The "Battle of the Brothers."

The successors of Charlemagne seem to have inherited only the title of their great ancestor; the descendants of Clovis were wicked, those of Charlemagne were weak. Louis, the Good-natured (814-840), the only son of Charlemagne, succeeded him as emperor; having divided his kingdom among his three sons, he afterward foolishly attempted to provide for a fourth, their step-brother, out of their inheritance; this led to open warfare. In a battle against his three sons (long called the "Field of Lies"), he was deserted by his own army; he was twice forced to perform public penance, twice shut up in a cloister, and twice brought out to pacify the deadly quarrels of his children. He died in a campaign against his son Louis; then followed the "Battle of the Brothers" (841). The great title of Emperor fell to Lothaire, the eldest son; the other brothers, Charles and Louis, refused submission to him, and a terrible battle ensured, in which 100,000 men are said to have perished; this battle is also called the Battle of Fontenay. It ended in the Treaty of Verdun, by which the three brothers made a peaceful partition of their lands; to Lothaire, with the title of Emperor, was assigned Italy and a long strip of land extending across Europe to the North Sea. Louis received the territory on the east of the Rhine, comprising the chief part of modern Germany, and called East Frankland; all of old Gaul fell to Charles, and was styled West Frankland (in Latin, Francial), whence the present name, and the beginning of France as a distinct nation. Thus the division of the great empire of Charlemagne among his three grandsons was the beginning of the three modern kingdoms, Germany, Italy, and France, which rapidly became more distinct in language, character, and interest. It was soon after the Battle of Fontenay, or the "Battle of the Brothers," that the famous "Oath of Strasburg" was taken, wherein Charles and Louis formally renewed their allegiance to the Emperor. Louis first explained the oath to his men in the German tongue; Charles did the same to his warriors in Franco-Roman, the parent of the present French language. Then Charles, standing before the Germans, took the oath in their language, while Louis, in the presence of the Frenchmen, took the same oath in the Roman tongue. This incident shows how already the two nations were becoming distinct in speech. The oaths are still preserved, and that taken by Louis before his brother's troops is the oldest monument of the French language.