An Unbeloved Heir? A Reassessment of Louis the Stammerer's Role in the Last Years of Charles the Bald's Reign and its Implications for Understanding Carolingian Rule

Abstract

The father–son relationship between Charles the Bald and his eldest son Louis the Stammerer is generally understood as one of hostility and distrust. This article takes several episodes from the final decades of Charles the Bald's reign to question this, re-examining how royal Carolingian fathers and royal Carolingian sons could take steps to overcome previous conflicts and arguing that political ties within the royal family were more robust, and consequently of different significance for our understanding of Carolingian politics, than is usually understood.