The Divorce of Lothar II

by Heidecker, Karl; Guest, Tanis M.

• ISBN13: 9780801439292
• ISBN10: 0801439299
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-01-01
• Publisher: Cornell Univ Pr

Summary

"She declares, so the bishops will write in their report on the council, that she is unworthy to continue as a married woman. 'Before God and his angels' she bares her heart and confesses to them 'every secret relating to the rumour that had arisen.' The 'rumour'-as will become apparent-concerns her sexual relations with her brother. True, the 'inner wound' which she 'confesses' to God and the bishops was not dealt her of her own volition but under duress, but it is in any event so terrible that she no longer feels herself worthy to share a royal or a marital bed or to marry anyone at all. The bishops and abbots allow her, as she had supposedly requested, to enter a convent."-The Divorce of Lothar IIThe Divorce of Lothar II illuminates the origin and development of Western notions of marriage and divorce and the separation of church and state in the context of a notorious royal divorce in late Carolingian Europe. In 857, Lothar II, king of Lotharingia, decided to divorce Theutberga-either because she had allegedly engaged in an incestuous liaison with her brother or simply because Lothar had wished to marry his concubine Waldrada. Karl Heidecker's dramatic and engaging narrative untangles the chaos that resulted: two popes, a host of often quarreling bishops, and Lothar's conniving uncles soon became involved in an epic struggle that did not end even with the death of Lothar. The extraordinary series of events sheds light on the fact that the laws on marriage and divorce were still uncertain. The Church itself was hardly unified in its approach, and its efforts to formulate and impose rules repeatedly foundered against the political machinations characteristic of the Carolingian world.In The Divorce of Lothar II, Heidecker not only discusses the legal aspects of the case but also pays much attention to the often heavy-handed ways in which the players of the story achieved their goals. This ninth-century scandal becomes a study of family dynamics, changing values, and the tenuous relationships between kings, nobles, and bishops around the topic of royal marriage. Though the drama ended with no clear resolution of the Church's position, Lothar's quest is revealed as an early chapter in the emergence of the belief that marriage rests on the personal will of the partners, is monogamous, and should not be dissolved.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. vii
Abbreviations	p. ix
Introduction	p. i
Preparing the Drama
Canonical Weapons: The Church's Regulations on Marriage from the Eighth to the Mid-Ninth Century	p. 11
A Cause Célébre: The Divorce Case in the Sources	p. 36
A Marital Drama in Six Acts
Lothar Ascends the Throne and Marries Theutberga, 855-857	p. 51
The Accession: The Political Power of the King and Nobles	p. 52
Lotbar's Marriage to Theutberga: Marriage as an Alliance between Noble Families	p. 59
An Unsuccessful Attempt at Divorce, 857-859	p. 63
The First Attempt at Divorce	p. 65
Ertnengarde's Family: The Marriage Alliance Continued in the Children	p. 69
A Second Attempt at Divorce and the Involvement of Hincmar of Reims, 859-860	p. 73
The Legal Status of Marriage	p. 77
The Powers of the Bishops	p. 86
Hincmars Rules in Their Political Context	p. 92
Lothar's Allies and His Marriage to Waldrada, 860-862	p. 100
Pope Nicholas Intervenes and Theutberga is Reinstated, 863-867	p. 149
Pope Nicholas and the Legal Status of Marriage	p. 152
The Powers of the Pope	p. 159
The Success of Nicholas's Claims to Power	p. 164
A New Pope and Lothar's Last Battle, 867-869	p. 173
Pope Adrian's Rules for Marriage and His Claims to Power	p. 176
Political Power and the Preservation of Lothar's Realm	p. 179
Epilogue. Lothar's Reputation and His Descendants	p. 182
Map of Carolingian Europe in the Ninth Century	p. 189
Genealogies	p. 193
The Carolingians
The Bosonids
The Descendants of Gerard, Count of Paris, and Beggo
The Etichonids
The Carolingians and Their Relatives, Present at the Treaty of Coblenz (860)
The Welfs
Reigns of the Carolingian Kings	p. 201
Selected Bibliography	p. 203
Index	p. 223
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