- Lothair II of Lotharingia
Infobox Monarch
name =Lothair II
title =King of Lotharingia
caption =Seal of Lothair II
reign =855-869
coronation =
othertitles =
full name =
predecessor =Emperor Lothair I as King of Middle Francia
successor =Lands divided betweenLouis the German andCharles the Bald
suc-type =Heir
heir =Hugh, Duke of Alsace
queen =Teutberga
consort =Waldrada
spouse 1 =
spouse 2 =
spouse 3 =
spouse 4 =
spouse 5 =
spouse 6 =
issue =Hugh, Duke of Alsace ,Gisela of Frisia , Bertha
royal house =Carolingian Dynasty
dynasty =
royal anthem =
father =Emperor Lothair I
mother =Ermengarde of Tours
date of birth =835
place of birth =
date of death =8 August 869
place of death =Piacenza
date of burial =
place of burial =|Lothair II (
835 -August 8 ,869 ), was the second son of EmperorLothair I andErmengarde of Tours . He was married toTeutberga , daughter ofBoso the Elder Upon his father's death in 855, he received as his kingdom a territory west of the
Rhine stretching from theNorth Sea to theJura mountains . It became known as "Regnum Lotharii" and early in the 10th century asLotharingia or Lorraine (a designation subsequently applied only to theduchy of Lorraine ). His elder brother Louis II received northernItaly and the title of Emperor, and his younger brother Charles received the western parts of his father's domains,Burgundy and theProvence .On the death of his brother Charles in 863, Lothair added some lands south of the Jura to this realm, but except for a few feeble expeditions against the Norman pirates he seems to have done little for its government or its defense.
Lothair's reign was chiefly occupied by his efforts to obtain a divorce from his wife Theutberga, a sister of Hucbert, abbot of St Maurice (d. 864) and daughter of the
Bosonid Boso the Elder , and his relations with his unclesCharles the Bald andLouis the German were influenced by his desire to obtain their support for this endeavor. Although quarrels and reconciliations between the three kings followed each other in quick succession, in general it may be said that Louis favoured the divorce, and Charles opposed it, while neither lost sight of the fact that Lothair had no sons to inherit his lands. Lothair, whose desire for the divorce was prompted by his affection for his mistress, Waldrada, put away Theutberga, but Hucbert took up arms on her behalf, and after she had submitted successfully to theordeal of water , Lothair was compelled to restore her in 858. Still pursuing his purpose, he won the support of his brother, Emperor Louis II, by a cession of lands and obtained the consent of the local clergy to the divorce and to his marriage with Waldrada, which took place in 862.A
synod ofFrankish bishop s met atMetz in 863 and confirmed this decision, but Teutberga fled to the court ofCharles the Bald , andPope Nicholas I voided the decision of the synod. An attack onRome by the emperor was without result, and in 865 Lothair, threatened withexcommunication and convinced that Louis and Charles at their recent meeting had discussed the partition of his kingdom, again took back his wife. Teutberga, however, either from inclination or compulsion, now expressed her desire for a divorce, and Lothair went to Italy to obtain the assent of the new pope, Adrian II. Placing a favourable interpretation upon the words of the pope, he had set out on the return journey, when he was seized with fever and died atPiacenza on the August 8, 869. He left, by Waldrada, a son Hugo who was declared illegitimate, and his kingdom was divided between his unclesCharles the Bald andLouis the German by theTreaty of Mersen .Illegitimate children
*Hugh (c.855-895),
Duke of Alsace
*Gisela (865-908), married Godfrey, Duke of Frisia
*Bertha (c.863-925), marriedTheobald of Arles , brother of Theutberga, and thenAdalbert II of Tuscany
*ErmengardReferences
*
Hincmar , "Opusculum de divortio Lotharii regis et Tetbergae reginae," in "Cursus completus patrologiae", tome cxxv., edited by J. P. Migne (Paris, 1857-1879)
*M. Sdralek , "Hinkmars von Rheims Kanonistisches Gutachten uber die Ehescheidung des Königs Lothar II" (Freiburg, 1881)
*E. Dummler , "Geschichte des ostfränkischen Reiches" (Leipzig, 1887-1888)
*E. Muhlbacher , "Die Regenten des Kaiserreichs unter den Karolingern" (Innsbruck, 1881)
*1911
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