Lothair I

Ordinatio Imperii - Louis names eldest son Lothair co-emperor, younger sons get kingdoms, attempts to preserve unity

Field of Lies - Louis's sons rebel, army deserts him at Rothfeld, temporarily deposed, later restored

Louis restored - loyalists and clergy restore Louis, Lothair flees to Italy, empire increasingly divided

Death of Louis the Pious - dies on campaign against rebellious son Louis the German, civil war erupts immediately

Battle of Fontenoy - Louis the German and Charles the Bald defeat Lothair, 40,000 dead, Frankish nobility decimated

Treaty of Verdun - Carolingian Empire permanently divided: Lothair gets Middle Francia and imperial title, Louis gets East (Germany), Charles gets West (France)

Death of Lothair I - Middle Francia divided among his three sons, imperial title to Louis II