Lotharingia

Lore -
The Lotharingian realm is a much-divided state which, in a cruelly ironic twist of fate, was forged from the fragmentation of the greater Kingdom of Francia. Initially Lotharingia was intended to be given to the eldest son of Carolingian Emperor Louis the Pious, Lothair, as a revived Kingdom of Middle Francia, the realm belonging to Charlemagne’s embittered brother Carloman. The birth of a fourth son to Louis, Charles the Bald, sadly threw the machinations of the Frankish court into disarray and dragged the empire into a decade-long rebellion to disinherit the newest heir; a lessening of the elders’ inheritance was unthinkable. Upon the death of Emperor Louis and his second son Pepin in the mid-9th Century, though, the remaining Carolingian siblings made their peace and divided the empire into three. Lothair, as the eldest, inherited the Imperial titles as well as Middle Francia, as it stretched from the North to Mediterannean Seas.

When Lothair divided his realm between his sons as he lay dying, it was his middle son Lothair who retained the primary regions of the kingdom and thus became the state’s namesake, as Middle Francia ceased to exist. Lothair II’s rule was expectedly short-lived: his uncles in East and West Francia were still alive, intact, and strong enough to crush their nephew. The early 10th Century civil war between the sons of Carolingian Emperor Bernard, Pepin and Lothair, resulted in a fuming aristocracy electing the German king Otto Liudolfinger - a man wary of the Frankish machinations - as Holy Roman Emperor. To bring the Carolingian dynasty under heel, the Kingdom of Francia was split once more, the biggest of the liberated states being Lotharingia. While the full-blooded Carolingian dynasty was forced from their holdings by Otto the Great and his heirs in a series of punitive wars, a cadet branch known as the House of Nibelungen was placed in power, albeit under greatly disloyal nobles.

Lotharingia has thus far made it not on its Dukes’ merits, but rather its important role as the Carolingian speedbump. In the rule of ineffective and impaired Duke Roland Nibelungen rose the wealthy and opportunistic Hohenstaufen dynasty. Ingratiating themselves within the court, they rapidly came to buy the nobles’ support and, soon after, the crown. Of course, fair winds will oftentimes be followed closely by a tempest. With the recent rise to power of avaricious and putrid Lothair Carolingian in Francia, the Hohenstaufens may soon be forced into a long and bloody war as the sole barrier against Francia’s full reunification. The Duke need not fight the Last Carolingian alone, however, as his dear cousin had been placed on the throne of Bohemia in the wake of the Hussite Wars some years prior. Should the King of Bohemia manage to fully consolidate the east in time, the Hohenstaufens just might even have their own chance at the Emperorship. With a united front against Emperor Lothair, the Duchy of Lotharingia may soon be able to escape from Middle Francia’s shadow.