Middle Francia
| Kingdom of Middle Francia | ||||||||||||||
| Francia media | ||||||||||||||
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 Frankish Empire divided, Middle Francia shaded green
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| Capital | Aachen | |||||||||||||
| Languages | ||||||||||||||
| Religion | Christianity | |||||||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | |||||||||||||
| King | ||||||||||||||
| • | 843–855 | Lothair I (first and last) | ||||||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||||||
| • | Treaty of Verdun | 843 | ||||||||||||
| • | Treaty of Prüm | 855 | ||||||||||||
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| Today part of | ||||||||||||||
Middle Francia (Latin: Francia media) was a short-lived (843-855) Frankish kingdom which was created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun after an intermittent civil war between the grandsons of Charlemagne resulted in division of the united empire. Middle Francia was allocated to emperor Lothair I, the eldest son and successor of emperor Louis the Pious. His realm contained the imperial cities of Aachen, the residence of Charlemagne, as well as Pavia but lacked any geographic or ethnic cohesion which prevented it from surviving and forming a nucleus of a larger state, as was the case with West Francia and East Francia.
Middle Francia was situated between the realms of East and West Francia, and comprised the Frankish territory between the rivers Rhine and Scheldt, the Frisian coast of the North Sea, the former Kingdom of Burgundy (except for a western portion, later known as Bourgogne) and Provence, as well as parts of northern Italy. Following the 855 partition, Middle Francia became only a geographic term.
In 855, on his deathbed at Prüm Abbey, Emperor Lothair I with the Treaty of Prüm divided Middle Francia among his three sons. The lands in northern Italy, which extended as far south as Rome and Spoleto, were left to the eldest son Louis II the Younger, crowned co-Emperor in 850 and sole Emperor from 855. This eventually became the Kingdom of Italy. Most of the lands north of the Alps, comprising the Low Countries, the western Rhineland, the lands today on the border between France and Germany, and what is now western Switzerland, passed to Lothair II and were called Lotharingia, after its ruler. Charles received Kingdom of Burgundy (Upper Burgundy and Lower Burgundy) and Provence, which became the Kingdom of Arles, after Charles' capital.
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