Charles "the Fat" (13 June 839-13 January 888) was the king of Italy from 879 to 887, succeeding Carloman II of Bavaria and preceding Berengar of Friuli; king of East Francia from 882 to 887, succeeding Louis the Younger and preceding Arnulf of Carinthia; and king of West Francia from 884 to 888, succeeding Carloman of France and preceding Odo of France. He was the last ruler of a united Carolingian Empire, and his overthrowing by Arnulf of Carinthia in 888 fractured Charlemagne's empire into the contending states of France and the Holy Roman Empire.
Biography[]
Charles as Duke of Swabia
Charles was born on 13 June 839, the youngest son of Emperor Louis the German of East Francia and Queen Hemma of Altdorf. Charles joined his older brothers Carloman II of Bavaria and Louis the Younger in rebelling against their father in 863-865, and their father was forced to grant Carloman the Kingdom of Bavaria, Louis the Duchy of Franconia, and the Duchy of Swabia to Charles. In 875, Carloman succeeded to the kingdom of Italy after the death of Louis II of Italy (who replaced Lothaire II of Lotharingia with Carloman as heir), and Charles and Carloman both repelled an invasion of the Italian peninsula by Charles the Bald of West Francia. In 877 Carloman inherited Italy from Charles the Bald, and Louis divided the former state of Lotharingia between Carloman and Charles, who both received a third. In 879 Carloman was incapacitated by a stroke, so Louis the Younger gained Bavaria while Charles gained Italy. Until 886, he spent most of his reign in Italy. In 882, after a failed siege against Boso of Provence in tandem with Louis III of France and Carloman of France, Charles sent Richard the Justiciar to seize Vienne.
On 18 July 880, Pope John VIII asked for Charles' help against Guy II of Spoleto, who invaded the Papal States. Charles, as king of Italy, defeated Guy's forces, and the pope crowned Charles "Emperor" of the Holy Roman Empire on 12 February 881. In 882 Charles held a diet at Verona, where the duke, pope, and emperor made peace, and Guy II's uncle Guy III of Spoleto (then Guy of Camerino) agreed to restore lost lands to the papacy. In 883 Guy made an alliance with the Saracens, and he defeated Charles' disease-ravaged army. In 883 Charles allied with Doge Giovanni II Participazio of the Republic of Venice.
In 882 Charles gained Louis the Younger's lands when he died while fighting the remnants of the Great Heathen Army of Vikings, and Charles besieged the Vikings at Asselt. He forced their leader Godfrid of Frisia to convert to Christianity, but in 885 he had Godfrey executed at a conference in Spijk, Rijnwaarden, Netherlands near the border with Germany. In 884 he gained West Francia after Carloman II of West Francia's death, and he defeated a Viking siege with Odo of France as his general. However, his prestige was greatly diminished when he paid the Vikings 700 pounds of silver as promised, and he was seen as spineless and incompetent. Charles faced issues with his succession, and he abandoned plans to make his illegitimate son Bernard his heir. He adopted Louis of Provence, and he made him his successor. His incompetence and failure to recognize a heir led to Arnulf of Carinthia leading a rebellion against Charles, and the Carolingian Empire fell apart under his rule, never to be reunited. He died in 888.