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Charles the Fat〔Charles' nickname "the Fat" is a twelfth-century concoction. Charles' actual girth is unknown.〕 (13 June 839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles III, was the Carolingian Emperor from 881 to 888. The youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, Charles was a great-grandson of Charlemagne and was the last Carolingian to rule over a united empire. Over his lifetime, Charles became ruler of the various kingdoms of Charlemagne's former Empire. Granted lordship over Alamannia in 876 following the division of East Francia, he succeeded to the Italian throne upon the abdication of his older brother Carloman of Bavaria who had been incapacitated by a stroke. Crowned Emperor in 881 by Pope John VIII, his succession to the territories of his brother Louis the Younger (Saxony and Bavaria) the following year reunited East Francia. Upon the death of his cousin Carloman II in 884, he inherited all of West Francia, reuniting the entire Carolingian Empire. The reunited Empire would not last. During a coup led by his nephew Arnulf of Carinthia in November 887, Charles was deposed in East Francia, Lotharingia, and Italy. Forced into quiet retirement, he died of natural causes in January 888, just a few weeks after his deposition. The Empire quickly fell apart after his death, never to be restored, with the Empire splintering into five separate successor kingdoms. Usually considered lethargic and inept – he is known to have had repeated illnesses and is believed to have suffered from epilepsy – he twice purchased peace with Viking raiders, including at the famous siege of Paris in 886. Nevertheless, contemporary opinion of him was not nearly so negative as modern historiographical opinion. ==Youth and inheritance== Charles was the youngest of the three sons of Louis the German, first King of East Francia, and Emma, a Welf. An incident of demonic possession is recorded in his youth, in which he was said to have been foaming at the mouth before he was taken to the altar of the church. This greatly affected his father and himself. He was described as "a very Christian prince, fearing God, with all his heart keeping His commandments, very devoutly obeying the orders of the Church, generous in alms-giving, practising unceasingly prayer and song, always intent upon celebrating the praises of God." In AD 859, Charles was made Count of the Breisgau, an Alemannic march against southern Lotharingia.〔Reuter, 72.〕 In 863, his rebellious eldest brother Carloman revolted against their father. The next year, Louis the Younger followed Carloman in revolt and Charles joined him. Carloman was invested with Bavaria as co-king. In 865, the elder Louis was forced to divide his lands among his heirs: Bavaria went to Carloman; Saxony (with Franconia and Thuringia) went to Louis; and Alemannia (Swabia with Rhaetia) went to Charles. Lotharingia was to be divided between the younger two. When, in 875, the Emperor Louis II, who was also King of Italy, died, having come to terms with Louis the German whereby Carloman would succeed in Italy, Charles the Bald of West Francia invaded the peninsula and had himself crowned king and emperor.〔AF, 875 (p.77 and n8).〕 Louis the German sent first Charles and then Carloman himself, with armies containing Italian forces under Berengar of Friuli, their cousin, to possess the Italian kingdom.〔〔MacLean, 70.〕 This was not, however, successful until the death of Charles the Bald in 877. In 876, Louis died and the inheritance went as planned after a conference at Ries, though Charles received less of his share of Lotharingia than planned. In his charters, Charles' reign in ''Germania'' is dated from his inheritance in 876. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Charles the Fat」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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