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20 appeared before his father promising never to offend again. He was obliged to pledge himself also to be content, for the future, with "the kingdom of Italy, such as it had been granted by Charlemagne to Pepin," with the obligation of protecting the Holy See. Further, he was never to cross the Alps again without his father's consent. His partisans, Lambert and Matfrid, were permitted to follow him into his new kingdom, forfeiting the benefices they possessed in Gaul.

Next year (835) an assembly at Thionville again solemnly annulled the decrees of that of Compiègne, and declared Louis to be "re-established in the honours of his ancestors, henceforth to be regarded by all men as their lord and emperor." A fresh ceremony took place at Metz, when the imperial crown was again set upon his head. At the same time the assembly at Thionville had decreed penalties against the bishops who had deserted their sovereign. Ebbo of Rheims was compelled to read publicly a formulary containing the acknowledgment of his treason and his renunciation of his dignity. He was confined at Fulda. Agobard of Lyons, Bernard of Vienne, and Bartholomew of Narbonne were condemned as contumacious and declared deposed. The Emperor attempted to take advantage of this returning prosperity to restore some degree of order in the affairs of his kingdoms, after the fiery trial of several years of civil war. At the assembly of Tramoyes (Ain) in June 835 he decreed the sending of missi into the different provinces to suppress acts of pillage. At that of Aix (beginning of 836) measures were taken to secure the regular exercise of the power of the bishops. A little earlier an attempt had been made to prevail on Pepin of Aquitaine to restore the Church property which he and his followers had usurped. But it is doubtful whether these measures produced any great effect. On the other hand, a fresh peril became daily more threatening, namely the incursions of the Scandinavian pirates. In 834 they had ravaged the coasts of Frisia, pillaging the sea-coasts as they went, and penetrating at least as far as the island of Noirmoutier on the Atlantic. Henceforth they reappear almost every year, and in 835 they defeated and slew Reginald, Count of Herbauges. In the same year they plundered the great maritime mart of Dorestad on the North Sea. Next year, 836, they again visited Frisia, and their king Horic had even the insolence to demand the wergild of such of his subjects as had been slain or captured during their piratical operations. In 837 fresh ravages took place, and the Emperor in vain attempted to check them by sending out missi charged with the defence of the coasts, and especially by building ships to pursue the enemy. Horic even claimed (838) the sovereignty of Frisia, and it was not till 839 that hostilities were temporarily suspended by a treaty.

Nor was the internal peace of the Empire much more secure. Louis and Judith appear to have reverted to the idea of a reconciliation with Lothar, looking upon him as the destined protector of his young brother