HERALDRY

At the death of Charlemagne, the empire and the kingdom passed to his son, Louis the Pious, and, after a civil war, the Treaty of Verdun, signed in August 843, divided the Carolingian Kingdom among Charlemagne’s three grandsons: Charles the Bald, ruler of the Kingdom of the Western Franks; Louis the German, king of the Eastern Franks(Germany); and Lothair, king of Middle Francia. The imperial title, which was mostly formal, was assigned to Lothair.

Middle Francia was short-lived: with the Treaty of Meerssen in 870, Charles the Bald and Louis II the Germandivided the kingdom of their nephew, Lothair II, who had died in 869. Every death was followed by conflicts and agreements to determine who would inherit a territory or the imperial title. Charles the Fat, emperor from 881 to 887, was the last emperor of the Carolingian dynasty.

Let’s fast-forward and briefly list a few dynasties; soon, we will pause again to reflect on this ruthless summary.

Otto the Great, Duke of Saxony, King of the Eastern Franks, and King of Italy, was crowned emperor by Pope John XIIin 962. Otto founded the Ottonian dynasty. Conrad II of Franconia, who ascended to the imperial throne in 1027, was the first of the Salian dynasty, while Henry V of Franconia was the last (1111–1125).

The political rise of the House of Hohenstaufen began in 1079 when Frederick the Elder was granted the title of Duke of Swabia. In 1138, Conrad, son of Duke Frederick the Elder, of the Hohenstaufen house, was elected Holy Roman Emperor by the Diet of Koblenz. The dynasty would hold the imperial title with Frederick I Barbarossa (1155–1190), Henry VI (1191–1197), Philip of Swabia (1208), Frederick II (1220–1250), and Conrad IV (1250–1254).

This is a lot of information—so what should we remember? With the Treaty of Verdun (843), the Kingdom of the Franks was divided, and only one king was given the imperial title. Otto, Duke of Saxony, King of the Eastern Franks, and King of Italy, was crowned emperor by the Pope (962).