The division of the Kingdom of the Franks
In February 842, the two nephews of Charlemagne, Ludwig the German and Karl the Bald, met in Strasbourg. In the Strasbourg Oath, they swore to support each other aganist their older brother Lothair. Their grandfather Charlemagne, King of the Franks, had already established a powerful empire. His coronation as emperor in 800 was seen as bringing the empire of the Romans to the Franks.
When his son Ludwig the Pious died in 840, the empire was divided up amongst his sons. With the Treaty of Verdun in 843, the division was sealed as a Kingdom of the West Franks, a Kingdom of Middle Francia, and a Kingdom of the East Franks.
The Kingdom of the West Franks was later to develop into France. The Kingdom of the East Franks developed into the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. Both were later to claim parts of Lotharingia in the Kingdom of Middle Francia.
Ludwig the German and the Kingdom of the East Franks
Ludwig the German ruled the Kingdom of the East Franks from 843 to 876. His long reign and the Kingdom of the Franks’ division through the Treaty of Verdun in 843 are considered important stages in early German history.
The Kingdom of the East Franks that emerged from this division was enlarged by the addition of the eastern part of Middle Francia - a part of his brother’s central empire - through the Treaty of Meersen in 870. Through this, cities such as Aachen, Cologne, Metz and Strasbourg became part of the Kingdom of the East Franks.
He gave the Strasbourg Oath in the Old French spoken in the Kingdom of the West Franks in order to be understood by the followers of Karl the Bald.