Louis II (825 – 12 August 875), sometimes called the Younger, was the

king of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader, ...

and emperor of the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...

from 844, co-ruling with his father

Lothair I Lothair I or Lothar I ( Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bav ...

until 855, after which he ruled alone. Louis's usual title was ''imperator augustus'' ("august emperor"), but he used ''imperator Romanorum'' ("emperor of the Romans") after his conquest of Bari in 871, which led to poor relations with the

Eastern Roman Empire The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

. He was called ''imperator Italiae'' ("emperor of Italy") in

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

while the Byzantines called him '' Basileus Phrangias'' ("Emperor of Francia"). The chronicler Andreas of Bergamo, who is the main source for Louis's activities in southern Italy, notes that "after his death a great tribulation came to Italy."

Childhood

Louis was born in 825, the eldest son of the junior emperor

and his wife Ermengarde of Tours. His father was the son of the reigning emperor,

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

. Little is known about his early life, except that he grew up in his grandfather's court and probably developed a warm affection for the emperor who, in 839, designated his grandson as King of Italy, and let Louis take up his residence in that country. Louis the Pious died the next year, and his empire was partitioned between his sons, Louis' father, Lothair, and Louis' uncle,

Louis the German Louis the German (c. 806/810 – 28 August 876), also known as Louis II of Germany and Louis II of East Francia, was the first king of East Francia, and ruled from 843 to 876 AD. Grandson of emperor Charlemagne and the third son of Louis the Pi ...

. Under his father's rule, he was crowned king and co-emperor to the middle-aged Emperor Lothair I at

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus ( legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

Pope Sergius II Pope Sergius II ( la, Sergius II; died 27 January 847) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from January 844 to his death in 847. Sergius II's pontificate saw the Arab raid against Rome as well as the city's redevelopment. Rise ...

on 15 June 844. This ceremony mirrors the crowning of Lothair I by his father, a tradition started by Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious, who were, respectively, great grandfather and grandfather of Louis II.

Joint emperor

Louis II immediately claimed the rights of an emperor in the city, a claim which was decisively rejected; but in 850 he was crowned joint emperor at Rome by

Pope Leo IV Pope Leo IV (790 – 17 July 855) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 10 April 847 to his death. He is remembered for repairing Roman churches that had been damaged during the Arab raid against Rome, and for building the Le ...

, and soon afterwards, in 851, married Engelberga and undertook the independent government of Italy. He marched into the south of Italy in the year of his imperial coronation and compelled the rival dukes of Benevento, Radelchis I and Siconulf, to make peace. His mediation split the Lombard duchy and gave Radelchis his share with Benevento as his capital, whilst

Salerno Salerno (, , ; nap, label= Salernitano, Saliernë, ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' in Campania (southwestern Italy) and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after ...

was given to Siconulf as an independent principality. Radelchis, now pacified, had no need of his

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia P ...

mercenaries and happily betrayed them to the emperor. Louis fell on them and they were massacred. He then quashed some accusations against Pope Leo and held a

Diet Diet may refer to: Food * Diet (nutrition), the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group * Dieting, the deliberate selection of food to control body weight or nutrient intake ** Diet food, foods that aid in creating a diet for weight loss ...

Pavia Pavia (, , , ; la, Ticinum; Medieval Latin: ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy in northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino river near its confluence with the Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was the cap ...

. He confirmed the usurping

regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state ''pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy, ...

Peter Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a su ...

as prince of Salerno in December 853, displacing the dynasty he had installed there three years earlier. On the death of his father in September 855, he became sole emperor.

Sole emperor

Carolingian interventions

The division of Lothair's dominions, by which he obtained no territory outside Italy, aroused his discontent, and in 857 he allied himself with

against his own brother

Lothair II Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was the king of Lotharingia from 855 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga (died 875), daughter of Boso the Elder. Reign For politi ...

, and King

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a s ...

. But after Louis had secured the election of

Pope Nicholas I Pope Nicholas I ( la, Nicolaus I; c. 800 – 13 November 867), called Nicholas the Great, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 24 April 858 until his death. He is remembered as a consolidator of papal authority, exerting dec ...

in 858, he became reconciled with his brother, and received some lands south of the

Jura mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Fre ...

in return for assistance given to Lothair in his efforts to obtain a divorce from his wife, Teutberga. In 863, upon the death of his brother Charles, Louis received the kingdom of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border ...

, and in 864 came into collision with Pope Nicholas I over his brother's divorce. The archbishops, who had been deposed by Nicholas for proclaiming this marriage invalid, obtained the support of the emperor, who reached Rome with an army in February 864; but, having been seized with fever, he made peace with the pope and left the city.

Bari

In his efforts to restore order in Italy, Louis met with considerable success both against Italy's turbulent princes and against the

s who were ravaging southern Italy. In 866, after issuing a call for assistance to fight the

s, he routed these invaders, but could not follow up his successes owing to the lack of a fleet. So in 869 he made alliance with the eastern emperor,

Basil I Basil I, called the Macedonian ( el, Βασίλειος ὁ Μακεδών, ''Basíleios ō Makedṓn'', 811 – 29 August 886), was a Byzantine Emperor who reigned from 867 to 886. Born a lowly peasant in the theme of Macedonia, he rose in the ...

, who sent him ships to assist in the capture of Bari, capital of the

Emirate of Bari The Emirate of Bari was a short-lived Islamic state in Apulia ruled by non-Arabs, probably Berbers and Black Africans. Controlled from the South Italian city of Bari, it was established about 847 when the region was taken from the Byzantine Em ...

, which succumbed in 871. Meanwhile, his brother Lothair had died in 869, and owing to his detention in southern Italy, Louis failed to prevent the partition of

Lotharingia Lotharingia ( la, regnum Lotharii regnum Lothariense Lotharingia; french: Lotharingie; german: Reich des Lothar Lotharingien Mittelreich; nl, Lotharingen) was a short-lived medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire. As a more durable ...

between Louis the German and Charles the Bald. Some jealousy between Louis and Basil followed the victory at Bari, and in reply to an insult from the eastern emperor Louis attempted to justify his right to the title "emperor of the Romans." Letter of Louis II to Basil
(discussion with full English translation)

Benevento

He had withdrawn into

Benevento Benevento (, , ; la, Beneventum) is a city and '' comune'' of Campania, Italy, capital of the province of Benevento, northeast of Naples. It is situated on a hill above sea level at the confluence of the Calore Irpino (or Beneventano) and t ...

to prepare for a further campaign when he was treacherously attacked in his palace, robbed and imprisoned by Adelchis, prince of Benevento, in August 871. The capture of Louis was lamented in a contemporary short poem, the '' Rythmus de captivitate Ludovici imperatoris''. The landing of fresh bands of Saracens compelled Adelchis to release his prisoner a month later, and Louis was forced to swear he would take no revenge for this injury, nor ever enter Benevento with an army. Returning to Rome, he was released from his oath, and was crowned a second time as emperor by

Pope Adrian II Pope Adrian II ( la, Adrianus II; also Hadrian II; 79214 December 872) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 867 to his death. He continued the policy of his predecessor, Nicholas I. Despite seeking good relations with Louis ...

on 18 May 872. Then Louis won further successes against the Saracens, relieving the siege of Salerno and driving them from

Capua Capua ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in the province of Caserta, in the region of Campania, southern Italy, situated north of Naples, on the northeastern edge of the Campanian plain. History Ancient era The name of Capua comes from the Etrusc ...

, but the emperor's attempts to punish Adelchis were not very successful. Returning to northern Italy, he died, near Ghedi, in what is now the

province of Brescia The Province of Brescia ( it, provincia di Brescia; Brescian: ) is a Province in the Lombardy administrative region of northern Italy. It has a population of some 1,265,964 (as of January 2019) and its capital is the city of Brescia. With an ...

, on 12 August 875, having named as his successor in Italy his cousin Carloman, son of Louis the German. Louis was buried in the

Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio The Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio (official name: ''Basilica romana minore collegiata abbaziale prepositurale di Sant'Ambrogio'') is a church in the center of Milan, northern Italy. History One of the most ancient churches in Milan, it was built by ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

Family

On 5 October 851 Louis married Engelberga, daughter of

Adelchis I of Spoleto Adelchis I or Adelgis I (died c. 861) was the Count of Parma by the 830s, of Cremona after 841, and eventually of Brescia. According to some sources, he succeeded to the Duchy of Spoleto in 824. He was a second son of Suppo I and father of Suppo ...

. They had two daughters: * Gisela (852/855-before 28 April 868), Abbess of the Monastery of San Salvador of Brescia from the year 861. * Ermengard of Italy, who married

Boso of Provence Boso (french: Boson; c. 841 – 11 January 887) was a Frankish nobleman of the Bosonid family who was related to the Carolingian dynasty and who rose to become King of Lower Burgundy and Provence. Origin Boso was the son of Bivin of Gorze, c ...

and had issue with him.

Notes

Sources

* * *''

Annales Bertiniani ''Annales Bertiniani'' (''Annals of Saint Bertin'') are late Carolingian, Frankish annals that were found in the Abbey of Saint Bertin, Saint-Omer, France, after which they are named. Their account is taken to cover the period 830-82, thus conti ...

'' and ''Chronica S. Benedicti Casinensis'', both in the ''

Monumenta Germaniae Historica The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Roman Empir ...

. Scriptores'', Bände i. and iii. (Hanover and Berlin, 1826 fol.) * Muratori, L. A. Antiquitates Italicæ Medii ævi, Tome XIV, col. 106. (1778) *Muhlbacher, E. ''Die Regesten des Kaiserreichs unter den Karolingern'' (Innsbruck, 1881) *Sickel, T. ''Acta regum et imperatorum Karolinorum, digesta et enarrata'' (Vienna, 1867—1868) {{DEFAULTSORT:Louis 02 Of Italy 825 births 875 deaths 9th-century Holy Roman Emperors 9th-century kings of Italy Frankish warriors Burials at the Basilica of Sant'Ambrogio Sons of emperors