Louis I the Pious

Born 778; died June 20, 840, in Ingelheim. Frankish emperor from 814. Son of Charlemagne.

In 781 the pope crowned Louis king of Aquitaine, and in 813, Charlemagne proclaimed him coemperor. Louis the Pious was a protector of the church (hence his appellation). He attempted in vain to preserve the integrity of the empire that he inherited from his father. Louis harshly suppressed uprisings by peoples who had been previously conquered (Serbs, Bretons, and others). In 817 he divided the administration of the state among his three sons, after making the eldest of them his coruler (the other brothers were supposed to be subordinate to him) as well as the heir to the imperial crown. In striving to apportion a separate appanage to his son Charles (born 823; subsequently known as Charles the Bald), Louis promulgated a repartition of the empire in 829. This action provoked the resistance of his elder sons, and in 833 they removed Louis the Pious from power. In 834 he was restored to the throne, but until the very end of his life Louis was forced to struggle with his sons and the magnates who supported them.