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138 had left a son, still quite young, named Louis, who having been protected and even adopted by Charles the Fat, might be looked upon as the rightful heir of the Provençal throne. His mother, Ermengarde, set herself energetically to bring about his coronation; in May 889 she repaired to Arnulf's court, and by means of rich gifts secured his help. Louis's claims, supported also by the Pope, Stephen V, were generally recognised, and towards the end of 890 he was proclaimed king in an assembly held at Valence, and brought under his rule the greater part of the territory lying to the south of Rodolph's dominions.

But the exact nature of his kingship can hardly even be conjectured from contemporary records. We hear of him only as having journeyed about his kingdom and granted privileges to churches. Moreover, from the year 900 his energies are diverted to the other side of the Alps, whither he is invited by the lords of Italy, who, weary of their king, Berengar, offer him the crown. Louis closed with their proposals, as, later on, Rodolph II was to do, marched at once upon Pavia, and there assumed the crown as king of Italy, about the beginning of October 900. Then, continuing his march, he entered Piacenza and Bologna, and in February 901 received the imperial crown at Rome from the hands of Pope Benedict IV. Some few engagements with Berengar's troops were enough to secure to him the adhesion of the majority of the nobles.

But if Italy was quickly won, it was quickly lost. Driven from Pavia, which Berengar succeeded in re-entering (902), Louis in 905 made a fresh attempt to thrust out his rival. But he was surprised at Verona on 21 July 905, and made prisoner by Berengar who put out his eyes, and sent him back beyond the Alps.

Thenceforward, the unhappy Louis the Blind drags out a wretched existence within his own dominions. While continuing to bear the empty title of Emperor, he remained shut up in his town and palace of Vienne, leaving the business of government to his cousin Hugh of Arles, Marquess of Provence, who, holding both the March of Provence and the county of Vienne, acts as master throughout the kingdom. We find him for instance interfering in the affairs of the Lyonnais, although this district had a count of its own, and again in the business of the church of Valence, the bishop of which see is described as his vassal. Again, if any question of alliance with a neighbouring king arises, it is he who intervenes. At the beginning of 924 he has an interview with Raoul, King of France, in the Autunois on the banks of the Loire. In the same year the Hungarians, who for some time had been devastating the Lombard plain, crossed the Alps and threatened at once the kingdoms