Louis the Child

Who was Louis the Child?

Louis the Child, sometimes called Louis III or Louis IV, was the king of East Francia from 899 until his death. He was the last East Frankish ruler of the Carolingian dynasty

Louis was a legitimate son of the Emperor Arnulf and his wife, Ota, a member of the Conradine dynasty. He had at least two brothers: his elder, illegitimate brother Zwentibold, who ruled Lotharingia, and another brother named Ratold, who briefly ruled Italy. Ratold's maternity and age are unknown. Louis was born in September or October 893, in Altötting, Bavaria. He succeeded his father as king upon the latter's death in 899, when he was only six. During his reign, the country was ravaged by Magyar raids.

Louis was crowned in Forchheim on 4 February 900. This is the earliest German royal coronation about which records are known to exist. Louis was of a weak personal constitution, often sick, and with his young age, the reins of government were entirely in the hands of others, the nobles and bishops. Indeed, the coronation was probably a result of the fact that there was little Louis could gain at the expense of the nobles. Louis also inherited Lotharingia with the death of his elder illegitimate half-brother, Zwentibold, in 900.