Lothair I/Louis V (nov 12, 954 – may 22, 987)

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Lothair succeeded his father, Louis IV, in 954 at the age of 13. Lothair inherited a fragmented kingdom, where the great magnates took lands, rights and offices almost without any regard for the authority of the king. Magnates like Hugh the Great and Herbert II, Count of Vermandois were always a veiled threat. With Hugh the Great's death in 956 Lothair, only 15, came under the guardianship of his maternal uncle Bruno, archbishop of Cologne, brother of East Francia's king Otto I. Otto intended to bring western Francia under his control. With Bruno's advice, Lothair mediated between Hugh's sons – Hugh Capet and Otto, Duke of Burgundy. Lothair gave Paris and the title of dux francorum (Duke of the Franks) to Hugh Capet, and invested Otto with the Duchy of Burgundy in 956. With these young princes under his control, Otto aimed to maintain the balance between Robertians, Carolingians, and Ottonians. But upon the death of Otto I in 973, Lothair wanted to revive the policy of his grandfather to recover Lotharingia. Otto's son and successor, Otto II, appointed his cousin, Charles, brother of Lothair, as Duke of Lower Lorraine (in Lotharingia) to the king's fury, who was at enmity with his brother. In August 978, Lothair surprised and plundered Aachen, residence of Otto II, forcing the imperial family to flee. In September 978, Otto II retaliated against Lothair by invading France with the aid of Charles. They besieged Paris but winter and a French relief army under Hugh Capet forced them to lift the siege in November and return to Germany. With the support of Adalberon of Reims, Hugh Capet became the de-facto leader of the kingdom and Lothair was king in name only. Intrigues between the Carolingian, Ottonian, and Robertian factions continued until Lothair's death in 986. His son Louis the Do-Nothing became king but died in a riding accident a year later. During his reign, the nobility essentially ruled the country. Dying childless, he was the last monarch in the Carolingian line in West Francia.

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