You can mark you interesting snippets of text that will be available through a unique link in your browser.


Louis V of France

Louis V of France

Louis V (c. 967 – 21 May 987), called the Indolent or the Sluggard (from French "Louis le Fainéant", meaning "Louis Do-Nothing"), was the King of France from 986 until his early death. The son of King Lothair and his wife Emma, a daughter of the Lothair II of Italy, he was the last Carolingian monarch.

Louis was crowned in June of 979 but did not actually assume power until Lothair's death in 986. Louis V was the last Carolingian king of France and reigned in Laon from March 2, 986 until his own death, at the age of 20, in 987. It may be because he reigned for only one year that medieval biographers awarded him the title "qui nihil fecit" — "who did nothing".

He married Adelaide of Anjou in 980 in Brioude, where they were immediately crowned King and Queen of Aquitaine. The couple was mismatched, as the age difference was great between the two, and they had no children together. She soon divorced him and fled his house in 982 to Arles.

He inherited a battle between his father's line of elected kings, which had been interrupted twice by the Robertian kings, and the house of the Holy Roman Emperor Otto I. As defender of Rome, Otto had the power to name the clergy in Carolingian territory, and the clergy he had named were not supporting the Carolingians.

One particular foe was Adalberon, archbishop of Reims whom Otto I had elevated to the powerful archbishopric of Reims. During Lothair's time, Adalberon had tried to negotiate an alliance between the two houses; but the deal had gone bad, and Lothair had tried him for treason in 986. Lothair died at around the same time. Louis V inherited the throne, Lothair's widow, Emma, married a descendant of Otto I, and Louis V received Adalberon again.

Louis died in late May of 987, either accidentally or of poisoning by his mother; at the time of his death, he was again trying Adalberon for treason. He left no legitimate heirs, so his uncle Charles, the Duke of Lower Lorraine, was advanced as the hereditary successor to the throne. But the clergy, including both Adalberon and Gerbert (who later became Pope Sylvester II), argued eloquently for Hugh Capet, who was not only of noble blood but had proven himself through his actions and his military might. Capet was elected to the Frankish throne and Adalberon crowned him, all within two months of Louis V's death. Thus the Carolingian dynasty ended and the Capetian began.

ources

*Catholic
*Gwatkin, H.M., Whitney, J.P. (ed) et al. "The Cambridge Medieval History: Volume III". Cambridge University Press, 1926.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

  
Share  

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Louis XIV of France — Louis XIV and Louis Quatorze redirect here. For other uses, see Louis XIV (disambiguation) and Louis Quatorze (disambiguation). Sun King and Le Roi Soleil redirect here. For the Beatles song, see Sun King (song). For the French musical, see Le… …   Wikipedia

  • Louis XVI of France — Louis XVI Louis XVI by Antoine François Callet King of France and Navarre Reign …   Wikipedia

  • Louis XV of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch name=Louis XV title=King of France and Navarre caption=Louis XV by Hyacinthe Rigaud (1730) reign=1 September 1715 ndash; 10 May 1774 coronation=25 October 1722, Reims titles= HM The King HRH The Dauphin of Viennois… …   Wikipedia

  • Louis IX of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch name=Louis IX title=King of France caption=Representation of Saint Louis considered to be true to life Early 14th century statue from the church of Mainneville, Eure, France reign=8 November 1226 – 25 August 1270… …   Wikipedia

  • Louis VII of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch name=Louis VII the Young title=King of the Franks; Duke of Aquitaine caption= Louis VII the Young of France reign=25 October 1131 – 1 August 1137 1 August 1137 – 18 September 1180 reign type=Junior king Senior king… …   Wikipedia

  • Louis XVII of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch name = Louis XVII title =King of France and Navarre caption =Louis in 1792, portrait by Alexander Kucharsky reign =de jure 21 January, 1793 – 8 June, 1795 full name =Louis Charles titles = HMCM The King HRH The… …   Wikipedia

  • Louis XI of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch name=Louis XI the Prudent title=King of France caption= reign=22 July 1461 − 30 August 1483 coronation=15 August 1461, Reims othertitles= The King of France The Dauphin of Viennois full name= predecessor=Charles VII …   Wikipedia

  • Louis-Philippe of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch name =Louis Philippe title =King of the French caption = reign =9 August 1830 ndash; 24 February 1848 coronation = predecessor = Charles X successor = Second Republic Philippe VII (Orléanist pretender) spouse =Marie …   Wikipedia

  • Louis XVIII of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch name=Louis XVIII title=King of France and Navarre caption= reign= De jure 8 June 1795 – 16 September 1824 De facto 6 April 1814 – 20 March 1815; 8 July 1815 – 16 September 1824 coronation= full name=Louis Stanislas… …   Wikipedia

  • Louis XII of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch name=Louis XII title=King of France and Naples; Duke of Brittany; Count of Provence caption= reign=7 April 1498 – 1 January 1515 coronation=27 May 1498, Reims titles=The King of France The King of Naples The Duke of …   Wikipedia

  • Louis VIII of France — Infobox French Royalty|monarch|name=Louis VIII the Lion title=King of the Franks; Count of Artois caption= reign=14 July 1223 – 8 November 1226 coronation=6 August 1223 full name= predecessor=Philip II Augustus successor=Louis IX spouse=Blanche… …   Wikipedia