page_title: Charles the Fat
section_title: Acquisition of Italy
hierarchical_section_title: Charles the Fat / Biography / Acquisition of Italy
caption_attribution_description: English: Frankfurt on the Main: Oldest preserved record of the Institut fuer Stadtgeschichte (Institute of urban history) from the 2nd december 882, signed by the carolingian emperor Charles III. Deutsch: Frankfurt am Main: Älteste erhaltene Urkunde des Instituts für Stadtgeschichte vom 2. Dezember 882, unterzeichnet vom karolingischen Kaiser Karl III.
context_page_description: Charles III, also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was the last Carolingian emperor of legitimate birth and the last to rule over all the realms of the Franks.
  Over his lifetime, Charles became ruler of the various kingdoms of Charlemagne's former empire. Granted lordship over Alamannia in 876, following the division of East Francia, he succeeded to the Italian throne upon the abdication of his older brother Carloman of Bavaria who had been incapacitated by a stroke. Crowned Emperor in 881 by Pope John VIII, his succession to the territories of his brother Louis the Younger the following year reunited the kingdom of East Francia. Upon the death of his cousin Carloman II in 884, he inherited all of West Francia, thus reuniting the entire Carolingian Empire.
  Usually considered lethargic and inept—he is known to have had repeated illnesses and is believed to have suffered from epilepsy—he twice purchased peace with Viking raiders, including at the infamous Siege of Paris which led to his downfall.
context_section_description: Three brothers ruled in cooperation and avoided wars over the division of their patrimony: a rare occurrence in the Early Middle Ages. In 877, Carloman finally inherited Italy from his uncle Charles the Bald. Louis divided Lotharingia and offered a third to Carloman and a third to Charles. In 878, Carloman returned his Lotharingian share to Louis, who then divided it evenly with Charles. In 879, Carloman was incapacitated by a stroke and divided his domains between his brothers: Bavaria went to Louis and Italy to Charles. Charles dated his reign in Italia from this point, and from then he spent most of his reign until 886 in his Italian kingdom.
  In 880, Charles joined Louis III of France and Carloman II, the joint kings of West Francia, in failed siege of Boso of Provence in Vienne from August to September. Provence, legally a part of the Italian kingdom from 863, had rebelled under Boso. In August 882, Charles sent Richard, Duke of Burgundy, Count of Autun, to take the city, which he finally did in September. After this, Boso was restricted to the vicinity of Vienne.
caption: Charter of Charles III, 2 December 882
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