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Kingdom of Middle Francia Francia media (Latin) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 843–855 | |||||||||||||
 Middle Francia in green | |||||||||||||
| Capital | Aachen | ||||||||||||
| Official languages | Medieval Latin | ||||||||||||
| Common languages | |||||||||||||
| Religion |
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| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||||||
| King | |||||||||||||
• 843–855 | Lothair I(first and last) | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||||||
| 843 | |||||||||||||
| 855 | |||||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||||
• Total | 350,000 km2 (140,000 sq mi) | ||||||||||||
| Currency | Denier | ||||||||||||
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Middle Francia (Latin:Francia media) was a short-livedFrankish kingdom which was created in 843 by theTreaty of Verdun after an intermittent civil war between the grandsons ofCharlemagne resulted in division of theunited empire. Middle Francia was allocated to EmperorLothair I, the eldest son and successor of EmperorLouis the Pious. His realm contained the imperial cities ofAachen (the residence of Charlemagne) andPavia, but it lacked any geographic or cultural cohesion, which prevented it from surviving and forming a nucleus of a larger state, as was the case withWest Francia (which became theKingdom of France) andEast Francia (which became theKingdom of Germany).[1]
Middle Francia was situated between the realms of East and West Francia and comprised the Frankish territory between the riversRhine andScheldt, theFrisian coast of theNorth Sea, the formerKingdom of Burgundy (except for a western portion, later known asBourgogne) andProvence, as well as parts of northern Italy. Following the 855 partition, 'Middle Francia' became only a geographic term, and the bulk of its territory was reorganised asLotharingia, named after Lothair I'snamesake son. One of the reasons Middle Francia was a short-lived state was its geographic situation between two more powerful states, each of which had much greater influence in Europe than Middle Francia.
Middle Francia extended fromFrisia in the north tonorthern Italy, through which theFrankish kingdom had access to theLigurian Sea, and from theGulf of Lion in the west through Provence and on to theAdriatic Sea to the east, through (modern-day)Veneto. The territory occupied around 300,000 to 350,000 km2 (120,000 to 140,000 sq mi).
The geographical situation of Middle Francia was unprivileged in comparison to its neighbours West and East Francia. This is due to the position of the kingdom in Europe. Its only major borders were with East and West Francia; the rest of its borders were isolated and very small in comparison. The only borders it shared with other states at the time were with thePapal States ofBenevento andVenice, which were relatively new states without a culture of trade or development. This prevented Middle Francia from trading with other states such asByzantium or Bulgaria. In addition, its position in Europe could compromise its sovereignty. If any of its neighbouring states, especially West or East Francia, decided to attack Middle Francia, its borders could not be defended due to their length; this is essentially what happened in theTreaty of Meerssen.
In 855 on his deathbed atPrüm Abbey, EmperorLothair I with theTreaty of Prüm divided Middle Francia among his three sons. The lands in northern Italy, which extended as far south as Rome and Spoleto, were left to the eldest sonLouis II the Younger, crowned co-emperor in 850 and sole emperor from 855. This eventually became theKingdom of Italy. Most of the lands north of theAlps, comprising theLow Countries, the westernRhineland, the lands today on the border betweenFrance andGermany, and what is now westernSwitzerland, passed toLothair II and were calledLotharingia, after its ruler.Charles of Provence received theKingdom of Burgundy (Upper Burgundy andLower Burgundy) andProvence.
Charles died without sons in 863. According to Frankish custom, his brothers Louis II and Lothair II divided his realm. Lothair II received the western Lower Burgundian parts (bishoprics ofLyon,Vienne,Vivarais andUzès) which were bordering his western Upper Burgundy (remnants of his original Burgundian possessions) which were incorporated into Lotharingia; while Louis II received Provence.
When Lothair II died in 869, his only sonHugh by his mistressWaldrada was declared illegitimate, so his only legal heir was his brother Louis II. If Louis II had inherited Lotharingia, Middle Francia would have been reunited. However, as Louis II was at that time campaigning against theEmirate of Bari, Lotharingia was partitioned between his unclesCharles the Bald andLouis the German by the Treaty of Meerssen in 870. Louis the German took Upper Burgundy, territory north of theJura mountains (Bourgogne Transjurane), while the rest went to Charles the Bald.
In 875 Louis II died without sons and named as his successor in Italy his cousinCarloman of Bavaria, eldest son of Louis the German. However,Pope John VIII, dealing with the constant threat of raiders from theEmirate of Sicily, sided with Charles the Bald.[2] After much confusion and conflict, Charles the Bald took Louis' realm in Italy. Carloman was crowned king of Bavaria in 876 and invaded Italy in 877 to claim the Kingdom of Italy, but on his death in 880 without any legitimate heirs, his kingdom went to his younger brother, KingCharles the Fat. Charles was crowned emperor by Pope John VIII in 881, and thus he reunited the entireCarolingian Empire in 884, although it lasted only until Charles' overthrow in 887.
