Louis V of France

Louis V (* 966 or 967; † May 21 987 ) was King of France from 986 to 987 He was nicknamed " the idlers " (Latin qui nihil fecit, French le Fainéant ), but was not associated with passivity ( in fact, Ludwig was a rühriger ruler ), but that he could not achieve much in his short reign of 14 months. He was the last king of the dynasty of the Carolingians.

Life

Ludwig was the elder of the two sons of King Lothair and his wife Emma, a daughter of King Lothair II of Italy and of Adelheid, the second husband Emperor Otto the Great married later. Ludwig's younger brother Otto died before his father; the remaining children were illegitimate Lothar.

Ludwig was raised to secure the succession to his father's co-regent and consecrated on 8 June 979 by Archbishop Adalbero of Reims. Lothar married him 982 with Adelaide ( Blanche ), the wealthy widow of Count Stephen of Gevaudan; she was a daughter of Count Fulk II of Anjou. At the same time Lothar sent his son to Aquitaine, where Nick will either reign as king of Aquitaine or act as co-regent of his father ( the details of the sources are contradictory ). In any case, the project failed; the marriage was dissolved after two years, and Louis returned 984 back to the court of his father. Supposedly Ludwig was reckless and paid little attention to his monarchical duties. However, unfavorable information hanging over him probably at least partly with the intention of historians together to portray him as incompetent or unethical, to make the change of dynasty after his death plausible.

When Lothar died on 2 March 986, Ludwig was undisputed the throne. At his court there were two parties. Emma, the mother of the king, was strongly influenced by her mother, Empress Adelheid and thus represented a Ottonians the opposite -friendly policies; this direction was also Archbishop of Reims Adalbero. The other party wanted to continue the course of Lothair, which aimed, any weakness of the Ottos - Emperor Otto III. was still a child - exploit to get back to pursue an expansionist policy in East and recover the old Lotharingia force. By far the most powerful of the vassal of Louis was the Duke of Franzien, Hugh Capet, who was also the Duke of Burgundy. He belonged to the family of the Robertiner, which has long been the rival of the Carolingians to the leading position in the kingdom, and had already made ​​two kings.

First, Emma mastered the situation, but in the summer of 986, there was a reversal: The ottonenfeindliche party prevailed, Emma had to leave the farm and seek refuge with Hugh Capet. This also came Adalbero in a predicament; he left his episcopal city temporarily and embarked on its forts along the Meuse River, which belonged to the Ottoman sphere of influence. This looked Ludwig as high treason; he turned violently against Adalbero and threatened to besiege him in Reims, then let himself but on a tentative agreement; the matter should be resolved on a court day in Compiègne. Before this came along, Ludwig changed course again and sought a reconciliation with Adalbero to; in the spring of 987 was also of a peace agreement with Otto III. or his mother Theophano the speech, a peace conference was planned. Before it came to a clarification of this confusing situation, Louis died on 21 May 987 by a hunting accident. He was buried in the church of St. Corneille in Compiègne.

Since Louis had no children, was only his uncle Charles of Lower Lorraine, the younger brother of his father, Lothar, raise a claim to the throne, otherwise only illegitimate offspring were of the Carolingian dynasty king remained. Karl's claim, however, was ignored by the great men of the kingdom, and Hugh Capet elected King. Thus the Carolingian dynasty was replaced by the named after Hugh Capet the Capetian dynasty.

In modern research Ludwig is judged more negatively because of the erratic nature of his policies, but also it should be noted that he was young and inexperienced.

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