Louis the Pious: In 813 CE, Charlemagne was over seventy years old. It was Frankish custom for the king to divide his empire equally between his sons. Charlemagne had three sons, but two had died.  He decided his son Louis might as well be crowned Emperor. But he wanted Louis to be crowned by his own hand. He wanted to make sure that everyone clearly understood that Frankish kings were more powerful than Catholic popes.  Charlemagne put together a big celebration. Pope Leo was still the pope, but Charlemagne did not invite him to the coronation. Pope Leo did not dare to object. Leo was not popular. Charlemagne was loved. With his father pushing him to do so, Louis crowned himself emperor. For the next year, father and son - Charlemagne and Louis - ruled the Frankish Empire together.   Louis was a good father, a good husband, and good son. He was also deeply religious. The year after his father died, Pope Leo died. A new pope took charge. If possible, the people hated the new pope even more than they had hated Pope Leo. If he wished to remain pope, the new pope knew he needed the backing of Frankish Empire. He called for help. Louis was thrilled that the new pope had asked for his help. Charlemagne would have recognized that the pope was weak, and would have asked for concessions. But Louis, who was already emperor, fell to his knees before the new pope. Seeing an opportunity he had not expected, the new pope quickly crowned Louis emperor - a title he already had. Louis was thrilled. For the first time, Louis felt like a monarch. In that one act, he threw away everything his father had worked so hard to gain for him. Once again, the church had positioned itself as more powerful than any secular leader simply by bestowing a crown.  From that time on, all the nobles in the Frankish Empire called Louis by a nickname - Louis the Pious. Louis found the name flattering. He seemed to have no idea that his actions had cost him the respect of the Frankish military and secular leaders, the respect of the Roman nobles, and the respect of his father's friends in the Muslim kingdoms. Louis allowed his local counts to rule for him. Louis spent his time with his family and in prayer. Because they could, the counts began to rule their individual regions as if they were kings.  Charlemagne's Grandsons: In the Frankish way, Louis divided his kingdom into pieces, giving each of his sons a section. Louis spent a great deal of time trying to divide the kingdom up fairly. He could have saved himself the effort. After his death, his sons fought constantly amongst themselves. They each wanted more. They paid little attention to the needs of their respective kingdoms. This left the counts - the local administrators - even more freedom to gain power regionally. This time, they took it. They did not act like kings. The counts began to call themselves kings.  The counts had gained so much power over the years, running their individual regions, that it was easy for them to take over. They were the leaders people knew. Once again, Europe fell into warring pieces. That left them vulnerable to attack from each other, as well as from other barbarians tribes.     To return to the index,   click on the castle