1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Louis II. of France

by Arthur William Holland

LOUIS II.^[1] (846–879), king of France, called “le Bègue” or “the Stammerer,” was a son of Charles II. the Bald, Roman emperor and king of the West Franks, and was born on the 1st of November 846. After the death of his elder brother Charles in 866 he became king of Aquitaine, and in October 877 he succeeded his father as king of the West Franks, but not as emperor. Having made extensive concessions to the nobles both clerical and lay, he was crowned king by Hincmar, archbishop of Reims, on the 8th of December following, and in September 878 he took advantage of the presence of Pope John VIII. at the council of Troyes to be consecrated afresh. After a feeble and ineffectual reign of eighteen months Louis died at Compiègne on the 10th or 11th of April 879. The king is described as “un homme simple et doux, aimant la paix, la justice et la religion.” By his first wife, Ansgarde, a Burgundian princess, he had two sons, his successors, Louis III. and Carloman; by his second wife, Adelaide, he had a posthumous son, Charles the Simple, who also became king of France.  (A. W. H.*) 

1. The emperor Louis I. is counted as Louis I., king of France.