GjS fra 
rather than extinguiflied, by the death of Louis le De- 
bonnaire, A. D. 841, after a moli unfortunate reign of 
twenty-feven years. 
Louis I. was eminent for the mildnefs of his manners 
and peaceful virtues, which procured him the title of 
Debonnaire, or the Gentle : but fuch was the barbarity of 
the age in which he lived, that all his virtues, inffead of 
procuring him refpect:, were the caufe of the grenteft cala¬ 
mities to himfelf and the empire ; for his placid virtues 
and graceful manners but ill coinpenfated for the miferies 
which were engendered by his feeble adminiftration, 
which had' frequent recourfe to the grant of feodal 
tenures in order, to fecure the aid and intereft of the tur¬ 
bulent and difaffedted chiefs. His advanced age of 
fev.enty-two years, accounts for his deceafe without af- 
figning the unnatural condudt of his fons as the fource of 
his immediate diffblution; but it is certain that he funk 
into the grave with a lively refentment towards the king 
of Bavaria ; and, when reminded by the bifliop of Mentz, 
that it was his duty as a Chriftian, to forgit e, he replied, 
“ I pardon him with all my heart; but tel! him, that he 
ought to think of ferioufly obtaining pardon from God, 
for bringing my grey hairs with 1'orrow to the grave.” 
The lad reproof of a dying father wms but little re¬ 
garded by thofe fons for whofe ambitious views he had 
already reigned too long. The divifion of his dominions 
was difputed in an obftinate battle; and, after two years 
of alternate fraud and force, the plains of Fontenoy at- 
teded the adtive hatred of the contending rivals. Lo- 
thaire, and his nephew Pepin,were forced to relinquifh the 
bloody conflict, memorable for the daughter of 100,000 
Franks ; and the vidtors Louis and Charles, mud have 
contemplated with horror a carnage, which judifies the 
hidorian’s remark, that whole generations may be fwept 
away by the madnefs of kings in the fpace of a fingle hour. 
Yet the advantages they obtained from the fanguinary 
triumph were far from decifive : motives of caprice or 
intereft: induced each to retire within the circle of his re- 
fpedtive dominions ; and Lothaire, having united his 
Scattered forces, again opprefTed with fuperior numbers 
his brother Charles, who was refcued from deftrudtion 
only by the return of Louis. The viciflitudes of three 
fucccdive years of difcord exhauded the drength, without 
impairing the animofity, of the kindred princes ; and 
they finally confented to divide thofe dominions, for which 
they were no longer able to coc’-'mrt,---y ■-othaire was 
allotted all Italy, with the lovereignty c.\ Aonie, and the 
tradt of country bounded by the Rhone and the Rhine, 
the Meufe-sind the Scheldt. Charles obtained Aquitain, 
with the territory between the Loire tnd the Meufe ; 
and, with Bavaria, the red of Germany was afiigned to 
Louis, hence didinguidied by the name of Louis the 
German. 
By this partition of the dominions of Charlemagne, the 
kingdoms of Germany and France-, ere forever feparated ; 
and from this period it is that the reader mud begin to 
turn from the dark annals of the Carlovingian race, who, 
through a feries'of 150 years, deluged the continent with 
-human blood. The part of Gaul which Lothaire re¬ 
tained, he didinguidied by his own name ; and by the in¬ 
fer, fi Lie corruption of time it has funk into that of Lorrain , 
■which is dill annexed to the diftrict. But the empire 
which he had purfued at the expence of every filial duty, 
which he had edablifhed by blood and rapine, afforded 
him but a tranfient fatisfaftion : from the furnmit of 
grandeur which he had attained, the profpedt was dreary 
and comfortlefs ; and amidd the cares of royalty he fighed 
for a tranquil life of religious privacy. Fifteen years 
after the deceafe of Louis le Debonnaire he aflumed the 
habit of a monk. On his retreat from the throne he'af- 
figned to his elded foil, Louis, the realm of Italy, the 
proper patrimony of a Roman emperor; to Lothaire, his 
fecond fon, the kingdom with the title of Lorrain ; and 
to Charles, his younged, Provence, Dauphine, and part 
of Burgundy. The death of the other princes, in 869, 
N C E. 
united the greated part of their dominions under Charles, 
furnamed the Bald, who may now properly be confidered 
as king of France. 
The empire of Charles had been long affiidted by the 
annual depredations of the Normans; and the retreat of 
thefe northern rovers was purchafed at an ex pence which 
might have fupported a vigorous and fuccefsful war. 
The Bretons alfo, in S46, had attempted to fliake off the 
yoke which they indignantly bore, and twice bad tri¬ 
umphed in aflerting their independence. A third army, 
led by Charles in perfon, extorted areludfant (ubmiffion; 
but no fooner had the repeated incurfionsof the Normans 
recalled Charles, than Louis, duke of Brittany, violated 
the recent treaty, fubdued the neighbouring diocefe of 
Rennes, aflumed the title of king, and tranfmitted it to 
his fon Flerifpee ; who maintained it in a bloody field, 
which effected the total defeat of Charles, and eftabliflied 
the claims of the king of Brittany. A factious people 
W'ill ever arife out of a weak adminiftration; and the 
fubjedts of Charles, infulted by their foreign enemies, 
and opprefted by their own fovereign, implored the pro- 
tedtion of Louis the German. The ambition of that 
prince eagerly liftened to their diftrefs; and while Charles 
was engaged in repellingar. invalion of the Danes, Louis, 
with a formidable army, marched into France; received 
the fubmiftion of the inhabitants, and, in 85.8, was fo- 
lemnly crowned by the archbifliop of Sens. But while 
he too readily liftened to the delufive counfels of his 
courtiers, who reprefented his authority as eftablidled, 
and prevailed on him to difmifs his German troops, his 
tranfient throne foon tottered ; his power was under¬ 
mined ; and the approach of Charles compelled him to 
abdicate a kingdom which he had occupied without a 
battle, and which he relinquiflied without a ftruggle. 
The rapacity of the Normans had been invited by the 
former liberality of Charles the Bald ; and during the 
internal diftenfions of France, they had leated themfelves 
on the banks of the Seine and the Somme. Solomon, 
who had f'eized the throne of Brittany, extended his de- 
vaftations to the gates of Poidfiers ; the intereft and ho¬ 
nour of Charles called aloud for revenge. At the head of 
a powerful army, in 860, he entered the hoftile country of 
the Bretons ; but the fuperior number of his forces only 
aggravated his difgrace ; and in a battle, which was 
maintained with perfevering valour during two fucceflive 
days, he was totally defeated. The victory was chiefly 
afcribed to the flail and courage of Robert le Fort, or 
the Strong, who commanded the army of the Bretons ; 
and the vanquifhed monarch, fenfible of his merits, 
gained him over to his fervice, by the government and 
ducal title of the duchy of France, which comprehended 
the country between the Seine and the Loire. The po¬ 
licy of Charles thus divided the ftrength of the Nor¬ 
mans; and the fword of the pirates of the Somme was 
unflieathed againft thofe of the Seine. The abilities of 
Robert contributed to prop the tottering throne of 
France ; but that gallant chief unfortunately fell in the 
moment of victory, as he bravely repelled an invafion of 
the Danes; and his Iofs waafcarcely compenfated by the 
fubfequent death of Lothaire king of Lorraine, which 
added a confiderable territory to the crown of France. 
The incurfions of the Normans (till continued to afflict 
the kingdom of France ; Solomon king of Brittany was 
perfuaded to join His forces to thofe of Charles, and to 
concur in expelling the formidable invaders. The prin¬ 
cipal leaders of thefe daring adventurers were befieged 
in Angiers in 873 ; and after being reduced to the laft 
extremity, fubmitied to purchafe their retreat by furren¬ 
dering the fpoil they had acquired. Solomon enjoyed the 
triumph over the pirates of Scandinavia but a fliort time ; 
his life, in 874, was the vidtim of a conf'piracy of his own 
ungrateful ftibjefts, whofe happinefs he had promoted 
in the council and the field. From the internal dill'en- 
tions of Brittany, the eyes of Charies were turned to a 
more confiderable cbjedt; and the death of Louis em¬ 
peror 
