Louis the Child (893-24 September 911) was King of East Francia from 4 February 900 to 24 September 911, succeeding Arnulf of Carinthia and preceding Conrad I of Germany, and King of Lotharingia from 900 to 24 September 911, succeeding Zwentibold of Lotharingia and preceding Charles the Simple.
Biography[]
Louis the Child was born in 893, a legitimate son of Arnulf of Carinthia and Ota. Louis was only six when he succeeded his father Arnulf and his brother Zwentibold as king of East Francia and Lotharingia, respectively, in 900, and his lands were ravaged by the Magyars. On 4 February 900, he was crowned King of East Francia in the earliest recorded German coronation, being crowned in Forchheim, Upper Franconia. The nobles and bishops ruled his lands for him while he was an infant, but he was responsible for inviting the Magyar prince Kurszan to a meeting and killing him there in 904. In 910, his army was defeated at Augsburg by the Magyars, and he died in despair in Frankfurt on 24 September 911 at the young age of 17.