significant role in European politics. In 875, he went on behalf of his father to hold discussions with his uncle Charles the Bald, who nearly died making the effort after coming down with dysentery. That same year, the emperor Louis II died. Despite the best efforts of Louis the German, Charles the Fat and Carloman, Charles the bald had himself crowned emperor on Christmas Day 875. The response from Louis and Charles the fat was to then march into West Francia, while Charles the Bald remained in Italy, and ravaged it. Louis the German died in 876 and the succession was divided between his three sons. By 876, Charles appeared to be in poor health as he held talks with his brother Louis the younger. Militarily, matters appeared to be taken care of by Louis and Carloman, the latter currently engaged in battle with the Wends, rather than by Charles himself. The following year it was Carloman's turn to fall ill, with it even being said he was bed bound for up to a year. Carloman's health continued to decline and he eventually died of a stroke in 880. By this point, it seems to be Louis the Younger who was more proactive in governance. Whether he was still afflicted with his previous illness or not, Charles did make a move in 879 and took Lombardy. In 881, he joined in attacking Vienne to put down a rebellion before he secured his coronation as Emperor from Pope John VIII. Like Charles the Bald in 875, he was crowned on Christmas day. In 882, Charles remaining brother died. That same year, Charles decided to take up arms against the Vikings. Although not without good reason, it can only be described as that Charles bottled it and instead resorted to peace. The leader of the Viking army was baptised. In 884, Charles became king of West Francia. One of Charles biggest problems was that he failed to produce an heir. Was his health a factor? Possibly. He did manage to produce one child from a relationship with a mistress but his attempts to make that boy his heir failed. Through the 880s, his health went into decline again and so did his empire. Through a combination of his poor health and the ambitions of his nephew, Charles lost his grip on power in 887 and the following year, he finally died. Charles is probably the hardest emperor to sum up really so far. In this story, there are definitely characters made of sterner stuff. Men who claimed, or attempted to claim, authority from a young age. Charles never really did that. And even as he grew older, there is a distinct lack of leadership and ruthlessness. From the late 870s, in his defence, i think his health really hindered him. For what it's worth, there is nothing to suggest he was fat and that nickname only comes much later on, so his health is unlikely to be anything caused by his size. Ultimately, he is probably the most unremarkable of the 9th century emperors.
Holy Roman Emperors before Otto I : We're now coming up to a tricky part of the story. For simplicity's sake, I could skip ahead to the life and times of Otto the Great. It's questionable whether the subjects here can really be considered Holy Roman Emperors. I have decided to include them, however, for continuity's sake. Charles the Fat's health had began to decline through the 880s and in 887, his nephew, Arnulf of Carinthia deposed him. Whilst the move was hardly an act of affection towards his uncle, Arnulf did allow Charles to live out the rest of his days on some imperial lands left to him. This however did not mean Arnulf automatically assumed total power. He succeeded as king of East Francia but did not become emperor immediately as may have been expected.In fact, the men who had come over to Arnulf when he decided to move against the ailing emperor, deserted him. Whilst it may have seemed natural to elect Arnulf as emperor, that did not happen and the other different regions of the empire decide to elect their own rulers. In Italy, there was contention as two separate kings were declared, Berengar and Guy of Spoleto. As always with contested crowns, this inevitably led to trouble. After a period of bloodshed, Guy eventually won out and Berengar was driven from Italy. Guy became king of Italy in 889. In West Francia, the citizens there elected a man by the name of Odo as their king. He was, by all accounts, a formidable man and he would rule over them for a decade. His election was made official after Arnulf was informed and he duly gave his consent. As can be expected, Odo's reign was largely taken up by dealing with the Vikings which he is said to have done "manfully". His successor in West Francia would be Charles the Simple who would be altogether different in his dealings with the invasions.
In 896, Arnulf marched into Italy which would see him crowned emperor. The ruler in Italy at that time was Lambert, son of Guy of Spoleto. Lambert had been crowned king of Italy when his father was made emperor in 891. Guy and Pope Formosus were not on good terms but Guy did manage to get the pope to crown Lambert co emperor in 892. Guy's actual power was extremely limited and he died in 894 with Lambert now left to try and fend off Arnulf and his machinations by himself. After clinging onto power in Italy, Lambert made a poor decision. Whilst away from Rome, he had left his own mother to guard the city with a sizable force. Her and her army appeared not to put up a particularly stiff resistance as Arnulf marched into Italy and onto Rome. It was there that he was crowned by Pope Formosus. However, after his apparent triumph, Arnulf came down with a serious illness which, according to the chronicles at the time, was said to have gripped him for a long time. It's been suggested that he had a stroke. After that stroke, Arnulf's health continued to get worse and he is believed to have suffered from some highly unpleasant illnesses. He eventually died in 899. Because of Arnulf's ill health, Lambert had managed to retain power but not for long. After dealing with a rebellion against him, which had been led by the same Berengar who had been defeated by Lambert's father Guy over a decade prior, Lambert was assassinated. It's hard to judge what the legacy of these men actually was. Certainly Guy of Spoleto accomplished little. Arnulf seems militarily capable but his path to power had been borne through treachery towards his own uncle and he had died before he could fully establish a lasting legacy. As for Lambert, he too had his moments militarily but, like Arnulf, his life was ended prematurely, possibly when he wasn't even out of his teens. It is largely due to factors such as these that the Emperors in this particular period have largely been forgotten.
Louis the Blind was born in about 880. He was the son of a man named Boso and his mother was a woman by the name of Ermengarde who was the daughter of the Holy Roman Emperor Louis II. In 879, Boso set out to take Provence after the death of Louis the Stammerer. Louis had left two sons whose claims Boso treated with upmost contempt while he resorted to a combination of persuasion and bullying to get influential men to support his claims to power in Provence. However he wasn't successful in winning everybody over to his cause and the two heirs to Louis the Stammerer, another Louis and Carloman, were raised to kingship to counter Boso's claims. As such, Boso's time as King of Provence was dominated by warring against Louis and Carloman and in 882, he essentially lost most of his territory after being besieged at Vienne by his own brother. Boso was not a popular man. He was viewed as a usurper, which is exactly what he was, and treated with hostility, not only in his own realm, but by other Frankish rulers. One chronicler even implies that the other kings made their vassals swear that they would try and eliminate Boso. Such was Boso's popularity at the time of his death in 887. While all that had been going on, his son Louis had been born in 880. The timing seems to have been quite opportune for Boso as he had only seized power the year prior and so perhaps hoped that the birth of an heir might stabilise matters which, for him, was unfortunately not the case. Like a lot of other children born into power in 9th century Europe, Louis came into a world dominated by infighting and corruption. On the death of his father, when he was aged about 7, Louis and his mother moved to ensure they stayed in power and visited Charles the Fat to establish their claims over the kingdom of Provence. The emperor, who was by now in poor health, recognised Louis as king of Provence and adopted him. However, not long after, Charles was deposed by Arnulf of Carinthia and Louis had to reestablish power for himself, which he managed to do in the early 890s, before he paid homage to Arnulf of Carinthia. In the early 900s, Louis began to reach an age of maturity, and, in keeping with this, his power and influence grew. In Italy, there was a growing restlessness with how the country was being ruled by Berengar. And so the nobles invited Louis to take over and he was promptly crowned Emperor in 901. It wasn't to last however and Berengar reclaimed power the following year and brought Louis to terms. A couple of years later, Louis went back on the peace agreement and this is where he earned the nickname "the blind". Berengar, mimicking something usually seen in the Eastern Roman Empire, rather than totally eliminating Louis, instead had him blinded in cruel fashion. This spelled the end of Louis' brief period as emperor but he would remain king of Provence for another 23 years. Louis kept his travels to an absolute minimum, residing in his capital for the majority of the remainder of his reign. He seems to have been a quite popular ruler with one chronicler continuing to call him "most glorious of emperors", despite his having relinquished that title long ago.
Berengar's career is one of a man used to confrontation. He had an intense rivalry with Guy of Spoleto and then saw off the challenge of Louis the Blind, initially by peace then when Louis came to challenge his rule in Italy, Berengar took the brutal step of having Louis blinded. Louis had been invited twice to invade Italy due to Berengar's unpopular rule. Born in about 845, Berengar was the grandson of Louis the Pious on his mother's side and so was the great grandson of Charlemagne. Such a prestigious family background should have been highly advantageous for Berengar. Berengar's first taste of power came when he succeeded his older brother as Margrave of Fruili, a territory in Italy. That came about when he was aged about 19. In 875, Berengar was used by Louis the German in his desperate attempts to stop Charles the Bald from becoming Holy Roman Emperor. This was unsuccessful as Charles' saw off three attempts by Louis to thwart him but it does show Berengar's growing importance in the empire. In the mid 880's, Berengar's rivalry with Guy of Spoleto began as Charles the Fat sent him to take Spoleto off Guy. After initial success for Berengar, he and his army were driven back by a plague. In 887, Berengar managed to lose the favour of Charles the Fat after he got himself entangled in a dispute with a powerful bishop. Berengar went back to the emperor in grovelling fashion and managed to get himself back in the good books of Charles. At this point, Berengar must have been fully aware of the political situation in the empire as Charles was deprived of power that year and so by placing himself close at hand, he put himself in a position to extend his power and he became king of Italy. However, not long after his succession to power, Berengar's nemesis Guy of Spoleto was back on the scene and challenging Berengar's rule. They came to blows near Brescia where the result was inconclusive and a peace treaty was agreed upon although only lasted for a matter of months. Berengar then had to see off Arnulf of Carinthia which he did so but Arnulf effectively became Berengar's overlord.
Berengar's authority was then thoroughly undermined by Guy who defeated him at Trebbia and had himself declared king of Italy. This was shortly after the initial peace treaty had expired. After a brief pause in hostilities, 893/894 saw Berengar unite with Arnulf in an attempt to deprive Guy of power. They initially defeated Guy and gained territory before a combination of Guy fighting back and Berengar and Arnulf having a major disagreement saw Berengar lose Fruili and temporarily driven from Italy. Guy, however, died that year and the rivalry with Berengar passed on from him to his son Lambert. Berengar challenged Lambert's rule in Italy but was defeated in battle. Lambert, however, was murdered at the age of just 18 and this left Berengar's path back to power clear. In 899, though, his rule suffered a severe blow when he was routed by the invading Magyars'. This prompted the nobility to seriously question Berengar and it was here that Louis, king of Provence, was invited to invade Italy and usurp Berengar. The next few years were blighted by Louis and Berengar's feuding and the Magyars repeated attacks. Berengar saw off the threat of Louis by capturing and blinding him. Magyar invasions were not the only threat to the empire at this time. Saracen invasions had been an almost constant thorn in the side of the rulers of Italy and in 915, the high point of Berengar's political career came to fruition with the defeat of the Muslim invaders at Garigliano. This prompted the pope to crown Berengar Holy Roman Emperor. His reign as emperor was completely overshadowed by continued problems. The Magyars continued to sack and loot and in 923 Berengar faced another challenge to his status as emperor when he was faced off in battle by the king of Burgundy and his allies. The battle proved to be a total disaster for Berengar who was roundly defeated and effectively saw him removed from power. Not long after, he was murdered. A man of considerable family pedigree, Berengar was clearly not the shrewdest or most able of rulers. Frequently defeated in battle and a man who regularly lost territory he held, he also had a nasty streak as shown by his treatment of Louis the Blind. His stand out achievement was clearly the events of 915 but unfortunately for Berengar and those he ruled over, he failed to put it to much use and his lack of military prowess ensured that his time as emperor was blighted by further Magyar raids and civil war.
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