Lotharingia

Lotharingia (yellow), as established by the Treaty of Verdun, 843, and reduced by the Treaty of Mersen, 870

Lotharingia was a short-lived kingdom in western Europe, the aggregate of territories belonging to Lothair, King of Lotharingia (reigned 855–869), who received it in 855 from his father, Lothair I (795-855), Holy Roman Emperor. The name derives from the Latin "Lotharii Regnum", the Lothair's realm.

The territory was the northern section of the division of Carolingian lands that had been effected at the Treaty of Verdun, 843. After Lothair's death his lands were further divided between the Kingdom of the East Franks and the Kingdom of the West Franks, in the Treaty of Mersen, 870.

Strictly speaking, there were no Lotharingians as a unified ethnic group. Broadly speaking, Lotharingia comprised the present-day:
*The Netherlands
*Belgium
*Luxembourg
*North Rhine-Westphalia (Germany)
*Rhineland-Palatinate (Germany)
*Saarland (Germany)
*Lorraine (France)
*Alsace (France)

The name Lotharingia (Dutch: Lotharingen, German: Lothringen, French: Lotharingie) survives today in the French name derived from it: Lorraine.

Lotharingia itself did not survive its king; it dissolved in violence and local warfare. Henry the Fowler gained control over the divided lands, and brought them back as a duchy under the German crown. His son and heir Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor granted Lotharingia to his brother, Bruno I, Archbishop of Cologne. In 959 Bruno effected the long-lasting split of the territory under two dukes, as the duchies of Upper and Lower Lorraine.

Upper Lotharingia became the duchy of Lorraine, the nucleus of which survived until 1766. Lorraine was the object of territorial disputes between France and Germany for a thousand years.

The Duchy of Lower Lorraine lost its authority entirely in 1190 (the Diet of Schwäbisch Hall), due to the territorialisation of the 11th and 12th century. The duchy fragmented into separate duchies (Brabant, Limburg, Gelre), bishopries, counties and imperial fiefs. The Duke of Brabant traditionally retained the honorific title of Duke of Lower Lothringia, also known as Lothier .

External links

*European region Lotharingia (German/French)