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Louis the Pious (Latin: Hludowicus Pius; German: Ludwig der Fromme; Fre n c h : L o uis le Pieux; 16 April 778 - 20 June 840),[2] also called the Fa i r a n d t h e Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his fa t h e r , C harlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aquitaine from 781. As t h e o n l y s urviving son of Charlemagne and Hildegard, he became the sole r u l e r o f t he Franks after his father's death in 814, a position that he h e l d u n t il his death except from November 833 to March 834, when he was d e p o s e d.
During his reign in Aquitaine, Louis was charged with the defence of th e e m p i r e's southwestern frontier. He conquered Barcelona from the Emira te o f C รณ r d oba in 801 and asserted Frankish authority over Pamplona and t he B a s q u es south of the Pyrenees in 812. As emperor, he included his ad ult s o n s , L othair, Pepin and Louis, in the government and sought to est abli s h a s u i table division of the realm among them. The first decade of h i s r e i g n was characterised by several tragedies and embarrassments, not a b l y t h e brutal treatment of his nephew Bernard of Italy for which Loui s a t o n e d in a public act of self-debasement.
In the 830s his empire was torn by civil war between his sons that was o n l y e x a cerbated by Louis's attempts to include his son Charles by his s e c o n d w ife in the succession plans. Though his reign ended on a high no t e , w i t h order largely restored to his empire, it was followed by three y e a r s o f c ivil war. Louis is generally compared unfavourably to his fath e r b u t f a ced distinctly different problems.
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778 - 840 (62 years)