Charlemagne died due to an illness after living into his early seventies. He was buried in the basilica that he had built in Aachen. Charlemagne was succeeded by Louis the Pious who was his only surviving legitimate son. ^[1]

Like his father Charlemagne, Louis was crowned by Pope Stephen IV at Reims Cathedral and proclaimed Emperor. He took control of his father's complete empire as he was the last surviving son.

To prevent problems with succession, Louis I, divided his lands between his three sons. Lothair, the eldest, became joint ruler of the empire, while Pepin, the second son, became ruler of Aquitaine, and Louis, the youngest, became ruler of Germany. Unfortunately, the plan to get the brothers to work together failed and it led to revolt and conflict.

Bernard, the king of Italy, and nephew of Louis I, rose up in revolt as he had been overlooked in the division of the empire. His army was weak in comparison to that of Louis and Bernard was captured, Louis could have have Bernard executed, but had him blinded instead. Even so, Bernard died several days later.

Louis' second wife, Judith, gave birth to Louis' fourth son, Charles, in 823. In the agreement set out in 817, Louis' lands were already divided into three for the elder sons. In Worms, Louis rewrote the agreement, dividing the lands into four so that Charles had his share. This led the elder sons to revolt against their father.

The rebellion of his three eldest sons resulted in Louis being removed from the Frankish throne. But the rebellion was short lived and Louis was returned to the throne.

Once again the sons of Louis rose up against their father and he was deposed. With the help of Pope Gregory IV Louis was committed to live in a monastery after confessing to crimes he has been accused of.

Louis the Pious died leaving the Frankish Empire in a state of civil war due to the continuing disputes over land by his sons.