Editing Middle Ages (section)

=== Breakup of the Carolingian Empire ===
{{Main|Holy Roman Empire|Viking Age}}
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Charlemagne planned to continue the Frankish tradition of dividing his kingdom between all his heirs but was unable to do so as only one son, [[Louis the Pious]] (r. 814–840), was still alive by 813. Just before Charlemagne died in 814, he crowned Louis as his successor. Numerous divisions of the empire marked Louis's reign of 26 years among his sons and, after 829, civil wars between various alliances of father and sons over the control of various parts of the empire. Eventually, Louis recognised his eldest son {{nowrap|[[Lothair I]]}} (d. 855) as emperor and gave him Italy.{{efn-ua|Italy at the time did not include the entire peninsula but only part of the north.<ref name=Davies285>Davies ''Europe'' p. 285</ref>}} Louis divided the rest of the empire between Lothair and [[Charles the Bald]] (d. 877), his youngest son. Lothair took [[East Francia]], comprising both banks of the Rhine and eastwards, leaving Charles [[West Francia]] with the empire to the west of the Rhineland and the Alps. [[Louis the German]] (d. 876), the middle child, who had been rebellious to the last, was allowed to keep Bavaria under the [[wikt:suzerainty|suzerainty]] of his elder brother. The division was disputed. [[Pepin II of Aquitaine|{{nowrap|Pepin II}} of Aquitaine]] (d. after 864), the emperor's grandson, rebelled in a contest for [[Aquitaine]], while Louis the German tried to annexe all of East Francia. Louis the Pious died in 840, with the empire still in chaos.<ref name=Bauer427>Bauer ''History of the Medieval World'' pp. 427–431</ref>

A three-year civil war followed his death. By the [[Treaty of Verdun]] (843), a kingdom between the [[Rhine]] and [[Rhone]] rivers was created for Lothair to go with his lands in Italy, and his imperial title was recognised. Louis the German controlled Bavaria and the eastern lands in modern-day Germany. Charles the Bald received the western Frankish lands, comprising most of modern-day France.<ref name=Bauer427 /> Charlemagne's grandsons and great-grandsons divided their kingdoms between their descendants, eventually causing all internal cohesion to be lost.<ref name=Backman139>Backman ''Worlds of Medieval Europe'' p. 139</ref>{{efn-ua|There was a brief re-uniting of the Empire by [[Charles the Fat|Charles III]], known as "the Fat", in 884. However, the actual units of the empire did not merge, and they retained their separate administrations. Charles was deposed in 887 and died in January 888.<ref name=Collins356>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp.&nbsp;356–358</ref>}} In 987, the Carolingian dynasty was replaced in the western lands, with the crowning of [[Hugh Capet]] (r. 987–996) as king.{{efn-ua|The Carolingian dynasty had earlier been displaced by King [[Odo of France|Odo]] (r. 888–898), previously [[Count of Paris]], who took the throne in 888.<ref name=Collins358>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp. 358–359</ref> Although members of the Carolingian dynasty became kings in the western lands after Odo's death, Odo's family also supplied kings—his brother [[Robert I of France|Robert I]] became king for 922–923, and then Robert's son-in-law [[Rudolph of France|Raoul]] was king from 929 to 936—before the Carolingians reclaimed the throne once more.<ref name=Collins360 />}}{{efn-ua|Hugh Capet was a grandson of Robert I, an earlier king.<ref name=Collins360 />}} In the eastern lands, the dynasty had died out earlier, in 911, with the death of [[Louis the Child]],<ref name=Collins360>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' pp. 360–361</ref> and the selection of the unrelated [[Conrad I of Germany|Conrad I]] (r. 911–918) as king.<ref name=Collins397>Collins ''Early Medieval Europe'' p. 397</ref>

Invasions, migrations, and raids by external foes accompanied the break-up of the Carolingian Empire. The Atlantic and northern shores were harassed by the [[Vikings]], who also raided the British Isles and settled there and in Iceland. In 911, the Viking chieftain [[Rollo]] (d. c. 931) received permission from the Frankish King [[Charles the Simple]] (r. 898–922) to settle in what became [[Normandy]].<ref name=Backman141>Backman ''Worlds of Medieval Europe'' pp. 141–144</ref>{{efn-ua|This settlement eventually expanded and sent out conquering expeditions to England, Sicily, and southern Italy.<ref name=Davies336>Davies ''Europe'' pp. 336–339</ref>}} The eastern parts of the Frankish kingdoms, especially Germany and Italy, were under continual [[Hungarian people|Magyar]] assault until the invader's defeat at the [[Battle of Lechfeld]] in 955.<ref name=Backman144>Backman ''Worlds of Medieval Europe'' pp. 144–145</ref> The break-up of the Abbasid dynasty meant that the Islamic world fragmented into smaller political states, some of which began expanding into Italy and Sicily, as well as over the Pyrenees into the southern parts of the Frankish kingdoms.<ref name=Bauer147>Bauer ''History of the Medieval World'' pp. 147–149</ref>