Middle Francia

Middle Francia (Latin: Francia media) was a short-lived Frankish kingdom which was created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun, which ended nearly three years of civil war among the surviving sons of Louis the Pious, son of Charlemagne, and divided the Carolingian Empire in three kingdoms. Middle Francia was allocated to Lothair I, the eldest of the three sons. Middle Francia ceased to exist as a unified kingdom when Lothair I divided it among his sons under the Treaty of Prüm, shortly before his death in 855. Louis II received Italy and the imperial title, Charles received the southern territories centred on Provence, and Lothair II received the northern kingdom, which later became known as Lotharingia. None of the three sons left a legitimate male heir. The territories of the former Middle Francia were thus progressively redistributed, which allowed West Francia and East Francia to claim them. This should not be taken to mean that its eventual disappearance was predetermined by a lack of geographic or cultural cohesion.