Lotharingia

Lotharingia
855–959
The Kingdom of Lotharingia (  purple) and other Carolingian kingdoms following the Treaty of Prüm, 855
Capital		Not specified
Languages		Old Frisian, Old Dutch, Old High German, Old Low German, Old French, Middle Latin
Religion		Christianity
Government		Monarchy
King/Duke
•	866–869	Lothair II
•	953–965	Bruno the Great
Historical era		Medieval
•	Treaty of Prüm	855
•	Division	959
Preceded by Succeeded by Middle Francia Duchy of Lower Lorraine Duchy of Upper Lorraine Duchy of Swabia
Today part of		Belgium  France  Germany  Luxembourg  Netherlands

Lotharingia from Latin Lotharii regnum was a medieval successor kingdom of the Carolingian Empire, comprising the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany), Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany), Saarland (Germany), and Lorraine (France). It was named after King Lothair II who received this territory after the kingdom of Middle Francia of his father Lothair I was divided among his sons in 855.

Lotharingia was born out of the tripartite division in 855 of the kingdom of Middle Francia, which itself was formed after the threefold division of the Carolingian Empire by the Treaty of Verdun of 843. Neither Lotharingia nor Middle Francia had any natural coherence, but each was conceived after territorial division of a larger realm. Conflict between East and West Francia over Lotharingia was based on the fact that these were the old Frankish homelands of Austrasia, so possession of them was of great prestige.

Because Lotharingia lacked historic or ethnic identity, contemporaries were unsure what to call it and so it became regnum quondam Lotharii or Lotharii regnum ("kingdom [once] Lothair's") and its inhabitants Lotharii (from Lotharius), Lotharienses (from Lothariensis), or Lotharingi (which gives the modern German name for the province Lothringen). The latter term, formed with the Germanic suffix -ing, indicating ancestral or familial relationships, gave rise to the Latin term Lotharingia (from the Latin suffix -ia, indicating a country) in the tenth century. Later French terms like "Lorraine" and "Lothier" are derived from this Latin term.

In 817 emperor Louis the Pious made plans for division of the Carolingian Empire among his three sons after his death. Unforeseen in 817 was a further heir besides Louis's three grown sons. A fourth son, Charles the Bald was born to Louis's second wife Judith of Bavaria in 823. When Louis tried in 833 to re-divide the empire for the benefit of Charles, he met with opposition of his adult sons, Lothair, Pepin, and Louis. A decade of civil war and fluctuating alliances followed, punctuated by brief periods of peace.