Lotharingia
Early medieval kingdom and duchy named after King Lothair II.
Lotharingia was an early medieval territory and political entity that lasted from the mid-9th to the mid-10th century. It was created in 855 through the Treaty of Prüm as a separate kingdom inside the Carolingian Empire, but it was dissolved just over a decade later, in 869–870, when the Treaty of Meerssen split it up. The region was brought back together in 880 under the Treaty of Ribemont, then revived as a kingdom from 895 to 900. Starting in 903, it was reorganized as a duchy, which remained intact until 959 or 965, when it was split into two: Upper Lotharingia in the south and Lower Lotharingia in the north. Before that final division, Lotharingia covered what is now Lorraine in France, Luxembourg, parts of Switzerland, sections of modern Germany west of the Rhine, most of Belgium, and the Netherlands.
The name “Lotharingia” roughly means “the land of Lothair,” coming from its first ruler, King Lothair II, who received this territory as his portion of the Kingdom of Middle Francia. Ongoing conflicts between East and West Francia over Lotharingia stemmed from the fact that these lands were the old Frankish heartlands of Austrasia; controlling them gave a king prestige as the true heir to the Frankish imperial legacy. Modern scholars have reexamined traditional views about when and how Lotharingia was finally divided in 959–965, noting that some key records from that period survive only in later copies, some of which are questionable or have been altered.
**Name**
Lotharingia was referred to as *regnum quondam Lotharii* or *regnum Lotharii* (“the kingdom [once] of Lothair”). Its people were called *Lotharii* (from *Lotharius*), *Lotharienses* (from *Lothariensis*), or *Lotharingi*—the last of these gives the modern Dutch, German, and Luxembourgish names for the province: Lotharingen, Lothringen, and Loutrengen. The term *Lotharingi* was built with the Germanic suffix *-ing*, which indicates ancestry or family ties, and from it came the Latin *Lotharingia* (using the Latin suffix *-ia*, meaning a country) in the 10th century. Later French words like “Lorraine” and “Lothier” also trace back to this Latin term.
**Middle Francia, 843–855**
In 817, Emperor Louis the Pious drew up plans to split the Carolingian Empire among his three sons after his death. What he hadn’t anticipated in 817 was another heir beyond those three grown sons. A fourth son, Charles the Bald, was born in 823 to Louis’s second wife, Judith of Bavaria. When Louis tried in 833 to redraw the empire’s division in Charles’s favor, his adult sons—Lothair, Pepin, and Louis—opposed him. A decade of civil war and shifting alliances followed, broken only by short periods of peace. Pepin died in 838, and Louis the Pious in 840. The three surviving brothers made peace and carved up the empire with the 843 Treaty of Verdun. Lothair, as the eldest, kept the imperial title and received a long strip of land stretching from the North Sea down to southern Italy. The reasoning behind this division was that Lothair already held the crown of the Kingdom of Italy (his subkingdom under Louis the Pious), and as emperor he needed to rule from Aachen—Charlemagne’s capital—and from Rome, the ancient imperial seat. Middle Francia (*Francia media*) therefore included all the territory between Aachen and Rome, and historians have sometimes called it the “Lotharingian axis.”
**Kingdom of Lotharingia**
In 855, as Lothair I lay dying at Prüm Abbey, he split his kingdom among his three sons through the Treaty of Prüm. The eldest, Louis II, received Italy along with the imperial title. The youngest, Charles, still a child, got Provence. The middle son, Lothair II, took the remaining lands north of Provence—a kingdom that had no ethnic or linguistic unity. Lothair II ruled from Aachen and never left his kingdom. When he died in 869, he left no legitimate children, only an illegitimate son, Hugh, Duke of Alsace. His uncles—Louis the German, king of East Francia, and Charles the Bald, king of West Francia—both wanted to rule all of Lotharingia. They agreed to split it between them with the 870 Treaty of Meerssen: the western half went to West Francia, the eastern half to East Francia. So Lotharingia as a united kingdom vanished for a few years. In 876, Charles the Bald invaded eastern Lotharingia hoping to seize it, but Louis the German’s son, Louis the Younger, defeated him near Andernach. In 879, a faction of West Frankish nobles invited Louis the Younger to succeed Charles the Bald’s son, Louis the Stammerer, on the West Frankish throne. After a short war, Louis the Stammerer’s young sons, Carloman II and Louis III, gave up western Lotharingia to Louis. The border between the two kingdoms was set at Saint-Quentin in 880 by the Treaty of Ribemont. In November 887, Arnulf of Carinthia convened a council of East Frankish nobles to depose Emperor Charles the Fat, who by 884 had inherited all the empire’s thrones. The Lotharingian aristocracy, wanting to assert its right to elect a ruler, joined the other East Frankish nobles in deposing Charles the Fat in 887 and chose Arnulf as their king. Arnulf’s rule in East Francia was initially challenged by Guy III of Spoleto (who became king of Italy) and by Rudolph I of Burgundy (elected king in the southern half of former Middle Francia, Upper Burgundy). Rudolph had hoped to make himself king of all Lothair II’s former kingdom but had to settle for Burgundy. Arnulf defeated the Vikings in 891 and drove them from their settlements at Louvain. In 895, he appointed his illegitimate son Zwentibold as king of Lotharingia, who ruled semi-independently until he was overthrown.
- First ruler
- Lothair II
- Type
- Kingdom, later duchy
- Region
- Western Europe (modern France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland)
Lore & Background
Lotharingia was a historical region and early medieval polity that existed from the mid-9th to mid-10th century. Its name, meaning "the land of Lothair," derived from its first ruler, King Lothair II, who received the territory as his share of Middle Francia. The region encompassed present-day Lorraine (France), Luxembourg, parts of Switzerland, modern Germany west of the Rhine, most of Belgium, and the Netherlands. It was established as a distinct kingdom in 855 by the Treaty of Prüm but was abolished in 869–870 when divided by the Treaty of Meerssen. Reunited in 880 by the Treaty of Ribemont, it was briefly a kingdom again from 895 to 900. From 903 it was organized as a duchy, existing until 959 or 965, when it split into Upper Lotharingia (southern half) and Lower Lotharingia (northern half). The region was the old Frankish homeland of Austrasia, making its possession a matter of great prestige for the kings of East and West Francia, who saw it as key to claiming the Frankish imperial legacy. Its inhabitants were called Lotharii, Lotharienses, or Lotharingi, the latter term giving rise to the Latin Lotharingia in the 10th century. Later French terms like "Lorraine" and "Lothier" derive from this Latin name. The kingdom lacked ethnic or linguistic unity, and its final division in 959–965 has been analyzed by modern scholars, who noted that key sources for the period survive only as later copies, some doubtful or interpolated.
Reader's Guide
Lotharingia's significance lies in its role as a contested buffer zone between East and West Francia, reflecting the struggle over the Frankish imperial legacy. Its existence as a distinct kingdom and later duchy illustrates the fragmentation of the Carolingian Empire and the emergence of medieval political identities. The region's name, derived from Lothair II, persisted in the later French term 'Lorraine' and the German 'Lothringen'. Modern scholars note that key sources for this period are preserved only as later copies, some doubtful or interpolated, leaving uncertainties about the exact chronology and nature of the partition.
Did You Know?
- Lotharingia was known in Latin as 'regnum quondam Lotharii' or 'regnum Lotharii'.
- Its inhabitants were called Lotharii, Lotharienses, or Lotharingi.
From the Lotharingian Axis to a Northern Kingdom
The eldest, Lothair, retained the imperial title and received a long territorial corridor stretching from the North Sea down to southern Italy. The underlying logic was that Lothair held the Italian crown and, as emperor, should govern from both Aachen—Charlemagne's capital—and Rome. This middle strip, sometimes called the "Lotharingian axis" by historians, contained all the land between those two cities. When Lothair I lay dying at Prüm Abbey in 855, he partitioned this realm among his three sons. The middle son, Lothair II, inherited the northern territories above Provence, a kingdom that, as the sources note, lacked any real ethnic or linguistic unity.
A Contested Crown: Prestige, War, and the Struggle for Lotharingia
The repeated conflicts between East and West Francia over Lotharingia were rooted in a deep sense of legitimacy. The territory corresponded to the old Frankish homelands of Austrasia, and controlling it signaled to both rival courts that their king was the true heir to the Frankish imperial legacy. His uncles, Louis the German and Charles the Bald, each coveted the whole region. Yet Charles invaded the eastern portion in 876 and was repelled near Andernach by Louis's son.
From Kingdom to Duchy: The Final Transformation
After Lothair II's line ended, the region passed through several political forms before settling into a duchy. With Zwentibold's death, the kingdom ceased to exist. The duchy endured under various rulers through the early Ottonian period, encompassing a vast territory that included present-day Lorraine, Luxembourg, parts of Switzerland, regions of modern Germany west of the Rhine, most of Belgium, and the Netherlands. This partition marked the end of Lotharingia as a unified political unit and reshaped the map of western Europe for centuries to come.
Names, Identity, and the Problem of Sources
The very name Lotharingia carries the imprint of its first ruler. In Latin, the region was called regnum quondam Lotharii or regnum Lotharii, meaning "the kingdom once Lothair's." Its inhabitants were referred to as Lotharii, Lotharienses, or Lotharingi—the last term formed with the Germanic suffix -ing, which denotes ancestral or familial ties. By the 10th century, this Germanic root combined with the Latin country suffix -ia to produce Lotharingia. The name radiated outward: it became Lotharingen in Dutch, Lothringen in German, and Loutrengen in Luxembourgish, while later French forms like Lorraine and Lothier descend from the Latin version. Yet the historical record itself is fraught with difficulty. This textual uncertainty complicates any straightforward narrative of how and exactly when the duchy was split.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was Lotharingia located?
The region covered a broad swath of Western Europe, encompassing what is now Lorraine in France, Luxembourg, parts of Switzerland, and areas of modern Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany. Its exact borders shifted over time as successive treaties redrew the map.
Why is Lotharingia important to medieval European history?
Its repeated creation and dissolution through major treaties like Prüm, Meerssen, and Ribemont directly shaped the political geography of the former Carolingian Empire. The region's chronic instability also helped drive the emergence of the separate French and German kingdoms that grew from its remnants.
More in Medieval Europe 1-24
Spotted an error? Know more?
This is a living reference — every entry is fact-audited, and reader corrections feed straight into our audit queue. Suggest an edit · See this site's audit record