Parents: Lothair, king of the West Franks, and Emma of Italy
Date of Birth: circa 967
House: Carolingian
Spouse: Adelaide, daughter of Fulk II, count of Anjou, and Gerberga
Spouse: Adelaide, daughter of Fulk II, count of Anjou, and Gerberga
Predecessor: Lothair
Reign: 986 – 987
Summary: The last Carolingian rulers of a major region, Louis V lived a regrettably short life. He was crowned king of the West Franks during the lifetime of his father in 978. He married in 982 to Adelaide, the daughter of the count of Anjou, and immediately after the couple were proclaimed the king and queen of Aquitaine, a title granted to the heir-apparent of the Frankish king for hundreds of years off and on. Unfortunately, Louis and Adelaide were poorly matched, with Adelaide being more than twice Louis' age and on her third marriage. Within two years, she divorced the prince and settled in Arles. With no wife, Louis could produce no children, and thus the Carolingian line in West Francia was destined to end with his passing. It had already ended in Germany in 911. Only two cadet branches, the dukes of Lower Lorraine and the dukes of Vendôme, still descended in direct legitimate descent from Charlemagne. When Lothair died in 986, Louis became king and immediately inherited all of his father's problems.
His major problem was the Robertines, a rival family that had already installed three kings in West Francia in the previous decades. The Holy Roman Emperor Otto I defended the Robertines and continuously undermined the authority of the Carolingian kings by installing clergy that opposed them in West Francia. One such appointment, Archbishop Adalberon of Reims, tried to reconcile the two rival families of the Carolingians and Ottonians but failed. Lothair had tried Adalberon on charges of treason while Lothair's widow married a descendant of Otto I. Louis V tried to resolve the dispute, but died too soon to see it conclude. Louis died while hunting boar. He fell from his horse and suffered a cranial injury that eventually ended in a seizure that took his life. Charles, duke of Lower Lorraine, was the closest surviving heir of Louis but the clergy, including Adalberon and a future pope, argued in favor of Hugues Capet, a Robertine. Hugues was elected king of the West Franks and Carolingian rule in West Francia came to an inglorious end.
His major problem was the Robertines, a rival family that had already installed three kings in West Francia in the previous decades. The Holy Roman Emperor Otto I defended the Robertines and continuously undermined the authority of the Carolingian kings by installing clergy that opposed them in West Francia. One such appointment, Archbishop Adalberon of Reims, tried to reconcile the two rival families of the Carolingians and Ottonians but failed. Lothair had tried Adalberon on charges of treason while Lothair's widow married a descendant of Otto I. Louis V tried to resolve the dispute, but died too soon to see it conclude. Louis died while hunting boar. He fell from his horse and suffered a cranial injury that eventually ended in a seizure that took his life. Charles, duke of Lower Lorraine, was the closest surviving heir of Louis but the clergy, including Adalberon and a future pope, argued in favor of Hugues Capet, a Robertine. Hugues was elected king of the West Franks and Carolingian rule in West Francia came to an inglorious end.
Date of Death: 21 May 987
Successor: Hugues
Other Monarch Deaths:
Olaf, king of the Isles (1237)
Conrad IV, king of Germany (1254)
Christian I, king of Denmark, Norway & Sweden (1481)
Pandolfo Petrucci, patriarch of Siena (1512)
Conrad IV, king of Germany (1254)
Christian I, king of Denmark, Norway & Sweden (1481)
Pandolfo Petrucci, patriarch of Siena (1512)
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