2021-06-05 Sat

Louis III also known as Louis the Blind was king of Provence and, from 901 to 905, Frankish emperor whose short-lived tenure marked the failure to restore the Carolingian dynasty to power in Italy. He was the son of Boso, the usurper king of Provence, and Ermengard, a daughter of Emperor Louis II. Through his father, he was a Bosonid, but through his mother, a Carolingian. He was blinded after a failed invasion of Italy in 905.

The emperor Charles III the Fat took Louis under his protection on Boso’s death in 887, and, although Charles was deposed that same year, Louis was recognized as king of Provence in 890. In 900 Louis was called to Italy by a group of nobles who were opposed to the rule of the Italian king Berengar of Friuli; in October, Louis was elected king of the Lombards at Pavia and, a few months later, in February 901, received the imperial crown from Pope Benedict IV at Rome. In 902, however, Berengar captured Louis, who was forced to leave the country.

Depicted here is a silver denarii minted in the name of Pope Benedict IV (obverse) and Emperor Louis (reverse).

Image Source: Wikipedia.org