General Notes

Name Prefix:<NPFX> King
(Research):(lothâr´) , 795-855, emperor of the West (840-55
), son and successor of Louis I . In 817 his father crowne
d him coemperor. He was recrowned (823) at Rome by the pop
e and issued (824) a constitution, proclaiming his right t
o confirm papal elections. He twice (830, 833) revolted aga
inst his father, who favored Lothair's half brother Charle
s (Charles the Bald, later Charles II ) at his elder son'
s expense, and in 833, with his brothers Pepin and Louis th
e German , he succeeded in temporarily deposing Louis I. Ho
wever, his brothers deserted him and restored Louis. Lothai
r retained only Italy. He later was reconciled with his fat
her, who in 838 allotted him almost the whole eastern hal
f of the empire, the west (France) going to Charles. Afte
r Louis's death Charles and Louis the German made war on th
eir brother Lothair, who tried to reunite the whole empir
e under his sole rule. The battle of Fontenoy (841), althou
gh indecisive, checked Lothair. Renewing their alliance i
n 842 (see Strasbourg, Oath of ), Charles and Louis the Ger
man forced (843) Lothair to sign the fateful Treaty of Verd
un (see Verdun, Treaty of ), which partitioned the empire o
f Charlemagne among the three brothers; Lothair retained th
e imperial title. He subdivided his domains among his son
s Louis II , who was crowned emperor at Rome in 850, Lothai
r , king of Lotharingia, and Charles. In 855 he abdicated a
nd became a monk. 
Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, Copyright (c) 2004.