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49 married in spite of her father's opposition. And Charles at the same time met with a check in Provence. Called in by a party of the magnates of the country, he had imagined himself in a position to lay hands on his nephew's kingdom. But Gerard of Roussillon was mounting guard over the young prince, and in the face of his energetic opposition, Charles was obliged to beat a retreat after having advanced as far as Burgundy (861). At the same time Lothar was making advances to his other uncle, Louis the German, whose friendship he endeavoured to make sure of by ceding to him Alsace, or at least the prospect of possessing it whenever the king of Lorraine should die. Lothar now thought himself strong enough to convoke at Aix a fresh council, which this time declared the marriage contracted with Theutberga null and void, and consequently pronounced the king free to form a fresh union. Lothar, before long, made use of this permission by marrying Waldrada and having her solemnly crowned. But Theutberga, for her part, appealed to the Pope to quash the sentences pronounced against her. Lothar retorted by petitioning the sovereign pontiff to confirm the judgments which had been given. At the same time, in concert with Louis the German, he complained to the Pope of the conduct of Charles the Bald, "who, without any show of right, was seeking to lay hands on the inheritance of his nephews."

Meanwhile Charles was gaining power in his own kingdom. He had just defeated the Bretons under their King Solomon, and suppressed a revolt of his own son Louis the Stammerer, while the magnates who had risen against him in 858-859 were one by one making their submission to him. The invasions by the Northmen indeed were still going on. Paris had again been pillaged in 861. The hordes of the viking Weland, whom Charles had hoped to hire for money and employ against their compatriots in the island of Oscellum, had made common cause with the latter and had ravaged the Seine valley as far as Melun. Charles had discovered a method of resisting them, and from the time of the assembly at Pitres (862) began to put it into practice. It was to have fortified works constructed along the rivers which the Normans ascended, particularly bridges, which should bar the way to the invaders. This new departure in tactics produced fairly good results during the years that followed. In 862, Charles, in this way, cut off the retreat of the bands which had forced their way into the Meaux country, and compelled them to promise to give up the prisoners they had made and to quit the kingdom. During the succeeding years, we find the king taking measures to complete the defences of the valleys of the Seine and Oise. It is true that these precautions did not hinder the Northmen from again burning Paris in 865, and from penetrating as far as Melun in 866. This time Charles could only rid himself of them by paying them ransom. But on the other hand, the Marquess Robert the Strong defeated the Northmen of the Loire on several occasions, and up to his