Louis IV of France

  General Notes:

Born: 921
Marriage: Gerberga of Saxony in 939
Died: 10 Sep 954, Reims, Marne, France at age 33
Buried: Saint-Remi Cathedral, Reims, Marne, France
Other names for Louis were Louis d'Outre-mer and Louis from Overseas.
General Notes:
King of France who spent most of his reign struggling against his powerful vassal Hugh the Great. When Louis's father, Charles III the Simple, was imprisoned in 923, his mother, Eadgifu, daughter of the Anglo-Saxon king Edward the Elder, took Louis to England. He was recalled to France in 936 and crowned on June 19 at Laon by Artand, archbishop of Reims, who became Louis's chief supporter against Hugh the Great. Louis proved not to be the puppet monarch that Hugh had anticipated; he even moved from Paris to Laon to avoid Hugh's influence. When Hugh and Herbert of Vermandois seized Reims and attacked Laon in 940, Louis valiantly defended his city; but because of Louis's earlier interference in Lorraine the German king, Otto I, sent aid to the rebels. Louis appeared to be totally defeated in 941, but he made peace with Otto in November 942 at Vise on the Meuse, and Hugh and he were reconciled after Herbert, Hugh's chief supporter, died in 943. In 945, while intervening in Norman politics, Louis was captured and handed over to Hugh, who imprisoned him for a year. On his release, Louis closely allied himself with Otto to retake Reims in 946. In 949 Louis again received control of Laon, and Hugh, excommunicated by French and German synods and by the Pope, made a peace in 951 that lasted until Louis's death.
Noted events in his life were:
• Acceded: King of France, 936.
Louis married Gerberga of Saxony, daughter of Henry The Fowler of Germany and Mathilde of Ringelheim, in 939. (Gerberga of Saxony was born circa 913 and died on 5 May 984.)
Marriage Notes:
Louis and Gerberge had two sons and a daughter:Lothair, (941-986) Western Frankish King;Charles, (954-986) Duke of Lower Lorraine;Mathilde. <../Sources.htm>

Louis married Gerberga of Saxony, daughter of Henry the Fowler of Germany and Mathilde of Ringelheim, in 939. (Gerberga of Saxony was born about 913 and died on 5 May 984.)