| Notes |
- Charles III, also called Charles the Simple and Charles the Straightforward, was the son of Louis the Stammerer and his second wife Adelaide of Paris. Charles was born on 17 September 879, 5 months after the death of his father Louis in Compiegne on 10 April 879.
In 875 Charles mother Adelaide had displaced Louis first wife of 13 years. Charles the Bald had not approved of the first marriage, had it annulled by the Pope, and arranged the marriage of Adelaide and Louis. After Louis' death his first wife, in and attempt to protect the inheritance of her own children, accused Charles mother Adelaide of adultery, bringing Charles parentage into question. After a long and difficult process Charles was finally confirmed as the only legitimate heir of Louis, and heir to the throne. Charles was but and infant, however, and unable to ascend any throne. His older half brothers took joint control of the throne and kept it until their death. Ranulf II, the Duke of Aquitaine, became the guardian of young Charles, and may have tried to claim the throne for him, but in the end used the royal title himself.
In 893, 14 year old Charles was crowned King of West Francia at the Reims Cathedral by Aquitainian nobles who opposed the rule of Odo. He was not able to truly claim the throne until Odo's death and when he finally succeeded to his father's throne in 898 his mother assisted in crowning him.
Charles reign of 24 years was filled with battles to keep his throne.
Charles married twice. His first marriage was in May 907 to Frederuna, daughter of Dietrich, Count in the Hamaland. They had six daughters:
-Ermentrude
-Frederuna
-Adelaide
-Gisela, wife of Rollo
-Rotrude
-Hildegarde
Next in 919 Charles married Eadgifu of Wessex, daughter of Edward the Elder, King of the Anglo-Saxons. Together they had one son:
Louis IV of France (10 September 920–10 September 954), who eventually succeeded to the throne of West Francia in 936
Charles also had several other offspring:
-Arnulf
-Drogo
-Rorice († 976), Bishop of Laon
-Alpais, who married Erlebold, count of Lommegau
In 922 Charles III was deposed and, after being defeated at the Battle of Soissons in 923, he was taken prisoner by Count Herbert II of Vermandois. Imprissoned first at Château-Thierry, then in Péronne, Charles the Simple died there on 7 October 929 and was immediately buried in the local Monastery of Saint-Fursy. His son Louis was now the legitimate Carolingian heir. When Charles was captured in 923 Eadgifu took baby Louis to England to the protection of her half-brother, King Æthelstan of England. In 936 the nobility of France requested Louis return to France and succeed to the throne. 15 year old Louis did so with the support of Hugh the Great. Thus although deposed, Charles son Louis still ascended to his throne
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“Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial & Medieval Families,” Douglas Richardson (2013):
“LOUIS II the Stammerer, King of Neustria, 856, King of Aquitaine, 867, King of France, 877-879, son and heir by his father's 1st marriage, born 1 Nov. c.846. He married (1st) March 862 ANSGARDE, daughter of Count Harduin. They had two sons, Louis (III) [joint King of France] and Carloman [King of France], and three daughters, Hildegarde and Gisela (or Gisele) (wife of Robert, Count palatine of Troyes), and Ermentrude. She died after 2 Nov. 880, 881, or 882. He married (2nd) ADELAIDE, daughter of Count Adelard. They had one son, Charles (III) the Simple [King of France]. LOUIS II, King of France, died at Compiegne 10 April 879. His widow, AdelaIde, died 18 October, after 9 Nov. 901.
Birch Cat. Seals in the British Museum 5 (1898): 113 (seal of King Louis II dated A.D. 879 - Oval: a bust in profile to the right. Legend: ... GRATIA …). Halphen Recueil d’Annales Angevines et Vendômoises (1903): 55 (Annales de Vendôme sub A.D. 879: "Hludovicus moritur, rex Germanie."). Brandenburg Die Nachkommen Karls des Großen (1935) IV 34. Decker-Hauff (1955): 330 (identifies wife Adelheid as daughter of Welf, Graf im Argengau). Schwennicke Europäische Stammtafeln 2 (1984): 1 (sub Kings of the West Franks). Winter Descs. of Charlemagne (800-1400) (1987): IV.40, V.49-V.54. Settipani & von Kerrebrouck La Préhistoire des Capetians (1993).”
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879 - 929 (50 years)
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