1-156-840 - Ann Ronan Picture Library/Heritage-Images

Lothair I, Frankish Emperor, 9th century. Lothair (795-855) seated on a throne and wearing a crown flanked by two guards. When the Emperor Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, divided the empire between his three sons in 817 in an attempt to ensure an orderly succession, he proclaimed his eldest son, Lothair, co-emperor and King of Italy. After the death of Louis' wife Ermengarde, he remarried and had a fourth son, who he also wanted to have a share of the empire. The three elder sons revolted and civil war ensued, with the brothers eventually fighting amongst themselves when Lothair claimed the entire empire for himself after Louis died in 840. The final outcome saw the Empire of the Franks split into three parts. Lothair had the imperial title and ruled Italy and a territory stretching from the Mediterranean to the North Sea along the Rhone and Rhine valleys, although he left the government of Italy to his eldest son, Louis. From (Gospel of Lothair).