Middle Francia

Middle Francia (Latin: Francia media) was a short-lived Frankish kingdom which was created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun after an intermittent dynastic war between the grandsons of Charlemagne resulted in division of the united Carolingian Empire. Middle Francia was allocated to Emperor Lothair I (d. 855), the eldest son and successor of Emperor Louis the Pious (d. 840). His realm contained the imperial cities of Aachen (the residence of Charlemagne) and Pavia, but it lacked firm geographic or cultural cohesion, which prevented it from forming a nucleus of a lasting state, as was the case with West Francia (which became the Kingdom of France) and East Francia (which became the Kingdom of Germany).

Middle Francia was situated between the realms of East and West Francia and comprised the Frankish territory between the rivers Rhine and Scheldt, the Frisian coast of the North Sea, the former Kingdom of Burgundy (except for a western portion, later known as Bourgogne) and Provence, as well as northern Italy. Following the Treaty of Prüm (855), 'Middle Francia' was divided between three sons of Lothair I, who all died without male heirs (863, 869, 875), while their realms were possessed by their paternal uncles, rulers of East and West Francia. One of the reasons Middle Francia was a short-lived state was its geographic situation between two more powerful realms, each of which had much greater influence in Europe than Middle Francia.