Treaty of Verdun
Lothair I, Louis the German and Charles the Bald conclude the partition of Verdun
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August 843, at Verdun
At Verdun in August 843, the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious — Lothair I, Louis the German and Charles the Bald — concluded a peace and repartitioned the Frankish realm. Louis and Charles allied against Lothair's bid for a dominant imperial position, fought him at Fontenoy in 841, and then negotiated through representatives; 120 commissioners were appointed during the preliminary partition talks.
The date commemorated for centuries as 10 August is only probable: the surviving ninth-century accounts say merely “in August.”
Three shares
Louis received the eastern portion — broadly the lands beyond the Rhine, plus Speyer, Worms and Mainz with their districts on the river's western side. Lothair kept the imperial title and the middle territory, running from the North Sea through the region between the Scheldt and Rhine and south through Burgundy and Provence into Italy, a narrow realm containing both Aachen and Rome.
Charles received the remaining western lands extending toward Spain, including Aquitaine — despite the continuing rival claim of his nephew Pepin II, whom the contemporary-derived account treats as an opponent rather than an installed subordinate king.
What the settlement did not do
The brothers exchanged oaths and departed for their respective dominions. Lothair's imperial title survived, but the settlement records no practical superiority over his brothers.
Modern labels such as East, West and Middle Francia are useful shorthand, and the treaty should not be presented as deliberately creating the modern states of Germany, France and Italy — the specialist Jean-Marie Moeglin notes that contemporaries apparently regarded its clauses as provisional.
Sources
Researched 23 Aug 2026 4 sources 3 audit passes Date disputed
How this was checked
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Date disputed. Sources disagree; the research places it at ~0843-08-10.
What the sources leave uncertain
- The original treaty document is lost. Its provisions are reconstructed chiefly from brief contemporary annalistic accounts. Source: https://perspectivia.net/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/pnet_derivate_00007813/moeglin_verdun.pdf
- Recent specialist Jean-Marie Moeglin dates the peace “probably” to 10 August 843; contemporary accounts securely give Verdun and August but not an indisputable day. Source: https://perspectivia.net/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/pnet_derivate_00007813/moeglin_verdun.pdf
- Modern labels such as East Francia, West Francia and Middle Francia are useful shorthand, but the treaty should not be presented as deliberately creating the modern nation-states of Germany, France and Italy. Source: https://perspectivia.net/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/pnet_derivate_00007813/moeglin_verdun.pdf