Louis the Pious

Timeline

1. 781–813Aquitaine · AquitaineMade King of Aquitaine by his father Charlemagne in 781 at age three, he oversaw defenses toward the Spanish March and Brittany. He grew up in Aquitaine and received a religious education, earning the epithet 'the Pious' for his particular concern with church affairs.
2. 813–814Aachen · North Rhine-WestphaliaIn 813 Charlemagne convened an imperial assembly at Aachen, naming Louis co-emperor and crowning him, securing a smooth succession. After Charlemagne's death in 814, Louis became sole ruler of the empire.
3. 814–840Frankfurt · HesseRuling alone he reformed church discipline (e.g. the Admonitio Generalis of 817) and issued the Divisio Imperii of 817 dividing the realm among his three sons. But struggles for the throne led to rebellions in 830 and 833; in 833 Louis was forced to surrender to his sons at the Field of Lies and briefly abdicated ('Louis the Debonair'), and though restored, imperial authority was badly damaged. He died in 840, and his three sons split the empire by the Treaty of Verdun (843).