WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.160 If you are looking for a historical figure whose 00:00:02.160 --> 00:00:04.879 common name is just a massive blinking historical 00:00:04.879 --> 00:00:08.240 lie, then you have absolutely found your deep 00:00:08.240 --> 00:00:10.919 dive. We are talking today about Charles III 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.699 of the Carolingian dynasty, who reigned from 00:00:13.699 --> 00:00:17.699 898 to 922, but whom history remembers, usually 00:00:17.699 --> 00:00:20.219 with a bit of a smirk, as Charles the Simple. 00:00:20.670 --> 00:00:22.589 And if you think that name means he was some 00:00:22.589 --> 00:00:25.309 sort of bumbling, unintelligent king, you've 00:00:25.309 --> 00:00:27.010 fallen into one of the oldest political traps 00:00:27.010 --> 00:00:29.489 in medieval history books. That is precisely 00:00:29.489 --> 00:00:32.049 our mission today. We are going to unpack the 00:00:32.049 --> 00:00:35.149 reign of Charles III, tracing his path from a 00:00:35.149 --> 00:00:38.369 politically marginalized, posthumous son to a 00:00:38.369 --> 00:00:41.210 shrewd, ambitious king. A king who made one of 00:00:41.210 --> 00:00:43.210 the most consequential decisions in French history. 00:00:43.659 --> 00:00:45.960 The creation of Normandy. We'll explore his near 00:00:45.960 --> 00:00:48.359 success in reunifying the Carolingian heartland. 00:00:48.520 --> 00:00:52.140 And then, most dramatically, the deep, furious 00:00:52.140 --> 00:00:55.079 aristocratic revolt. A revolt fueled by personal 00:00:55.079 --> 00:00:57.179 slights and political favoritism. Right, which 00:00:57.179 --> 00:00:59.500 ended his reign and led to the violent final 00:00:59.500 --> 00:01:01.859 collapse of centralized Carolingian power in 00:01:01.859 --> 00:01:04.099 West Francia. It's really a story of a brilliant 00:01:04.099 --> 00:01:07.700 strategist who was just undone by his inability 00:01:07.700 --> 00:01:10.359 to manage petty jealousies. And we have to start 00:01:10.359 --> 00:01:13.939 with that name. Carolus Simplex. OK, let's do 00:01:13.939 --> 00:01:15.879 it. We have to unpack this immediately because 00:01:15.879 --> 00:01:18.879 the entire premise of judging Charles is based 00:01:18.879 --> 00:01:21.000 on a deliberate act of historical defamation. 00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:23.519 I always understood simplex to mean, you know, 00:01:23.540 --> 00:01:26.519 foolish or dull witted. So where does the nuance 00:01:26.519 --> 00:01:30.219 lie? Well, the initial core fact is that when 00:01:30.219 --> 00:01:32.739 his contemporaries used the Latin simplex, it 00:01:32.739 --> 00:01:35.480 carried a neutral or maybe even a positive meaning. 00:01:35.739 --> 00:01:38.500 Really? Yeah. It meant straightforward, loyal 00:01:38.500 --> 00:01:41.620 or without guile. It was meant to be a contrast 00:01:41.620 --> 00:01:43.920 to the, you know, the. highly Machiavellian, 00:01:43.980 --> 00:01:46.500 complex, and double -dealing politics of his 00:01:46.500 --> 00:01:49.260 time, it implied integrity. So he was Charles 00:01:49.260 --> 00:01:51.980 the Honest or Charles the Sincere, which in that 00:01:51.980 --> 00:01:54.180 era might have actually been a compliment. Absolutely. 00:01:54.480 --> 00:01:57.079 Think of it as a descriptor, not a judgment of 00:01:57.079 --> 00:01:59.799 his intellect. However, as the centuries passed, 00:01:59.959 --> 00:02:01.900 and especially once the rival dynasty... The 00:02:01.900 --> 00:02:04.359 family that deposed him. Exactly. Once they began 00:02:04.359 --> 00:02:06.379 writing their own histories, that nickname was 00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:08.580 intentionally corrupted. The language evolved, 00:02:08.800 --> 00:02:11.500 and his political rivals just... pounced on it. 00:02:11.539 --> 00:02:14.000 And we can see that exact political spin happening 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:16.180 in the later chroniclers work. I mean, how bad 00:02:16.180 --> 00:02:18.520 did this character assassination get? Oh, it 00:02:18.520 --> 00:02:21.620 got ugly. This corruption really takes hold after 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:24.680 a specific incident in 919 where Charles allegedly 00:02:24.680 --> 00:02:27.840 abandoned his men. Later chroniclers used this 00:02:27.840 --> 00:02:30.759 one event to justify their complete rejection 00:02:30.759 --> 00:02:32.840 of his character. So they just ran with it. They 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:35.439 ran with it. And we see this deliberate escalation 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:38.300 of insults. Instead of simplex, which was neutral, 00:02:38.479 --> 00:02:41.080 they deployed these harsh Latin terms designed 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:43.719 purely to demean him. Okay, give us the specifics. 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:45.379 What were they calling him? Well, they used terms 00:02:45.379 --> 00:02:48.319 like stultus, which means fatuous or idiotic. 00:02:48.419 --> 00:02:52.780 They used heebies, meaning stupid or dull. Incipiens 00:02:52.780 --> 00:02:55.960 or foolish. Wow. And perhaps the most telling 00:02:55.960 --> 00:02:58.639 political insults were parvus or minor, which 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:01.759 translate to small or inferior. So this wasn't 00:03:01.759 --> 00:03:03.719 just about questioning his intelligence. It was 00:03:03.719 --> 00:03:05.919 questioning his very authority and his status 00:03:05.919 --> 00:03:09.780 as a ruler. So this deep dive is less about a 00:03:09.780 --> 00:03:12.479 simple king and more about a sophisticated politician 00:03:12.479 --> 00:03:15.340 who was later the victim of one of the most successful 00:03:15.340 --> 00:03:17.560 smear campaigns in the 9th and 10th centuries. 00:03:17.819 --> 00:03:20.620 We are here to rescue Charles III from the footnotes. 00:03:20.909 --> 00:03:23.129 and the vicious labels of his political enemy. 00:03:23.229 --> 00:03:25.330 That's the perfect tone. And to understand how 00:03:25.330 --> 00:03:27.330 Charles operated, we really have to appreciate 00:03:27.330 --> 00:03:30.409 the chaos he was born into. This brings us to 00:03:30.409 --> 00:03:33.069 his struggle for legitimacy, covering his early 00:03:33.069 --> 00:03:37.990 life between 879 and 898. And his start was problematic 00:03:37.990 --> 00:03:40.530 from day one, literally because of the timing 00:03:40.530 --> 00:03:43.370 of his birth. He was Charles III, the posthumous 00:03:43.370 --> 00:03:45.610 son of King Louis the Stammerer. He arrived in 00:03:45.610 --> 00:03:48.710 September 879, months after his father had already 00:03:48.710 --> 00:03:51.430 died. And while this technically made him a legitimate 00:03:51.430 --> 00:03:54.169 heir, it meant he was immediately marginalized. 00:03:54.229 --> 00:03:56.949 Right. It created a problem of age and availability 00:03:56.949 --> 00:03:59.909 when crises erupted. And the kingdom of West 00:03:59.909 --> 00:04:02.250 Francia was already deeply fragmented and exhausted 00:04:02.250 --> 00:04:06.449 by internal feuds and external Viking assaults. 00:04:06.449 --> 00:04:08.509 And the first major crisis hits when he's just 00:04:08.509 --> 00:04:11.310 five years old. Correct. His half -brother, King 00:04:11.310 --> 00:04:15.189 Carloman II, died in 884 without a legitimate 00:04:15.189 --> 00:04:18.680 male heir. By all dynastic rights, Charles, though 00:04:18.680 --> 00:04:21.360 only five, should have succeeded. But the Frankish 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:23.720 nobility was staring down the barrel of an intense 00:04:23.720 --> 00:04:26.600 Viking threat. They needed immediate, adult, 00:04:26.800 --> 00:04:29.480 competent military leadership. The thought of 00:04:29.480 --> 00:04:32.139 crowning a child was just, it was impossible 00:04:32.139 --> 00:04:34.800 for them. And this decision essentially created 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:38.180 the first major crack in the principle of hereditary 00:04:38.180 --> 00:04:41.449 Carolingian rule in West Francia. they went shopping 00:04:41.449 --> 00:04:44.189 for a temporary solution they did instead of 00:04:44.189 --> 00:04:46.529 allowing the succession to fall to charles the 00:04:46.529 --> 00:04:48.490 nobles looked abroad and invited charles the 00:04:48.490 --> 00:04:51.129 fat charles's powerful cousin okay and charles 00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:53.209 the fat was already the holy roman emperor and 00:04:53.209 --> 00:04:55.860 king of east francia The nobles essentially merged 00:04:55.860 --> 00:04:58.000 the crowns, hoping to leverage the stability 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:00.699 and resources of the wider Carolingian Empire. 00:05:01.019 --> 00:05:03.660 It was a pragmatic move. Very pragmatic, yet 00:05:03.660 --> 00:05:06.920 ultimately a catastrophic temporary fix. Catastrophic 00:05:06.920 --> 00:05:09.600 because Charles the Fat was, well, utterly ineffective 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:12.740 and widely despised. He really was. His rule 00:05:12.740 --> 00:05:14.980 was marked by military failures, particularly 00:05:14.980 --> 00:05:18.040 against the Vikings, and his attempts to govern 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:21.759 his massive, unwieldy empire alienated regional 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:25.269 magnates everywhere. The deposition came swiftly. 00:05:25.529 --> 00:05:28.629 In November 887, the great nobles of the realm 00:05:28.629 --> 00:05:31.430 gathered at the Diet of Treiber. Okay, this Diet 00:05:31.430 --> 00:05:34.029 of Treiber is a massive legal and political moment. 00:05:34.329 --> 00:05:37.569 What exactly allowed the Frankish nobles to just 00:05:37.569 --> 00:05:40.870 depose an emperor? It was a clear demonstration 00:05:40.870 --> 00:05:43.149 that the old Carolingian principle of divine 00:05:43.149 --> 00:05:45.910 right was rapidly fading, and it was being replaced 00:05:45.910 --> 00:05:48.290 by the reality of aristocratic power. So it makes 00:05:48.290 --> 00:05:50.730 right, essentially. The nobles of East Francia, 00:05:50.870 --> 00:05:53.410 and by extension West Francia, asserted their 00:05:53.410 --> 00:05:55.189 collective right to withdraw their consent and 00:05:55.189 --> 00:05:57.750 depose an incompetent ruler. They argued that 00:05:57.750 --> 00:05:59.970 the king's authority was conditional on his ability 00:05:59.970 --> 00:06:02.269 to protect the realm. And when Charles the Fat 00:06:02.269 --> 00:06:04.050 failed to protect them from the Vikings? The 00:06:04.050 --> 00:06:06.449 contract was broken. That sets a dangerous precedent. 00:06:06.670 --> 00:06:09.050 If the nobles can depose an emperor, they can 00:06:09.050 --> 00:06:11.730 certainly depose a young, potentially weak king 00:06:11.730 --> 00:06:15.170 like Charles. Precisely. His deposition in 887 00:06:15.930 --> 00:06:19.110 followed by his death in January 888, shattered 00:06:19.110 --> 00:06:21.850 the last vestiges of centralized Carolingian 00:06:21.850 --> 00:06:25.610 rule and created a total power vacuum. Local 00:06:25.610 --> 00:06:28.050 counts and dukes across the fragmented empire 00:06:28.050 --> 00:06:31.430 just seized autonomous power. And in West Francia, 00:06:31.529 --> 00:06:34.170 that vacuum was immediately filled, not by a 00:06:34.170 --> 00:06:36.649 Carolingian, but by a rising star who had earned 00:06:36.649 --> 00:06:39.870 his authority through blood and iron. Enter Odo. 00:06:40.250 --> 00:06:42.550 Count of Paris. He was not a member of the imperial 00:06:42.550 --> 00:06:44.889 dynasty, but he was a military celebrity. Right. 00:06:44.970 --> 00:06:47.250 The hero of the siege of Paris. He was celebrated 00:06:47.250 --> 00:06:50.529 as the hero of the siege from 885 to 886, where 00:06:50.529 --> 00:06:52.550 his courage and military prowess successfully 00:06:52.550 --> 00:06:55.389 held the city against that massive Viking fleet 00:06:55.389 --> 00:06:57.990 led by Rollo. Military success, not bloodline, 00:06:58.089 --> 00:07:00.879 suddenly became the path to the throne. And Odo's 00:07:00.879 --> 00:07:03.300 election is a huge moment, one that truly signals 00:07:03.300 --> 00:07:05.800 the shift of power. He represents the nascent 00:07:05.800 --> 00:07:08.240 rise of the Robertian dynasty. The family that 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:10.199 would eventually rule France permanently. Right. 00:07:10.339 --> 00:07:13.339 The significance cannot be overstated. Odo's 00:07:13.339 --> 00:07:16.540 family, the Robertians, was competing directly 00:07:16.540 --> 00:07:19.079 with the Carolingians for political dominance. 00:07:19.699 --> 00:07:22.879 So while Odo secured the crown, Charles, the 00:07:22.879 --> 00:07:25.319 young Carolingian heir, was still alive. And 00:07:25.319 --> 00:07:28.250 he's still a threat. A potential one. A faction 00:07:28.250 --> 00:07:31.110 of nobles supported the claim of Guy III of Spoleto, 00:07:31.230 --> 00:07:34.089 but Odo was the choice of the strongest military 00:07:34.089 --> 00:07:37.490 faction. Meanwhile, Charles became a protected 00:07:37.490 --> 00:07:40.189 symbol. So where was the young Charles hidden 00:07:40.189 --> 00:07:42.370 during all this? He was placed under the protection 00:07:42.370 --> 00:07:44.850 of Ranulf II, Duke of Aquitaine, one of the most 00:07:44.850 --> 00:07:47.310 powerful and independent southern magnates. Okay. 00:07:47.490 --> 00:07:50.449 And Ranulf was so ambitious, in fact, that he 00:07:50.449 --> 00:07:53.470 briefly used the royal title himself in opposition 00:07:53.470 --> 00:07:56.240 to Odo. which just highlights the rampant fragmentation. 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:58.480 Of course. Reynolds eventually made peace with 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:00.660 Odo, but Charles remained a political weapon, 00:08:00.939 --> 00:08:03.959 a Carolingian ace up the sleeve of any magnate 00:08:03.959 --> 00:08:06.500 who wished to challenge Odo's authority. So Charles 00:08:06.500 --> 00:08:09.139 was growing up as a shatter king, a figurehead 00:08:09.139 --> 00:08:11.620 just waiting for his moment to disrupt the political 00:08:11.620 --> 00:08:14.240 stability that Odo represented? Exactly. And 00:08:14.240 --> 00:08:17.139 by 893, his faction felt strong enough to move. 00:08:17.399 --> 00:08:20.720 At only 14, Charles was crowned by an opposing 00:08:20.720 --> 00:08:23.689 noble faction at Reims Cathedral. But a coronation 00:08:23.689 --> 00:08:27.230 is cheap. Control is expensive. For years, he 00:08:27.230 --> 00:08:29.370 was little more than a pretender. The sources 00:08:29.370 --> 00:08:32.049 tell us that by 897, his effective territory 00:08:32.049 --> 00:08:34.210 was reduced to little more than the city of Leon. 00:08:34.470 --> 00:08:37.110 So he had the title, but not the kingdom. What 00:08:37.110 --> 00:08:39.970 finally ended this simmering civil war between 00:08:39.970 --> 00:08:42.529 the anointed king and the crowned hero? It was 00:08:42.529 --> 00:08:45.730 Odo's death and perhaps his most remarkable act 00:08:45.730 --> 00:08:48.970 of political foresight. When Odo died in January 00:08:48.970 --> 00:08:52.190 898, he designated Charles the Simple as his 00:08:52.190 --> 00:08:54.889 successor. Wait, Odo, the anti -Carolingian hero, 00:08:55.129 --> 00:08:57.070 the man who seized the crown based on military 00:08:57.070 --> 00:08:59.629 merit, willingly passed the crown back to the 00:08:59.629 --> 00:09:01.990 legitimate dynastic rival. That seems utterly 00:09:01.990 --> 00:09:03.769 counterintuitive for his family's ambitions. 00:09:04.230 --> 00:09:07.480 It was a stunning act of real politic. Odo, or 00:09:07.480 --> 00:09:09.940 maybe his advisors, realized that continued internal 00:09:09.940 --> 00:09:12.500 warfare between the Rebersian faction, led by 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:14.940 his brother Robert of Neustria, and the Carolingian 00:09:14.940 --> 00:09:16.720 loyalists would destroy the kingdom entirely. 00:09:17.080 --> 00:09:18.620 It would make them easy prey for the Vikings. 00:09:19.000 --> 00:09:22.220 Completely. By naming Charles, he bought peace. 00:09:22.519 --> 00:09:25.840 He validated the ancient dynastic claim while 00:09:25.840 --> 00:09:28.240 ensuring his brother, Robert, remained the most 00:09:28.240 --> 00:09:30.460 powerful duke in the kingdom. Positioned to take 00:09:30.460 --> 00:09:33.139 the throne later should Charles fail. Precisely. 00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:36.830 A temporary truce. Odo chose fragile stability 00:09:36.830 --> 00:09:40.049 over familial ambition. So Charles finally begins 00:09:40.049 --> 00:09:43.909 his effective reign in 898, age 19, inheriting 00:09:43.909 --> 00:09:47.730 a fragmented, exhausted kingdom perpetually ravaged 00:09:47.730 --> 00:09:51.129 by external invaders. He knew immediately he 00:09:51.129 --> 00:09:53.070 had to secure those borders. And securing the 00:09:53.070 --> 00:09:55.190 borders meant dealing with the one problem that 00:09:55.190 --> 00:09:58.179 had crippled his predecessors for 50 years. The 00:09:58.179 --> 00:10:01.460 Vikings. That brings us to Section 2, the Carolingian 00:10:01.460 --> 00:10:03.799 solution to the Viking threat, focusing on the 00:10:03.799 --> 00:10:05.940 defining moment of his reign, the Treaty of St. 00:10:06.080 --> 00:10:08.820 Clair -sur -Epte in 911. And this decision alone 00:10:08.820 --> 00:10:11.419 proves he was anything but simple. Right. The 00:10:11.419 --> 00:10:13.980 context of conflict is key here. The Vikings, 00:10:14.080 --> 00:10:16.279 specifically the group led by Rollo, weren't 00:10:16.279 --> 00:10:18.740 just fast -moving raiders anymore. No, they were 00:10:18.740 --> 00:10:21.220 establishing permanent, heavily fortified camps. 00:10:21.460 --> 00:10:24.019 They had repeatedly besieged Paris and Chartres. 00:10:24.320 --> 00:10:26.500 They weren't looking for quick loot. They were 00:10:26.500 --> 00:10:29.100 looking for land to settle. And the previous 00:10:29.100 --> 00:10:32.000 strategy, which had dominated for decades, was 00:10:32.000 --> 00:10:34.279 to either try to fight them off constantly or 00:10:34.279 --> 00:10:37.250 failing that. pay them off with enormous sums 00:10:37.250 --> 00:10:40.590 of danegeld. Extortion payments. And that system 00:10:40.590 --> 00:10:43.730 was failing spectacularly. It bankrupted the 00:10:43.730 --> 00:10:46.809 royal treasury and provided only temporary respites 00:10:46.809 --> 00:10:49.330 before the Vikings returned richer and better 00:10:49.330 --> 00:10:51.970 equipped. Charles recognized that a traditional 00:10:51.970 --> 00:10:54.830 military solution was economically unsustainable 00:10:54.830 --> 00:10:58.990 and politically demoralizing. He needed a radical, 00:10:59.070 --> 00:11:01.309 pragmatic approach that turned a threat into 00:11:01.309 --> 00:11:04.039 an asset. And that pivot came after a tactical 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:07.759 success in 9 -11. Indeed. Charles' forces achieved 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:10.679 a decisive victory over Rollo's group near Chartres 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:14.279 on August 26, 9 -11. A lesser king might have 00:11:14.279 --> 00:11:17.059 pursued them relentlessly, aiming for total annihilation. 00:11:17.220 --> 00:11:19.600 But Charles... Charles, showing great political 00:11:19.600 --> 00:11:21.879 maturity, immediately pivoted to negotiation. 00:11:22.279 --> 00:11:24.480 He saw the potential for a peace that lasted 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:26.590 longer than the next generation. The resulting 00:11:26.590 --> 00:11:28.590 agreement, the Treaty of St. Clair -sur -Epte, 00:11:28.649 --> 00:11:31.309 is the foundation of modern Normandy. Let's dig 00:11:31.309 --> 00:11:33.470 into the details because Charles gave up a tremendous 00:11:33.470 --> 00:11:36.350 amount of royal land. The core of the deal was 00:11:36.350 --> 00:11:39.250 the land grant. Rollo and his northmen were granted 00:11:39.250 --> 00:11:41.230 all the land between the river Epte and the sea. 00:11:41.629 --> 00:11:44.970 This was a rich, strategic area known as Neustria, 00:11:45.090 --> 00:11:47.830 the former Carolingian military march. Okay, 00:11:47.889 --> 00:11:49.909 so it's prime real estate. Prime real estate. 00:11:50.220 --> 00:11:52.480 It was defensible territory, and critically, 00:11:52.740 --> 00:11:55.899 it placed Rollo's forces exactly where West Francia 00:11:55.899 --> 00:11:58.960 needed protection, guarding the San Estuary and 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:01.539 the northern approaches to Paris. It sounds like 00:12:01.539 --> 00:12:03.500 he wasn't just giving up land. He was hiring 00:12:03.500 --> 00:12:06.200 a new border patrol. But they were Vikings. Precisely. 00:12:06.299 --> 00:12:08.639 They were the most effective, most brutal border 00:12:08.639 --> 00:12:11.159 patrol available. But what makes this deal so 00:12:11.159 --> 00:12:13.620 audacious is that Charles gave them land he didn't 00:12:13.620 --> 00:12:15.820 even control. The grants of the Duchy of Brittany. 00:12:16.019 --> 00:12:19.200 Yes. The Vikings were also granted the Duchy 00:12:19.200 --> 00:12:21.539 of Brittany, which was at the time an effectively 00:12:21.539 --> 00:12:24.120 independent Celtic kingdom that West Francia 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:26.779 had utterly failed to conquer or control for 00:12:26.779 --> 00:12:29.340 generations. So he's leveraging his authority 00:12:29.340 --> 00:12:32.460 to give away territory that wasn't his to give. 00:12:32.700 --> 00:12:35.080 It's a shrewd move. He wasn't just giving Rollo 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:37.379 the land he'd settled. He was giving Rollo an 00:12:37.379 --> 00:12:40.559 immediate war target, a massive expansion opportunity. 00:12:41.309 --> 00:12:44.570 And thereby weaponizing Rollo's ambition against 00:12:44.570 --> 00:12:47.429 the only remaining independent power on the western 00:12:47.429 --> 00:12:50.870 flank. It was a masterstroke of diplomacy. By 00:12:50.870 --> 00:12:53.269 giving Rollo the theoretical right to conquer 00:12:53.269 --> 00:12:56.690 Brittany, Charles ensured Rollo would be preoccupied 00:12:56.690 --> 00:12:59.809 with expansion westward, away from the West Francian 00:12:59.809 --> 00:13:02.429 heartland. So what did Charles get in return 00:13:02.429 --> 00:13:05.350 for carving up the map of France like this? He 00:13:05.350 --> 00:13:07.649 received three foundational elements of feudal 00:13:07.649 --> 00:13:11.149 and political stability. First, Rollo pledged 00:13:11.149 --> 00:13:13.690 loyalty, becoming Charles' vassal, accepting 00:13:13.690 --> 00:13:16.169 the title of Duke, and promising to defend the 00:13:16.169 --> 00:13:18.450 kingdom against any future Viking incursions. 00:13:18.509 --> 00:13:21.000 Okay, that's huge. And second. Second. Rollo 00:13:21.000 --> 00:13:23.240 agreed to be baptized. This is critical. The 00:13:23.240 --> 00:13:25.860 conversion, even if it was just nominal, integrated 00:13:25.860 --> 00:13:28.279 him and his followers into the political and 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:31.279 legal framework of a Christian kingdom. It legalized 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:33.899 their existence. It allowed the bishops and the 00:13:33.899 --> 00:13:36.960 existing aristocracy to tolerate them. Imagine 00:13:36.960 --> 00:13:40.080 that baptism ceremony itself, this fearsome Norseman, 00:13:40.159 --> 00:13:42.700 maybe still smelling of salt in battle, accepting 00:13:42.700 --> 00:13:45.100 the Christian faith just to secure his land grant. 00:13:45.259 --> 00:13:46.820 You have to wonder how genuine that conversion 00:13:46.820 --> 00:13:50.059 was. Maybe not initially. But it was the ultimate 00:13:50.059 --> 00:13:52.539 political performance required for the long -term 00:13:52.539 --> 00:13:55.679 project of assimilation. And finally, the dynastic 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.419 link that sealed the bargain. Rollo married Charles' 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:02.080 daughter, Gisela. This cemented the agreement 00:14:02.080 --> 00:14:05.360 in blood. It meant Rollo's successors would have 00:14:05.360 --> 00:14:08.419 Carolingian blood and, crucially, a familial 00:14:08.419 --> 00:14:10.940 stake in the stability of West Francia. So this 00:14:10.940 --> 00:14:13.690 wasn't just a political treaty. No, it was a 00:14:13.690 --> 00:14:15.710 marriage designed to transform an existential 00:14:15.710 --> 00:14:19.190 threat into an enduring strategic ally. This 00:14:19.190 --> 00:14:21.490 was Charles the Simple's most consequential act. 00:14:21.690 --> 00:14:24.190 He gave up control of a region he couldn't effectively 00:14:24.190 --> 00:14:27.110 govern anyway, and in exchange he gained 50 years 00:14:27.110 --> 00:14:30.049 of peace on his most vital border. It stabilized 00:14:30.049 --> 00:14:32.169 the kingdom and allowed him to turn his attention 00:14:32.169 --> 00:14:35.870 elsewhere. A truly sophisticated geopolitical 00:14:35.870 --> 00:14:38.490 calculation suggesting a mind far from simple. 00:14:38.940 --> 00:14:41.059 And you have to wonder why a king capable of 00:14:41.059 --> 00:14:43.740 such strategic depth ended up deposed and imprisoned. 00:14:44.039 --> 00:14:46.600 And the answer lies in that distraction. Absolutely. 00:14:46.659 --> 00:14:48.940 Having stabilized the western border, Charles 00:14:48.940 --> 00:14:51.240 earned his full, ambitious attention to the east. 00:14:51.419 --> 00:14:54.200 Which brings us to Section 3, his burning ambition 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.779 for Lotharingia. This pursuit consumed Charles 00:14:57.779 --> 00:15:01.399 from 911 to 925. And if the Normandy Treaty was 00:15:01.399 --> 00:15:04.340 his pragmatic masterpiece, Lotharingia was his 00:15:04.340 --> 00:15:07.700 ideological obsession. Why was Lotharingia, the 00:15:07.700 --> 00:15:10.460 region straddling modern France, Germany, and 00:15:10.460 --> 00:15:12.919 the Low Countries such a massive prize for him? 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:15.820 It was more than just territory. It was a crusade 00:15:15.820 --> 00:15:18.639 to restore the Carolingian name. Lotharingia 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:21.360 was the cradle of the Carolingian dynasty. Yeah. 00:15:21.539 --> 00:15:24.039 We are talking about the ancestral homes of Charlemagne's 00:15:24.039 --> 00:15:27.720 family. the Pippinids, places like Herstal, Jupil, 00:15:27.799 --> 00:15:30.480 and most importantly, Aachen, the imperial capital 00:15:30.480 --> 00:15:32.919 itself. So for Charles, taking Lotharingia wasn't 00:15:32.919 --> 00:15:35.419 just about gaining land. It was about reclaiming 00:15:35.419 --> 00:15:38.159 the spiritual and political legitimacy of Charlemagne's 00:15:38.159 --> 00:15:40.940 empire. Exactly. Every West Francian monarch 00:15:40.940 --> 00:15:43.279 since Charles the Bald had yearned to reunify 00:15:43.279 --> 00:15:45.740 the Middle Kingdom. If Charles could secure Aiken, 00:15:45.840 --> 00:15:48.220 he would be seen not just as king of West Francia, 00:15:48.360 --> 00:15:50.659 but as the only legitimate heir to the entire 00:15:50.659 --> 00:15:53.899 Carolingian legacy. A huge political prize that 00:15:53.899 --> 00:15:56.480 would eclipse the prestige of ruling a fragmented 00:15:56.480 --> 00:15:59.080 Paris -based kingdom. Right. And the opportunity 00:15:59.080 --> 00:16:01.779 arose quickly, coinciding with his deal with 00:16:01.779 --> 00:16:05.460 Rollo. In 911. In 911, Louis the Child, the last 00:16:05.460 --> 00:16:08.440 Carolingian king of East Francia. died creating 00:16:08.440 --> 00:16:11.980 a massive vacuum. The East Francian nobles rejected 00:16:11.980 --> 00:16:15.539 the Carolingian line and elected Conrad I, a 00:16:15.539 --> 00:16:18.379 non -Carolingian duke. But the Lotharingian nobles, 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:20.820 they were fiercely loyal to the old imperial 00:16:20.820 --> 00:16:23.899 bloodline. They were. Led by Reginar, Duke of 00:16:23.899 --> 00:16:25.960 Lorraine, the Lotharingian magnates declared 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:29.000 Charles their new king, choosing him specifically 00:16:29.000 --> 00:16:31.659 because he represented the purity and legitimacy 00:16:31.659 --> 00:16:34.440 of the Carolingian bloodline. So they chose Charles 00:16:34.440 --> 00:16:37.200 over their own local choice. They did. Charles 00:16:37.200 --> 00:16:39.649 was crowned in early November 911. This was a 00:16:39.649 --> 00:16:42.049 triumph. And for a few years, he was arguably 00:16:42.049 --> 00:16:44.009 the most powerful monarch in Western Europe, 00:16:44.129 --> 00:16:46.509 controlling both West Francia and the imperial 00:16:46.509 --> 00:16:48.889 harland. And he didn't just stumble into this 00:16:48.889 --> 00:16:51.330 either. He'd spent years maneuvering to achieve 00:16:51.330 --> 00:16:53.350 this loyalty. Oh, he played the long diplomatic 00:16:53.350 --> 00:16:56.309 game. Years earlier, in April 907, he had married 00:16:56.309 --> 00:16:59.029 Frederuna, a Lotharingian noblewoman. This created 00:16:59.029 --> 00:17:01.330 deep personal ties to the local aristocracy. 00:17:01.610 --> 00:17:05.049 He also ensured his niece, Cunegunda, married 00:17:05.049 --> 00:17:09.650 Weedrick of Lotharingia in 909. These dynastic 00:17:09.650 --> 00:17:12.329 marriages bound key regional families to his 00:17:12.329 --> 00:17:14.869 cause. And he also proved he was willing to fight 00:17:14.869 --> 00:17:17.049 for his new territory against the East French 00:17:17.049 --> 00:17:20.150 and King Conrad III. He defended Lotharingia 00:17:20.150 --> 00:17:23.029 against two separate attacks from Conrad. For 00:17:23.029 --> 00:17:26.089 the Lotharingian nobles, Charles was a protector 00:17:26.089 --> 00:17:28.450 who legitimized their independence from the rest 00:17:28.450 --> 00:17:31.230 of East Francia. His dedication seemed total. 00:17:31.579 --> 00:17:34.380 But this immense success in the East, this ideological 00:17:34.380 --> 00:17:37.920 fulfillment, created the exact seed of discontent 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:40.079 that would eventually lead to his downfall in 00:17:40.079 --> 00:17:42.059 the West. He neglected the people who put him 00:17:42.059 --> 00:17:43.940 on the throne. This is where Charles the Simple, 00:17:44.059 --> 00:17:46.279 this straightforward king, made a fatal political 00:17:46.279 --> 00:17:48.579 misjudgment. It really was. The source material 00:17:48.579 --> 00:17:51.180 is brutally clear. Charles preferred to stay 00:17:51.180 --> 00:17:54.079 in the Lotharingian capital, Aachen, or at his 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:56.809 palace in Thionville. neglecting the West Francian 00:17:56.809 --> 00:17:59.630 centers like Paris or Lyon. For the West Francian 00:17:59.630 --> 00:18:02.089 nobility, the Robursians and their allies, this 00:18:02.089 --> 00:18:04.630 must have felt like a profound betrayal. It was. 00:18:04.829 --> 00:18:07.630 They had sacrificed their own ambition to place 00:18:07.630 --> 00:18:10.250 Charles on the throne, hoping for a strong present 00:18:10.250 --> 00:18:13.470 leader. Instead, they got a king who saw their 00:18:13.470 --> 00:18:16.329 kingdom as a stepping stone to his true ambition. 00:18:16.670 --> 00:18:19.789 Which was restoring Charlemagne's glory. Exactly. 00:18:19.789 --> 00:18:22.130 They saw his constant absence as an affront. 00:18:22.130 --> 00:18:24.589 His focus was restoring a historical empire. 00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:27.940 Their focus was dealing with local banditry, 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:30.859 feudal justice, and Viking remnants. And the 00:18:30.859 --> 00:18:33.140 military neglect that followed was the final 00:18:33.140 --> 00:18:36.039 insult. Yes. The kingdom was under constant threat, 00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:38.339 not just from Viking remnants, but now from the 00:18:38.339 --> 00:18:40.980 incursions of the Hungarians, who were rampaging 00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:43.599 across Central Europe and threatening Lotharingia 00:18:43.599 --> 00:18:46.019 itself. And when the Hungarians arrived... Charles 00:18:46.019 --> 00:18:47.940 refused to march out and defend the territory. 00:18:48.220 --> 00:18:50.319 He abandoned his duty as the protector of the 00:18:50.319 --> 00:18:53.269 realm. Wow. The only high -ranking official present 00:18:53.269 --> 00:18:55.690 to defend Lotharingia, according to the chronicler 00:18:55.690 --> 00:18:59.769 Fledord, was Archbishop Hervé de Rheims. Charles' 00:18:59.910 --> 00:19:02.269 failure to act decisively against the Hungarians 00:19:02.269 --> 00:19:05.009 completely shredded his credibility. Among both 00:19:05.009 --> 00:19:07.190 his Lotharingian nobles who feared for their 00:19:07.190 --> 00:19:10.190 lives. And the West Franchian nobles, who saw 00:19:10.190 --> 00:19:13.230 the hypocrisy of a king obsessed with a historical 00:19:13.230 --> 00:19:15.750 legacy, but unwilling to fight for the living 00:19:15.750 --> 00:19:18.170 people under his protection. It's the ultimate 00:19:18.170 --> 00:19:21.829 paradox. He was brilliant enough to turn a foreign 00:19:21.829 --> 00:19:24.730 enemy like Rollo into an ally, but politically 00:19:24.730 --> 00:19:27.750 simple enough to completely alienate his home 00:19:27.750 --> 00:19:31.150 aristocracy. And by 925, Lotharingia was gone 00:19:31.150 --> 00:19:34.069 again, seized by East Francia. But the damage 00:19:34.069 --> 00:19:35.930 had already been done at home. Which brings us 00:19:35.930 --> 00:19:38.690 to section four, the seeds of revolt, where his 00:19:38.690 --> 00:19:41.150 poor judgment regarding favorites and power consolidation 00:19:41.150 --> 00:19:44.359 created the final storm. The political damage 00:19:44.359 --> 00:19:46.660 he inflicted by prioritizing Lotharingia was 00:19:46.660 --> 00:19:49.680 compounded by his subsequent personal and dynastic 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:52.400 decisions. The first major instability point, 00:19:52.480 --> 00:19:54.079 which Charles actually navigated successfully, 00:19:54.400 --> 00:19:57.519 was the succession crisis in 917. His first wife, 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:01.519 Fredaruna, died on February 10th, 917. She had 00:20:01.519 --> 00:20:03.380 been crucial for his Lotharingian ambitions, 00:20:03.559 --> 00:20:06.039 but she left him with six daughters and no sons. 00:20:06.299 --> 00:20:08.299 Which, in the cutthroat world of 10th century 00:20:08.299 --> 00:20:10.740 Francia, meant deep uncertainty about the succession. 00:20:11.059 --> 00:20:13.400 Every major noble could suddenly calculate their 00:20:13.400 --> 00:20:15.599 own path to the crown. But Charles responded 00:20:15.599 --> 00:20:18.279 decisively to secure the line, turning to the 00:20:18.279 --> 00:20:21.200 only reliable diplomatic power left, Ingler. 00:20:21.259 --> 00:20:25.019 Exactly. In October 919, he married Ejifu of 00:20:25.019 --> 00:20:27.519 Wessex, daughter of Edward the Elder, king of 00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:30.039 England. This was a hugely successful diplomatic 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:32.819 alliance, providing him with a powerful foreign 00:20:32.819 --> 00:20:36.039 backer. And crucially, she bore him the son he 00:20:36.039 --> 00:20:39.380 desperately needed in 920, the future Louis the 00:20:39.380 --> 00:20:42.119 Faith of France. So dynastic stability, at least 00:20:42.119 --> 00:20:44.940 theoretically, was achieved. But by 920, the 00:20:44.940 --> 00:20:47.240 political firestorm had already been lit by his 00:20:47.240 --> 00:20:49.700 spectacular misjudgment regarding his favorite, 00:20:49.960 --> 00:20:52.819 Haganot. This seems to be the single most fatal 00:20:52.819 --> 00:20:55.160 error of his entire reign. It was political suicide. 00:20:55.660 --> 00:20:58.460 Charles showed excessive, blatant favoritism 00:20:58.460 --> 00:21:00.940 towards Hagenau, who the sources describe as 00:21:00.940 --> 00:21:03.420 a mediocris. Meaning a petty nobleman. Not just 00:21:03.420 --> 00:21:05.839 a low -ranking noble, a petty nobleman, a relatively 00:21:05.839 --> 00:21:07.819 minor figure who also happened to be a relative 00:21:07.819 --> 00:21:10.619 of his deceased first wife, Frederuna. Why did 00:21:10.619 --> 00:21:13.240 elevating a mediocris cause such fury among the 00:21:13.240 --> 00:21:16.519 high aristocracy? For two reasons, tied deeply 00:21:16.519 --> 00:21:19.779 into the structure of feudal society. First, 00:21:20.190 --> 00:21:23.670 Status. The Frankish nobility believed in a strict 00:21:23.670 --> 00:21:27.490 hierarchy. Placing a lowborn favorite above established, 00:21:27.730 --> 00:21:30.970 ancient families like the Robertians or the Vermandois 00:21:30.970 --> 00:21:34.190 was a profound insult. It implied that blood 00:21:34.190 --> 00:21:36.269 and traditional power meant nothing compared 00:21:36.269 --> 00:21:38.710 to the king's personal whim. Right. They saw 00:21:38.710 --> 00:21:41.210 Hagenau as an illegitimate conduit of royal power. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:43.359 And the second reason, the practical one, is 00:21:43.359 --> 00:21:45.559 where Charles truly crossed the line. He started 00:21:45.559 --> 00:21:48.019 giving Haganot the aristocracy stuff. He was 00:21:48.019 --> 00:21:49.980 systematically transferring wealth and power 00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:52.339 from the established magnates to his favorite. 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:55.200 Charles endowed Haganot with monasteries and 00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:58.099 land holdings known as benefices. OK, let's break 00:21:58.099 --> 00:21:59.900 down the significance of the benefits. It's not 00:21:59.900 --> 00:22:02.819 just a paycheck, right? No, not at all. In this 00:22:02.819 --> 00:22:05.599 decentralized world, a king had very little centralized 00:22:05.599 --> 00:22:08.869 taxing power. His authority rested on his ability 00:22:08.869 --> 00:22:11.789 to reward and control the magnates through granting 00:22:11.789 --> 00:22:14.109 benefices. They were the lifeblood of aristocratic 00:22:14.109 --> 00:22:17.089 power. They provided tax income, resources for 00:22:17.089 --> 00:22:19.630 equipping armed retainers, and the ultimate source 00:22:19.630 --> 00:22:23.009 of local patronage. When Charles started taking 00:22:23.009 --> 00:22:25.289 these resources away from established barons' 00:22:25.349 --> 00:22:27.930 resources, they considered their hereditary due. 00:22:28.109 --> 00:22:30.789 And giving them to Haganu. He was declaring open 00:22:30.789 --> 00:22:33.069 economic and political warfare on his entire 00:22:33.069 --> 00:22:36.289 ruling class. And the most provocative act detailed 00:22:36.289 --> 00:22:38.849 in the sources, the one that absolutely ensured 00:22:38.849 --> 00:22:41.109 the Rebersian dynasty would rise up, was the 00:22:41.109 --> 00:22:43.750 fight over Shell's Abbey. This is the critical 00:22:43.750 --> 00:22:46.910 turning point. Charles attempted to dispossess 00:22:46.910 --> 00:22:49.430 his own aunt, Abbas Rose Thilde, from Shell's 00:22:49.430 --> 00:22:52.529 Abbey and give this immensely valuable, strategically 00:22:52.529 --> 00:22:55.769 placed monastic complex to Hagenau. And Abbas 00:22:55.769 --> 00:22:57.910 Rose Thilde was the mother -in -law of Hugh the 00:22:57.910 --> 00:23:01.400 Great. the son of Robert of Neustria. So by attacking 00:23:01.400 --> 00:23:04.180 Abbas Rothild's patrimony, Charles was directly 00:23:04.180 --> 00:23:06.440 lacking the financial and familial interests 00:23:06.440 --> 00:23:09.339 of the most powerful, rising, non -Carolingian 00:23:09.339 --> 00:23:11.119 dynasty in the kingdom. It was a declaration 00:23:11.119 --> 00:23:13.740 of war. By trying to steal Shell's Abbey, Charles 00:23:13.740 --> 00:23:15.799 provided the Robuchon family with the perfect, 00:23:15.900 --> 00:23:19.099 morally justifiable excuse to revolt. Exactly. 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:20.700 They weren't just challenging him because of 00:23:20.700 --> 00:23:22.460 ambition. They were protecting their property, 00:23:22.640 --> 00:23:24.779 their mother -in -law, and their very power structure 00:23:24.779 --> 00:23:27.660 from an arbitrary and dangerous king. And all 00:23:27.660 --> 00:23:30.039 of this internal chaos was happening while external 00:23:30.039 --> 00:23:32.460 support was just crumbling around him. Correct. 00:23:32.859 --> 00:23:35.240 Remember his hard -won gains in Lotharingia. 00:23:35.440 --> 00:23:39.799 They evaporated quickly. In 919, the new Duke 00:23:39.799 --> 00:23:42.460 Gilbert of Lotharingia declared loyalty to the 00:23:42.460 --> 00:23:45.359 East Francian king, Henry the Fowler. Which meant 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:47.519 Charles could no longer count on retreating to 00:23:47.519 --> 00:23:50.259 Aachen or using Lotharingian forces to balance 00:23:50.259 --> 00:23:52.099 the scales against his West -French enemies. 00:23:52.599 --> 00:23:55.079 The stage was perfectly set for the final dramatic 00:23:55.079 --> 00:23:57.960 revolt. Charles, the straightforward king, had 00:23:57.960 --> 00:24:00.619 created a political situation so complex and 00:24:00.619 --> 00:24:03.220 poisoned that his own overthrow was guaranteed. 00:24:03.640 --> 00:24:06.720 And that takes us directly into Section 5. Deposition, 00:24:06.920 --> 00:24:09.220 Defeat, and Imprisonment, covering the turbulent 00:24:09.220 --> 00:24:11.819 three years from 920 until his death in 929. 00:24:12.299 --> 00:24:14.599 The speed and violence of his collapse are truly 00:24:14.599 --> 00:24:16.759 staggering. The moment of realization for the 00:24:16.759 --> 00:24:20.559 nobles came in 920. Yes. The powerful nobles, 00:24:20.599 --> 00:24:23.500 driven to complete exasperation by the Haganah 00:24:23.500 --> 00:24:26.460 situation, decided the only way to restore order 00:24:26.460 --> 00:24:30.279 was to remove the king. So they seized Charles 00:24:30.279 --> 00:24:32.839 and imprisoned him. This was the second time 00:24:32.839 --> 00:24:35.099 in three decades that a Frankish monarch had 00:24:35.099 --> 00:24:37.240 been successfully deposed by his own nobles. 00:24:37.400 --> 00:24:39.960 It's a shocking act, but it speaks to the depth 00:24:39.960 --> 00:24:42.980 of aristocratic fury. Who secured his temporary 00:24:42.980 --> 00:24:45.880 release? Charles was only released after intense 00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:48.759 negotiation, primarily mediated by Archbishop 00:24:48.759 --> 00:24:51.259 Hervius of Reims. Hervius was one of Charles' 00:24:51.400 --> 00:24:53.880 most loyal and capable supporters, a man who 00:24:53.880 --> 00:24:55.940 saw the necessity of maintaining the Carolingian 00:24:55.940 --> 00:24:58.660 dynasty for stability. So he managed to broker 00:24:58.660 --> 00:25:01.160 a fragile truce. Right, buying Charles about 00:25:01.160 --> 00:25:04.039 two years of tenuous freedom. But the truce didn't 00:25:04.039 --> 00:25:06.500 address the root cause, which was Haganu and 00:25:06.500 --> 00:25:08.640 the king's preference for the east. And so the 00:25:08.640 --> 00:25:11.789 truce didn't hold. In 922, the Frankish nobles 00:25:11.789 --> 00:25:14.230 revolted again, sensing Charles had learned nothing. 00:25:14.470 --> 00:25:16.809 This was the final devastating move. And the 00:25:16.809 --> 00:25:19.130 revolt was led by Robert of Neustria. Brother 00:25:19.130 --> 00:25:21.450 of the late King Odo, and now the father of Hugh 00:25:21.450 --> 00:25:23.089 the Great, whose mother -in -law Charles had 00:25:23.089 --> 00:25:25.349 tried to dispossess. The rubber sheen hammer 00:25:25.349 --> 00:25:28.329 finally fell, and it was Robert of Neustria who 00:25:28.329 --> 00:25:31.670 swung it. He seized the throne. Robert was elected 00:25:31.670 --> 00:25:34.650 and crowned king by the rebels. Charles the Simple. 00:25:35.069 --> 00:25:37.450 rejected and cornered, fled to his remaining 00:25:37.450 --> 00:25:40.269 base of loyalty, Lotharingia. It's hard to imagine 00:25:40.269 --> 00:25:43.650 the depth of Charles' despair in 922. And just 00:25:43.650 --> 00:25:46.329 as he fled, he suffered another irreparable loss. 00:25:46.789 --> 00:25:51.609 On July 2000, 922, Archbishop Hervitis of Reims 00:25:51.609 --> 00:25:54.599 died. the death of his loyal supporter. He had 00:25:54.599 --> 00:25:56.700 lost his chief diplomat, the man who had previously 00:25:56.700 --> 00:25:59.059 saved him from imprisonment, leaving him entirely 00:25:59.059 --> 00:26:02.140 exposed and reliant on military force. But Charles 00:26:02.140 --> 00:26:04.000 wasn't going to surrender his dynastic legacy 00:26:04.000 --> 00:26:06.740 easily, though. He marshaled his forces, which 00:26:06.740 --> 00:26:08.980 crucially included his former Viking enemies, 00:26:09.299 --> 00:26:11.500 the Normans. A testament to the effectiveness 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:14.200 of the 9 -11 Treaty. He returned to West Francia 00:26:14.200 --> 00:26:16.779 to fight for his crown. leading to the climactic 00:26:16.779 --> 00:26:18.920 Battle of Soissons. Which took place on June 00:26:18.920 --> 00:26:21.940 15th, 923. And it is a fascinating moment of 00:26:21.940 --> 00:26:24.319 high -stakes medieval drama. Charles, with his 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:26.420 Norman forces, faced the armies of the newly 00:26:26.420 --> 00:26:28.839 crowned Robert I. And King Robert I died in the 00:26:28.839 --> 00:26:32.119 battle itself. He did. The sources are conflicting, 00:26:32.359 --> 00:26:35.059 which adds to the intrigue. Some say Robert I 00:26:35.059 --> 00:26:37.140 was killed by a common soldier, Count of Fulbert. 00:26:37.539 --> 00:26:39.779 Others say that Charles the Simple personally 00:26:39.779 --> 00:26:42.920 confronted and killed the usurper king. Imagine 00:26:42.920 --> 00:26:45.910 that scene. The deposed, desperate king fighting 00:26:45.910 --> 00:26:48.309 hand -to -hand and personally killing his rival, 00:26:48.470 --> 00:26:51.210 achieving a moment of brutal, visceral vengeance. 00:26:51.650 --> 00:26:53.710 It would have been the ultimate moment of triumph, 00:26:53.930 --> 00:26:56.109 proving he was anything but simple. But that 00:26:56.109 --> 00:26:58.569 moment was fleeting. Because despite Charles 00:26:58.569 --> 00:27:00.750 successfully eliminating the leader of the rebellion, 00:27:01.029 --> 00:27:03.589 Robert's army won the battle. The Rebersian forces 00:27:03.589 --> 00:27:05.890 were better organized, better commanded, and 00:27:05.890 --> 00:27:08.109 their political will was stronger. Charles was 00:27:08.109 --> 00:27:09.970 forced to escape the battlefield, having won 00:27:09.970 --> 00:27:12.329 the duel but lost the war. The rebel nobility 00:27:12.329 --> 00:27:15.069 acted with ruthless efficiency to prevent any 00:27:15.069 --> 00:27:18.690 Carolingian resurgence. Swiftly. They elected 00:27:18.690 --> 00:27:20.990 Rudolf of Burgundy, who was conveniently Robert 00:27:20.990 --> 00:27:23.789 I's son -in -law, to succeed him. Rudolf was 00:27:23.789 --> 00:27:27.609 crowned king on July 13, 923. In the space of 00:27:27.609 --> 00:27:30.349 one month, the Robertians deposed a king, saw 00:27:30.349 --> 00:27:33.009 him killed, won the battle, and transferred the 00:27:33.009 --> 00:27:35.470 crown to their next ally. Charles' brief flight 00:27:35.470 --> 00:27:38.009 didn't last long. Not at all. During the summer 00:27:38.009 --> 00:27:40.869 of 923, Charles was captured at Chateau Thierry. 00:27:41.240 --> 00:27:44.200 And the man responsible for his capture was Herbert 00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:47.380 II, Count of Armandois, another key member of 00:27:47.380 --> 00:27:49.700 the Robertian family alliance. And another son 00:27:49.700 --> 00:27:51.579 -in -law of the late King Robert. The entire 00:27:51.579 --> 00:27:53.980 power structure was interwoven. So the man who 00:27:53.980 --> 00:27:56.400 secured the entire northern border of France 00:27:56.400 --> 00:27:59.039 through genius diplomacy was imprisoned by the 00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:01.779 very aristocratic system he failed to manage. 00:28:02.019 --> 00:28:04.880 His humiliation was complete. He was first held 00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:07.259 at Chateau Terry. and then transferred in 924 00:28:07.259 --> 00:28:10.519 to a castle in Peron under the direct, careful 00:28:10.519 --> 00:28:13.700 guard of Herbert II. And at the same time, King 00:28:13.700 --> 00:28:17.119 Henry VI of Germany definitively seized Lotharingia, 00:28:17.299 --> 00:28:20.420 ending Charles' imperial dream forever. He had 00:28:20.420 --> 00:28:22.960 lost his kingdom, his supporters, his territory, 00:28:23.000 --> 00:28:25.420 and his freedom. And he remained a captive until 00:28:25.420 --> 00:28:28.480 his death. Yes. Charles the Simple died in prison 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:32.420 at Peron on October 7, 929, aged 50. He was buried 00:28:32.420 --> 00:28:35.289 at the nearby abbey of St. Ferzi. His death secured 00:28:35.289 --> 00:28:37.789 the throne for the non -Carolingian rulers, but 00:28:37.789 --> 00:28:40.130 the long -term dynastic battle was far from over. 00:28:40.269 --> 00:28:43.230 That leads us to Section 6, the long -term aftermath. 00:28:43.710 --> 00:28:45.990 Because while Charles the Simple's reign ended 00:28:45.990 --> 00:28:48.890 tragically, his strategic marriage to Edgifu 00:28:48.890 --> 00:28:51.289 of Wessex proved to be a successful dynastic 00:28:51.289 --> 00:28:55.750 life raft. In the chaos of 923, Queen Ejifu acted 00:28:55.750 --> 00:28:58.829 quickly to secure the most vital asset, the legitimate 00:28:58.829 --> 00:29:02.190 Carolingian male heir. Immediately after Charles' 00:29:02.329 --> 00:29:04.990 defeat and capture, Ejifu and her young son, 00:29:05.130 --> 00:29:07.970 Louis, fled back across the Channel to England, 00:29:08.190 --> 00:29:10.710 seeking refuge at the court of her father, King 00:29:10.710 --> 00:29:13.210 Edward the Elder. This preserved the bloodline, 00:29:13.390 --> 00:29:15.630 keeping the Carolingian name politically relevant, 00:29:15.730 --> 00:29:18.009 but physically removed from the dangerous conflicts 00:29:18.009 --> 00:29:20.609 in Francia. They became known as the Roi d 'Outremer, 00:29:20.710 --> 00:29:22.829 the king from overseas. Meanwhile, Rudolf of 00:29:22.829 --> 00:29:24.910 Burgundy retained the throne, but his rule was 00:29:24.910 --> 00:29:27.809 inherently fragile. It was always fragile. Rudolf, 00:29:27.829 --> 00:29:30.450 who was Robert VI's successor, ruled until 936. 00:29:31.289 --> 00:29:35.069 But when he died, he left no sons. This immediately 00:29:35.069 --> 00:29:37.250 threw the Frankish nobility back into a succession 00:29:37.250 --> 00:29:39.789 crisis. The very instability Odo had tried to 00:29:39.789 --> 00:29:42.549 avoid decades earlier. Right. So the powerful 00:29:42.549 --> 00:29:45.490 Rebertian faction, now led by Hugh the Great, 00:29:45.670 --> 00:29:49.430 Robert I's son, had a choice. Try to take the 00:29:49.430 --> 00:29:52.150 crown directly or find a legitimate figurehead. 00:29:52.349 --> 00:29:54.309 And this is where the Rebertian dynasty showed 00:29:54.309 --> 00:29:57.529 their political sophistication. Hugh the Great 00:29:57.529 --> 00:30:00.190 could have claimed the throne for himself. But 00:30:00.190 --> 00:30:02.269 that might have reignited a devastating civil 00:30:02.269 --> 00:30:04.670 war with the remaining Carolingian loyalists 00:30:04.670 --> 00:30:07.210 and the powerful clergy. Who still revered the 00:30:07.210 --> 00:30:09.789 dynastic name. Instead, Hugh and the leading 00:30:09.789 --> 00:30:11.990 nobles unanimously summoned Charles the Simple's 00:30:11.990 --> 00:30:15.529 son, Louis, to back from England in 936. They 00:30:15.529 --> 00:30:17.849 recalled the son of the man they had deposed 00:30:17.849 --> 00:30:19.910 and killed. What was the underlying calculation? 00:30:20.529 --> 00:30:22.890 It was pure self -interest, dressed as dynastic 00:30:22.890 --> 00:30:25.789 reverence. Louis had grown up in the highly sophisticated 00:30:25.789 --> 00:30:28.470 court of his grandfather, Edward the Elder. He 00:30:28.470 --> 00:30:30.589 was politically neutral in Francia and lacked 00:30:30.589 --> 00:30:33.069 any personal power base, army, or established 00:30:33.069 --> 00:30:35.450 aristocratic connections in the kingdom. So the 00:30:35.450 --> 00:30:38.049 nobles, especially Hugh the Great, saw him as 00:30:38.049 --> 00:30:40.289 a safe, legitimate figurehead they could easily 00:30:40.289 --> 00:30:42.730 control while they consolidated their own regional 00:30:42.730 --> 00:30:44.549 power. He was the perfect solution for them. 00:30:44.750 --> 00:30:47.109 So Charles the Simple's second marriage achieved 00:30:47.109 --> 00:30:49.970 the impossible. His son was crowned King Louis 00:30:49.970 --> 00:30:53.269 IV of France in 936, even though Charles himself 00:30:53.269 --> 00:30:56.430 died a prisoner. That's a powerful irony. It 00:30:56.430 --> 00:30:58.730 ensures that the Carolingian name remains a factor 00:30:58.730 --> 00:31:01.569 for another 60 years, even if it is a heavily 00:31:01.569 --> 00:31:05.329 curtailed and often manipulated authority. The 00:31:05.329 --> 00:31:07.509 dynasty's ultimate failure was sealed, but their 00:31:07.509 --> 00:31:09.549 survival was guaranteed by Charles' strategic 00:31:09.549 --> 00:31:13.089 foresight in marrying Ejifo. To wrap up Charles' 00:31:13.230 --> 00:31:15.930 own complex personal history, let's just summarize 00:31:15.930 --> 00:31:18.309 his family output as it highlights his strategic 00:31:18.309 --> 00:31:21.269 vision at different stages of his life. His first 00:31:21.269 --> 00:31:24.049 wife, Fredaruna, the Lotharingian noblewoman. 00:31:24.329 --> 00:31:26.509 gave him six daughters, vital for his Eastern 00:31:26.509 --> 00:31:29.009 ambitions, including Gisela, whose marriage to 00:31:29.009 --> 00:31:31.349 Rollo secured the Normandy Treaty. And his second 00:31:31.349 --> 00:31:34.490 wife, Edgifu of Wessex. She provided the single 00:31:34.490 --> 00:31:36.769 most crucial factor for the dynasty's survival, 00:31:37.009 --> 00:31:40.809 the legitimate male heir, Louis IV. And we shouldn't 00:31:40.809 --> 00:31:42.569 forget his other offspring, who played roles 00:31:42.569 --> 00:31:44.609 in the church and politics, highlighting the 00:31:44.609 --> 00:31:46.930 interwoven nature of patronage. That's right. 00:31:47.190 --> 00:31:49.990 His children outside of marriage included Arnulf, 00:31:50.410 --> 00:31:53.869 Drogo, and Roricon, who rose to become Bishop 00:31:53.869 --> 00:31:56.710 of Leon and a daughter named Alpais. So these 00:31:56.710 --> 00:31:59.130 non -legitimate children often served as political 00:31:59.130 --> 00:32:02.029 agents placed in powerful ecclesiastical roles 00:32:02.029 --> 00:32:04.970 to ensure local loyalty. It reflected the standard 00:32:04.970 --> 00:32:07.529 practice of leveraging family ties for administrative 00:32:07.529 --> 00:32:10.789 control. Charles used every available resource, 00:32:11.150 --> 00:32:14.049 legitimate or not, to project his influence. 00:32:14.539 --> 00:32:16.700 As we conclude this deep dive into Charles the 00:32:16.700 --> 00:32:18.960 Simple, we have completely inverted that infamous 00:32:18.960 --> 00:32:21.440 nickname. His life and reign were defined by 00:32:21.440 --> 00:32:24.140 immense strategic success that was ultimately 00:32:24.140 --> 00:32:27.420 undone by a single catastrophic blind spot. First, 00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:29.819 we have to remember the name Simplex. It was 00:32:29.819 --> 00:32:31.460 originally a compliment meaning straightforward, 00:32:31.779 --> 00:32:34.440 later intentionally corrupted by political rivals 00:32:34.440 --> 00:32:37.339 who called him Stoltus in minor. He was a king 00:32:37.339 --> 00:32:39.700 of aggressive, sophisticated ambition, proven 00:32:39.700 --> 00:32:42.240 by his near -successful grab for the Carolingian 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:45.430 heartland of Lotharingia. Second, the strategic 00:32:45.430 --> 00:32:47.630 genius of the Treaty of St. Clair -sur -Epte 00:32:47.630 --> 00:32:51.049 in 911. By carving out the Duchy of Normandy 00:32:51.049 --> 00:32:54.410 and offering his daughter Gisela to Rollo, Charles 00:32:54.410 --> 00:32:56.930 solved the external Viking threat by converting 00:32:56.930 --> 00:33:00.230 them into a loyal, defensible border force. This 00:33:00.230 --> 00:33:02.549 single act shaped the future political and military 00:33:02.549 --> 00:33:05.490 geography of Western Europe. And third, his fatal 00:33:05.490 --> 00:33:08.960 amateur error. placing personal favorites, specifically 00:33:08.960 --> 00:33:12.119 the petty nobleman Hagenow, above the power and 00:33:12.119 --> 00:33:14.880 demands of the established aristocracy. By attempting 00:33:14.880 --> 00:33:17.259 to seize valuable traditional resources like 00:33:17.259 --> 00:33:19.819 Shell's Abbey from the Robersian family, Charles 00:33:19.819 --> 00:33:22.299 declared open warfare on the nobles who controlled 00:33:22.299 --> 00:33:25.369 the kingdom's military and economy. He alienated 00:33:25.369 --> 00:33:27.289 the very people who had given him the throne, 00:33:27.430 --> 00:33:29.829 the powerful nobles led by Robert of Neustria, 00:33:29.970 --> 00:33:32.329 whose descendants, including Hugh the Great and 00:33:32.329 --> 00:33:35.049 eventually Hugh Capet, would establish the Capetian 00:33:35.049 --> 00:33:37.309 line of French monarchs. The lineage that would 00:33:37.309 --> 00:33:39.890 rule France for the next eight centuries. Charles 00:33:39.890 --> 00:33:42.490 secured the borders of Francia, but he simultaneously 00:33:42.490 --> 00:33:45.359 secured his dynasty's ultimate downfall. The 00:33:45.359 --> 00:33:48.920 irony is profound. Charles used complex diplomacy 00:33:48.920 --> 00:33:52.500 and military pragmatism to neutralize the foreign, 00:33:52.579 --> 00:33:55.119 external threat that had plagued his ancestors 00:33:55.119 --> 00:33:58.440 for generations. But he completely failed to 00:33:58.440 --> 00:34:01.240 understand the internal political game. He died 00:34:01.240 --> 00:34:03.900 in prison, not because he was stupid, but because 00:34:03.900 --> 00:34:06.400 he was distracted by his imperial ambition and 00:34:06.400 --> 00:34:09.079 made a simple, fatal misjudgment in domestic 00:34:09.079 --> 00:34:12.420 patronage. So here is the final provocative thought 00:34:12.420 --> 00:34:15.340 for you to carry away. Charles the Simple was 00:34:15.340 --> 00:34:17.880 instrumental in settling the Vikings in Normandy, 00:34:18.019 --> 00:34:20.320 creating a political state that survived and 00:34:20.320 --> 00:34:22.929 thrived and would later conquer England. Yet 00:34:22.929 --> 00:34:26.090 his handling of one minor noble, Hagano, and 00:34:26.090 --> 00:34:28.829 the resulting noble fury over a single monastery 00:34:28.829 --> 00:34:31.989 sealed his dynasty's fate. It raises the question, 00:34:32.110 --> 00:34:35.050 in a decentralized kingdom, how much does a massive 00:34:35.050 --> 00:34:37.889 international policy success matter if you don't 00:34:37.889 --> 00:34:39.550 send a personal thank you note to the barons 00:34:39.550 --> 00:34:41.670 who pay for your army? Charles the Symbol proves 00:34:41.670 --> 00:34:44.230 that in medieval politics, securing the loyalty 00:34:44.230 --> 00:34:47.030 of your powerful neighbors is often easier than 00:34:47.030 --> 00:34:49.150 managing the entitlements and egos of your own 00:34:49.150 --> 00:34:52.250 family and closest vassals. A king is only as 00:34:52.250 --> 00:34:54.989 simple or as secure as the barons allow him to 00:34:54.989 --> 00:34:57.690 be. Thank you for joining us for this deep dive 00:34:57.690 --> 00:34:59.469 into a king who deserves to be remembered for 00:34:59.469 --> 00:35:01.289 his strategy, not his label.