2019-06-13 Thu

Charles II, also known as Charles the Bald was the king of France from 843 to 877 and Western Roman Emperor from 875 to 877. He was born on 13th June 823 AD in Frankfurt to Emperor Louis the Pious and his second wife Judith.

When Charles was born, his half brothers were already adults and had been assigned their own regna. His birth leads to a crisis when his father attempted to reorganize the empire to accommodate him at the expense of his brothers. The attempts made by his father to assign him a kingdom, first Alamannia (829), then the country between the Meuse and the Pyrenees (839) was unsuccessful. The death of the emperor Louis in 840 was the signal for the outbreak of war between his sons.

The war was brought to an end by the treaty of Verdun (August 843), which gave to Charles the Bald the kingdom of the western Franks, which practically corresponded with what is now France, as far as the Meuse, the Sane and the Rhone, with the addition of the Spanish March as far as the Ebro.

Depicted above is a silver temple and cross-type Denier issued during his reign from Reims mint. The obverse of a coin depicted the temple portico with legend around. The reverse of a coin has cross Pattee with pellet in each angle and legend depicts around.

Image Source: wikipedia.org