Charlemagne (774-814) was the first emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He made the Franks, up till then a regional power, the most powerful empire in Europe.He was arguably one of the greatest monarchs in Europe. His empire however, despite it’s many successes fell almost as quickly as it rose.

Charlemagne intended in 806 to divide up his kingdom among his children as was the custom of the Franks. After the great emperor’s death, he was directly succeeded by his son, Louis the Pious. He quickly decided to divide up his empire, in order to govern the unwieldy provinces and to ensure a smooth succession. H

e brought to heel many of the unruly French duchies, including those of Aquitaine and Brittany. His sons however were not happy with the idea of divisions and his sons Pepin, Louis the German and Lothair rebelled, were defeated and punished. Two more similar civil wars followed.

He divided up his empire in the following manner; Louis received Bavaria, Pepin received Aquitaine while Lothair would rule the rest of the lands as their overlord. This division however, did not take all into account. Charlemagne’s grandson Bernard, by his son Pepin was given the title King of Italy following his father’s death. Unhappy with this new deal and suspicious of Lothair, he began to plot but was quickly captured and blinded and died of his wounds.

This episode was a blemish on Louis’ reputation. He had to undergo penance which made him look weak to the nobility. A younger son of Louis the Pious, Charles the Bald was given Aquitaine after Pepin predeceased his father. Louis finally died in 840.

When he ascended to the throne Lothair attempted to gain full control over the empire, which resulted in his brothers allying with each other by swearing the Oath of Strasbourg and defeating Lothair at Fontenoy  in 841. 40,000 men died in thos bloody battle and losses like this would have broken the Carolingian military.

The brothers finally made a peace in the treaty of Verdun in 843. Lothair was given the the Imperial title, Rhine heartlands and Italy( Middle Francia) , Charles was given modern France(Western Franks) and Louis the German was given Saxony,Alemania and Franconia(Eastern Franks).

Lothair spent the rest of his reign defending against Viking raids in the north and Saracen raids in the south. He gave the latter task to his son Louis II who took Benevento from the Saracens and was crowned Co- Emperor and King of Italy. Lothair finally died in 855.

His sons divided up the already diminishing realm in the Treaty of Prum. Louis II kept Italy and inherited the imperial title. Lothair II got the Low countries, Lorraine and Burgundy. Charles of Provence at the time of his father’s death, just 10 years old was given Provence. He soon came under the regency of nobles and had to fend off Charles the Bald. While the treaty of Colblenz reaffirmed the arrangement, Charles of Provence died 3 years later and his realm was divided up between his brothers along the Rhone river.

Lothair II, whose name would be given to the reigon of Lorraine or Lotharingia was mainly known for his efforts to divorce his wife, Teutberga and marry his mistress Waldrada. In this time a Viking raiding force besieged and ransomed Paris from Charles the Bald in 845.

By this time the Carolingians were in terminal decline and Lothair’s death in 869 did little to help. His uncles divided up his lands in the Treaty of Meersen along the River Rhine. Louis II however expelled the Arabs from Italy, but he died in 875 in Brescia. He wished to leave his kingdom to Carloman of Bavaria, but his uncle, Charles the Bald invaded and conquered Italy and Provence. Now the Carolingians were divided between the two brothers Charles the Bald and Louis the German.

Charles had to deal with many problems in West Francia. The most important of these were the Vikings but a certain nephew of his named Louis the Young invaded to take over Aquitaine.

Louis the German was an effective ruler and beat of Slavs, Danes and Magyars but had to contend with the rebellion of his sons. Finally Louis died in 876, a year after the death of Louis of Italy ( Lothair’s son). His realm was divided with Carloman receiving Bavaria, Charles the Fat inheriting Swabia, Alemania and Alsace and Louis the Young obtained Saxony, Franconia and Eastern Lotharnigia.

In 876 Charles the Bald died, leaving his kingdom to his son, Louis the Stammerer. Upon this Carloman invaded Italy and crowned himself King of Italy but he soon fell ill. He died in 879. Italy was given to Charles the Fat while Louis the Younger, ignoring Carloman’s son, Arnulf. Louis the Stammerer died, giving his kingdom to his sons: Louis III who took Neustria and Carloman II who obtained Aquitaine. An unborn son, Charles the Simple would later be king.

In this year a local nobleman Boso of Provence rebelled and took Provence. Finally in 880, the Treaty of Ribemont was signed between all the family members and it’s goal was to make an alliance to defeat Boso. This however did not pan out.

In 882 both Louis the Young and Louis III died without male heirs and in 884, Carloman II also died. With this series of deaths, Charles the Fat became the sole emperor of the entire Carolingian Empire(besides Provence). Charles the Fat failed to defend his kingdom. The Vikings besieged Paris for the second time in 886 and Charles was finally deposed in 887.

Arnulf became king of the Eastern Franks and Charles the Simple of the Western Franks. Arnulf defended againsrt the Normans and campaigned in Italy. He died in 899 and was succeeded by his son, Louis the Child who died after 12 years in 911, broken by grief about his defeat at the Battle of Lechfield against the Magyars. The nobles finally began to elect their own as king which put an end to the Eastern Carolingian Branch. By this time Italy and Arles was lost to the crown.

In the west, Charles’ allies took over as reguli/petty kings. Odo of Paris had success against the Vikings while in Aquitaine power went to Ranulf. Very similarly to the Onin War, two great families struggled for power, the Bosonids and the Robertians. Charles the Simple inherited after Odo and retook Lotharingia but was deposed in 922. The Carolingians, under Louis IV returned in 936. Two more kings followed him when finally in 987, Hugh Capet declared himself king and founded the Capetian Dynasty.

The fall of the Carolingians was noting short of spectacular. It fell as quickly as it rose, divided between 3 brothers and their sons and when it seemed to pull itself back, it faded away just as fast.