[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":24},["ShallowReactive",2],{"zoom:p4ch22z1:en":3},{"period":4,"chapter":14,"zoom":17},{"id":5,"title":6,"titleEn":6,"titleEs":7,"range":8,"rangeEn":8,"rangeEs":8,"cover":9},"p4","Early Middle Ages","Alta Edad Media","476 → 987",{"fileName":10,"filePageUrl":11,"imageUrl":12,"sourceLabel":13},"François Louis Dejuinne 08265 baptême de CLovis.JPG","https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fran%C3%A7ois%20Louis%20Dejuinne%2008265%20bapt%C3%AAme%20de%20CLovis.JPG","/assets/p4-haut-moyen-age-cover.png","Wikimedia Commons",{"id":15,"title":16},"p4ch22","Louis IV \\\"d’Outremer\\\": Carolingian Return and the Princes’ War (936–954)",{"id":18,"title":19,"chapterId":15,"html":20,"hasEn":21,"isFallback":22,"seoDescription":23},"p4ch22z1","19 June 936: “From Overseas” and the Anointing at Laon","\u003Cp>In \u003Cstrong>936\u003C/strong>, after King Rudolph’s death, the kingdom’s aristocracy recalls from England the young \u003Cstrong>Louis IV\u003C/strong>, son of Charles the Simple. His nickname, “d’Outremer”, says it all: he returns from political exile, raised outside the realm.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🌊 Landing at Boulogne: homage and staging\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>In spring 936, \u003Cstrong>Hugh the Great\u003C/strong> sends an embassy asking Louis to “come and take the head of the kingdom”. Louis’s uncle, King \u003Cstrong>Æthelstan\u003C/strong>, lets him leave only after receiving guarantees of loyalty from the great men.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Louis lands and receives homage at \u003Cstrong>Boulogne\u003C/strong>: hand‑kisses, oaths, and a symbolic entrance into the realm.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>On the Continent, Louis is about fifteen, raised in England. Chroniclers stress he knows his kingdom poorly and initially depends on a narrow entourage (bishops, loyal men, and above all Hugh’s support).\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Later narrative tradition, notably in Richer of Reims, adds a scene meant to show Louis is not a fragile teenager:\u003C/p>\n\u003Cblockquote>\n\u003Cp>“Then the duke quickly brings a horse adorned with royal insignia. As he tries to place the king on it, the horse shies in every direction; but Louis, with an agile leap, suddenly jumps, without stirrups, onto the neighing horse. This pleased all and won everyone’s recognition.”\u003C/p>\n\u003C/blockquote>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🏛️ A Carolingian anointing\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Louis is crowned and anointed on \u003Cstrong>19 June 936\u003C/strong> at \u003Cstrong>Laon\u003C/strong> by \u003Cstrong>Artald\u003C/strong>, archbishop of Reims. The choice of Laon is symbolic: it is a Carolingian stronghold and a major political centre.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Sources often describe the rite precisely without dwelling on “election”: great men choose, but the ceremony gives the decision public form.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>In the ritual, Hugh appears as first among laymen: he plays a squire’s role, bears the king’s arms, and frames the staging of monarchy. Exact regalia are imperfectly known, but one can reasonably expect the elements of a western coronation: crown, sceptre, pledges to respect the Church’s privileges, and symbolic objects linking the king to Frankish tradition.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🤝 A restoration under conditions\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cp>Hugh the Great is decisive in recalling Louis: restoring a Carolingian brings legitimacy while preserving a reality dominated by princes.\u003C/p>\n\u003Cp>Why does Hugh not take the crown himself?\u003C/p>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>he must spare powerful rivals who could refuse a Robertian election,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>memory of recent Robertian reigns is marked by brevity and violence,\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>ruling as “kingmaker” can be safer than reigning.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n\u003Cp>Louis also returns with few resources of his own. Power concentrates around a few Carolingian poles and ecclesiastical revenues; \u003Cstrong>Laon\u003C/strong> becomes a stronghold of Carolingian legitimacy against spaces dominated by great princes.\u003C/p>\n\u003Chr>\n\u003Ch2>🧠 Key takeaways\u003C/h2>\n\u003Cul>\n\u003Cli>936 is a dynastic return, not a return to strong central power.\u003C/li>\n\u003Cli>Anointing gives legitimacy, but real strength depends on coalitions.\u003C/li>\n\u003C/ul>\n",true,false,"In 936 , after King Rudolph’s death, the kingdom’s aristocracy recalls from England the young Louis IV , son of Charles the Simple. His nickname, “d’Outremer”,",1778543123539]