Oaths of Strasbourg

The Oaths of Strasbourg were pledges sworn in 842 by Charles the Bald and Louis the German, promising mutual support against their brother Lothair I.

Treaty of Verdun: The 843 agreement that divided the Carolingian Empire among the sons of Louis the Pious. It formalized the territorial settlement that followed the brothers’ alliance.
Charles the Bald: A Carolingian king who ruled West Francia and later became emperor. He swore the pledge in a language his brother’s followers could understand.
Nithard's Histories: A Latin account of the Carolingian civil wars written by Nithard in the ninth century. It is the source that transmits the oaths’ wording.
West Francia: The Carolingian kingdom that developed into the kingdom of France after the Treaty of Verdun. Charles’s realm formed one side of the emerging post-imperial division.
Louis the Pious: Emperor from 814 to 840 whose succession crisis fractured the Carolingian Empire. His contested succession set his sons against one another.
Louis the German: A Carolingian king who ruled East Francia and later became emperor. He made the reciprocal pledge and spoke in the Romance vernacular.
Old French: The Romance language varieties spoken in northern France during the medieval period. Louis’s followers heard his oath in an early Romance vernacular.
East Francia: The Carolingian kingdom that developed into the kingdom of Germany after the Treaty of Verdun. Louis’s realm formed the other major kingdom in the brothers’ settlement.
Carolingian Empire: The Frankish empire ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, reaching its greatest extent under Charlemagne. The oaths arose from a struggle over this empire’s inheritance.
Lothair I: A Carolingian emperor who ruled Middle Francia and contested authority with his brothers. The oath-bound alliance was formed specifically against his forces.

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