The German-Roman Empire by Hans Prutz

Author:Hans Prutz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Pronoun

With this result, those who had home the toil and danger of the insurrection were dissatisfied. Pepin had been obliged to give way to Lothair, and had come away with empty hands; and Louis the younger, surnamed the German from the situation of his dominions, also saw his own power threatened by Lothair’s efforts. Hence it was easy for the father, when he opened secret communication with them from Soissons, to draw over to himself his two younger sons, by promising them to enlarge their dominions as a reward for aiding him against Lothair. The prisoner of Soissons was once more master of the situation; and in October of 830, at an imperial assembly in Nimwegen, to which the Germans especially, who had remained true to him, thronged in great numbers, he could again exercise full authority. Lothair seems to have at first thought of making resistance, but a private interview between him and his father caused matters to take a peaceful turn. He promised to mend his ways, and swore a new oath of allegiance to Louis. His accomplices, however, remained in prison awaiting their condemnation. Penances were imposed on the clergy who had taken part in the rebellion. Pepin and Louis the German, as well as their brother, now purchased their fathers forgiveness by sacrificing their associates. In February of 831 an imperial assembly at Aix-la-Chapelle issued severe penal mandates against many of the rebels. To crown the emperor’s victory, and complete the humiliation of his opponents, Judith, too, appeared there, and was received with the honors due to the empress. The shameful insinuations with which her political and personal enemies had persecuted her, and striven to ruin her, were now to be finally silenced. The most important of these charges was that of having carried on an adulterous intrigue with Bernhard of Barcelona, but it was never proved. No accuser ventured to appear against the empress at Aix-la-Chapelle. However, at the wish of the assembly she took a solemn oath of purgation, by which she showed her innocence of all that had been falsely imputed to her. The vow of nun, which she had been forced to take while in prison, was annulled as invalid.

Louis the Pious had obtained an unexpected and undeserved success, but he did not understand how to turn it to account. Those whom he had at first terrified at Aix-la-Chapelle by unexpected severity, he strove soon afterwards at Ingelheim, in May, 831, to reconcile by granting them mercy for which they had not asked. His rebellious sons had lost in the eyes of their own party by sacrificing their helpers; and it may be that he wished by this act of mercy at Ingelheim to deprive them of their entire following, and make them unable to hinder his further plans. Influenced by Judith, with whom Count Bernhard of Barcelona again appeared at court, Louis wished first to punish Pepin of Aquitania; and by the fall of the latter, splendid provision was to be made for the young Charles.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.