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From Hutton Webster's, Early European History (1917); edited for this on-line publication, by ELLOPOS
X. WESTERN EUROPE DURING THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES, 476-962 A.D.
» Contents of this Chapter
Page 16
TREATY OF MERSEN, 870 A.D.
A second treaty, made at Mersen in Holland, was entered into by Louis and Charles, after the death of their brother Lothair. They divided between themselves Lothair's kingdom north of the Alps, leaving to his young son the possession of Italy and the empty title of "emperor." The Treaty of Mersen may be said to mark the second stage in the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire. That empire, as such, had now ceased to exist.
IMPORTANCE OF THE TWO TREATIES
The territorial arrangements made by the treaties of Verdun and Mersen foreshadowed the future map of western Europe. The East Frankish kingdom of Louis, inhabited almost entirely by Germanic peoples, was to develop into modern Germany. The West Frankish kingdom of Charles, inhabited mainly by descendants of Romanized Gauls, was to become modern France. Lothair's kingdom, separated into two parts by the Alps, never became a national state. Italy, indeed, might be united under one government, but the long, narrow strip north of the Alps had no unity of race, no common language, and no national boundaries. It was fated to be broken into fragments and to be fought over for centuries by its stronger neighbors. Part of this territory now forms the small countries of Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland, and another part, known as Alsace and Lorraine, [17] still remains a bone of contention between France and Germany.
[17] The French name Lorraine and the German name Lothringen are both derived from the Latin title of Lothair's kingdom--Lotharii regnum.
RENEWED BARBARIAN INVASIONS
Even had Charlemagne been followed by strong and able rulers, it would have been a difficult matter to hold the empire together in the face of the fresh series of barbarian inroads which began immediately after his death. The Mohammedans, though checked by the Franks at the battle of Tours, continued to be dangerous enemies. They ravaged southern France, Sicily, and parts of Italy. The piratical Northmen from Denmark and Norway harried the coast of France and made inroads far beyond Paris. They also penetrated into western Germany, sailing up the Rhine in their black ships and destroying such important towns as Cologne and Aix-la- Chapelle. Meanwhile, eastern Germany lay exposed to the attacks of the Slavs, whom Charlemagne had defeated but not subdued. The Magyars, or Hungarians, were also dreaded foes. Their wild horsemen entered Europe from the plains of Asia and, like the Huns and Avars to whom they were probably related, spread devastation far and wide. A great part of Europe thus suffered from invasions almost as destructive as those which had brought ruin to the old Roman world.
THE MAKING OF EUROPE / EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY: Table of Contents
url: www.ellopos.net/politics/european-history/default.asp
Cf. The Ancient Greece * The Ancient Rome
Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) * Western Medieval Europe * Renaissance in Italy
