Editing Charles the Bald (section)

==Reign in the West==
[[File:Charles the Bald denier struck Reims.jpg|thumb|[[French denier|Denier]] (type Temple and cross) of Charles the Bald, minted at [[Reims]] between 840 and 864 (pre-[[Edict of Pistres]]).]]

[[File:Charles Marville, Hôtel Carnavalet, statue of Charlemagne, ca. 1853–70.jpg|thumb|upright|The so-called [[Equestrian statuette of Charlemagne]] (c.&nbsp;870), thought to possibly depict Charles the Bald]]

Shortly after Verdun, Charles went on to an unsuccessful campaign against Brittany, on the return from which he signed the [[Treaty of Coulaines]] with his nobility and clergy.<ref name=Grosse>{{cite book|author=Rolf Grosse |title=Du royaume franc aux origines de la France et de l'Allemagne 800–1214 |publisher=Presses Universitaires du Septentrion |date=2014 |pages=50–52}}</ref> After that, the first years of his reign, up to the death of Lothair{{&nbsp}}I in 855, were comparatively peaceful. During these years the three brothers continued the system of "confraternal government", meeting repeatedly with one another, at [[Koblenz]] (848), at [[Meerssen]] (851), and at [[Attigny, Ardennes|Attigny]] (854). In 858, Louis the German, invited by disaffected nobles eager to oust Charles, invaded the West Frankish kingdom. Charles was so unpopular that he was unable to summon an army, and he fled to [[Burgundy (region)|Burgundy]]. He was saved only by the support of the bishops, who refused to crown Louis the German king, and by the fidelity of the [[Elder Welfs|Welfs]], who were related to his mother, Judith. In 860, he in his turn tried to seize the kingdom of his nephew, [[Charles of Provence]], but was repulsed.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=898}} On the death of his nephew [[Lothair II|Lothair{{&nbsp}}II]] in 869, Charles tried to seize Lothair's dominions by having himself consecrated as King of [[Lotharingia]] at [[Metz]], but he was compelled to open negotiations when Louis found support among Lothair's former vassals. Lotharingia was partitioned between Charles and Louis in the resulting [[Treaty of Mersen|treaty]] (870).{{sfn|Nelson|1992|p=17–18}}

Besides these family disputes, Charles had to struggle against repeated rebellions in Aquitaine and against the [[Brittany|Bretons]]. Led by their chiefs [[Nominoe, Duke of Brittany|Nomenoë]] and [[Erispoe, Duke of Brittany|Erispoë]], who defeated the king at the [[Battle of Ballon]] (845) and the [[Battle of Jengland]] (851), the Bretons were successful in obtaining a ''de facto'' independence. Charles also fought against the [[Vikings]], who devastated the country of the north, the valleys of the [[Seine]] and [[Loire]], and even up to the borders of Aquitaine. At the Vikings' successful [[Siege of Paris (845)|siege and sack of Paris in 845]] and several times thereafter Charles was forced to purchase their retreat at a heavy price.{{sfn|Chisholm|1911|p=898}} Charles led various expeditions against the invaders and, by the [[Edict of Pistres]] of 864, made the army more mobile by providing for a [[cavalry]] element, the predecessor of the French [[chivalry]] so famous during the next 600 years. By the same edict, he ordered fortified bridges to be put up at all rivers to block the Viking incursions. Two of these bridges at Paris saved the city during its [[Siege of Paris (885–86)|siege of 885–886]]. Charles engaged in diplomacy with the [[Emirate of Córdoba|Emirate of Cordoba]], receiving camels from [[Muhammad I of Córdoba|Emir Muhammad{{&nbsp}}I]] in 865.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sénac|first=Philippe|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/470405780|title=Les Carolingiens et al-Andalus (VIIIe–IXe siècles)|date=2002|publisher=Maisonneuve et Larose|isbn=2-7068-1659-7|location=Paris|pages=131|oclc=470405780}}</ref> From the 860s, the palace of [[Compiègne]] became an increasingly important centre for Charles and he founded a monastery there in 876.{{sfn|Nelson|1992|pp=36, 235}} In the tenth century Compiègne was known as 'Carlopolis' because of its association with Charles.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Lohrmann|first=Dietrich|date=1976|title=Trois Palais Royaux de la Vallée de l'Oise d'après les travaux des érudits mauristes: Compiègne, Choisy-au-Bac et Quierzy|journal=Francia|volume=4|pages=124–129}}</ref>

In 871–872, Charles sent two letters to [[Pope Adrian II|Pope Hadrian{{&nbsp}}II]] where he made a defence of royal sovereignty in the face of intrusive actions by the papacy into state affairs.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pecksmith |first=Robert |date=2024 |title=A King Praises Himself: The Letters of Charles the Bald to Pope Hadrian II |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ehr/ceae104 |journal=The English Historical Review |volume=139 |issue=597 |pages=301–325 |doi=10.1093/ehr/ceae104 |issn=0013-8266}}</ref>