Charles the Fat
Sign in to saveEmperor of the Carolingian Empire (839-888) (r. 881-887)
AI overview
Charles the Fat was a Carolingian emperor who ruled from 881 to 887, a period when the once-powerful empire founded by Charlemagne was fragmenting into separate kingdoms. He is historically significant because his reign marked the beginning of the end of the unified Carolingian Empire, as he proved unable to effectively govern or defend his vast territories against external threats and internal divisions.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Listeners · Last.fm
- Listeners
- 2
- Total plays
- 2
<a href="https://www.last.fm/music/Charles+The+Fat">Read more on Last.fm</a>
Article
Charles the Fat (839 – 13 January 888) was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 887. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was the last Carolingian emperor of legitimate birth and the last to rule a united kingdom of the Franks.
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 the kingdom of East Francia. Upon the death of his cousin Carloman II in 884, he inherited all of West Francia, thus reuniting the entire Carolingian Empire.
Gallery (6)
Connections
Categories
839 births888 deaths9th-century dukes of Bavaria9th-century Holy Roman Emperors9th-century kings of East Francia9th-century kings of Italy9th-century kings of West FranciaBurials at the Imperial Abbey of ReichenauCarolingian dynastyDukes of SwabiaFrankish warriorsGerman royalty and nobility with disabilities