Holy Roman Emperor Charles II FRANCE

   Another name for Charles was The BALD Le Chauve.

  General Notes:

Charles was the youngest son of Louis I, the Emperor of Germany and the Holy Roman Empire whose territories included France. When Louis died in 840, his three sons fought over how the empire would be divided among them. The empire (which had come from his father Charlemegne) was divided according to the Treaty of Verdun in 843 and Charles received the western part of the empire thus becoming the first to rule France as a separate kingdom.

Charles had many battles on many sides to fight. He was beseiged by the constant raiding of the Norsemen (called Normans in France) who he bribed so they would leave. The Bretons revolted against him and even Charles' own half-brothers and their sons fought against him. Louis, "The German", one of Charles' half-brothers, fought him for control of Lotharingia and finally forced Charles to share it. However, Charles was able to outsmart Louis and won control of Italy and the Roman Empire. When Charles' nephew, Lothair II, died, Louis and Charles seized control of his lands and split it between them in the Treaty of Meersen in 870. In 875, after the death of another nephew, Emperor Louis II, Charles was crowned Holy Roman Emperor on December 25th by Pope John VIII. A year later, Louis "The German" died and Charles invaded Germany but he was defeated by Louis' son, Louis "The Younger". Charles attacked Italy in 877 but was forced to retreat in order to attend to other rebellions and uprisings. He died on his way home from Italy.

Charles married Ermentrude DE ORLEANS, daughter of Count Of Orleans Eudes DE ORLEANS and Countess Of Orleans Engeltrude DE PARIS. (Ermentrude DE ORLEANS was born in 832 in Orleans, Loiret, France and died on 6 Oct 869.)

Charles next married Richeut DE METZ, daughter of Count Of Metz Budwine De Vienne DE METZ and Richilde D'arles DE BOURGOGNE, on 22 Nov 870 in Aix-La-Chapelle, Paris, France. (Richeut DE METZ was born in 854.)