Vikings: Lords of the Ice Sea

Chapter 177 Equal Division of Inheritance

After listening to the Prime Minister's words, the five ministers had different expressions. The Minister of the Army, Om, stared blankly at the ceiling, Ethelwaugh lowered his head and dozed off, the Chief Steward silently played with the pendant around his neck, and only Goodwin and Horst were thinking about the problem.

Suddenly, a guard burst into the cabinet, saying that the king had urgent business to attend to and summoned the ministers.

"The Franks have attacked?"

Om slammed his hand on the table in excitement, startling Ethelwaugh. "What's going on? Who called?"

Vig stretched and walked out of the cabinet first. "Don't listen to Orm's nonsense. A sea landing is extremely difficult. Even if 'Bald' Charles is willing to go to war, it will take at least three months to prepare, including recruiting vassals, preparing ships and supplies. I'll bet ten pounds that Orm's guess is wrong."

The ministers entered the main hall, and Ragnar handed a slip of paper to Vig, whose expression suddenly turned serious as he read aloud:
"King Lothair of Middle Frankish Kingdom died, leaving behind three sons. According to Lothair's will, his kingdom was divided into three parts, with each son becoming king: the Kingdom of Lorraine in the far north, the Kingdom of Burgundy in the middle, and the Kingdom of Italy in the south (which only occupied the northern part of the Apennine Peninsula, excluding Rome, Naples, and Sicily)."

Currently, the Frankish Kingdom adopts an equal division of inheritance system, meaning that upon the death of the king or lord, the territory is divided equally among all his sons.

This system originated from Germanic traditions, where early Germanic tribes believed that land was family property and needed to be distributed fairly to maintain tribal unity.

In the fifth century AD, a Frankish leader named Clovis defeated the Roman army in Gaul, established the Merovingian dynasty, made Paris his capital, and gradually expanded into the Frankish Kingdom.

After Clovis's death, the Frankish kingdom was divided among his four sons. In the years that followed, the kingdom was repeatedly divided and reunited. The monarchy's power was weakened, and power was transferred to the mayor of the palace. Ultimately, the mayor of the palace, Pepin III (son of Charles Martel), usurped the throne.

The problem was that the Carolingian dynasty founded by Pepin III did not learn from the lessons of the previous dynasty and continued to use this self-defeating succession system, which led to the present-day West Francia ("Bald" Charles), Middle Francia (Lothair), and East Francia ("German" Louis).

"My lords, what do you think?" Ragnar leaned forward slightly, like a beast about to pounce on its prey.

As Minister of War and commander of the Royal Guard, Orm naturally became a proponent of war, clamoring for an attack on West Francia to plunder spoils and fill the national treasury.

The remaining five people seemed to be deep in thought. Seeing that no one spoke, Vig stepped forward to retort:

"In layman's terms, this is nothing more than the eldest brother dying of illness, and the two younger brothers and three sons arguing over the division of the family property. It's an internal matter for the Franks. If we were to intervene, they would most likely set aside their disputes and target us outsiders first. It would be like the Kingdom of Britain fighting against all the Frankish rulers at the same time, and the odds of winning would be too low."

Ragnar closed his eyes and remained silent, thinking that the opportunity was too good to pass up and it would be a shame not to take advantage of it.

He chose a compromise: "Don't rush into an attack. Prepare weapons, ships, and supplies in advance, and decide based on the situation."

Vig strongly advised against it, saying, "There are too many people in the palace, and if we prepare for war, the news will reach the Frankish princes in less than a week, prompting them to put aside their disputes. I suggest we do nothing. If a civil war really breaks out, it won't be too late to prepare then."

However, these words were not heeded. In the following period, the situation in the Franks became increasingly tense. Since pacifying Aquitaine and Brittany, Charles the Bald had greatly increased his power and believed he was qualified to take further steps.

In an attempt to "reform" his three nephews, Charles summoned troops from various regions to Reims to put pressure on his brother and nephews. East Francia, not to be outdone, sent King Louis to Cologne to gather forces from various lords, ready for war at any moment.

Is a civil war necessary?

As time went by, this problem troubled most of the Frankish nobles. Charles and Louis did not want to go to war; they only wanted to intimidate the other side and force them to make concessions first.

Just as the situation reached a stalemate, the papal envoy finally arrived, giving the two kings a reason to cease hostilities:
According to reliable sources, large quantities of grain and ships have gathered at Rendynewum, and the false king of Britain, Ragnar, may cross the sea at any time to seek his own interests.

Through the mediation of the Papacy, Charles and Louis ceased hostilities and made peace, declaring that they would jointly protect the kingdoms of their three nephews. The three small kingdoms would pay an annual tribute, which would be divided equally between the two good uncles as protection money.

Furthermore, given that the West Franks were the most powerful, Charles the Bald inherited the title Romanorum Imperator Augustus, which means Roman Emperor Augustus, or the supreme Roman emperor.

The title of emperor first appeared in 800 AD when the Pope crowned Charlemagne, declaring him the rightful heir to the Roman Empire. After Charlemagne's death, the title passed to his only surviving son, Louis the Pious, and then to Louis the Pious's eldest son, Lothair.

Now that Lothair has passed away, "Bald" Charles has finally obtained the title he had always dreamed of—Emperor! Although it has no practical effect, at least it sounds very prestigious.

Leaving Reims, Charles led 20,000 soldiers to patrol the northern coast, warning the false king of Britain across the Channel.

When the news reached Rendinium, Ragnar felt he had lost face. Ignoring Vigé's advice, he led the Royal Guard and conscripts from the surrounding area to Dover, where he confronted Charles for a month, exchanging insults and hurling accusations at each other.

"You wicked and filthy Norse barbarians, if you've got the guts, come ashore and let me show you the lance of a Frankish knight!"

"Baldy, have you forgotten the disgraceful way you begged for peace back then? Just wait, I'll go to Paris again sooner or later and use your skull as a bowl."

In July, both sides exhausted all kinds of insults, and the French soldiers had exceeded their annual 40-day unpaid service period and entered the stage of receiving wages on a daily basis. "Bald" Charles had no choice but to disband part of the army.

Across the strait, Ragnar's resources were no match for West Francia's; they couldn't even supply their own 13,000 troops. Under Vig's frantic urging, they also disbanded several thousand militiamen.

Finally, the two kings ended their verbal sparring and returned to their respective capitals.

"I can't live like this anymore!" Ulf grabbed Vig's sleeve, preventing him from leaving. "More than ten thousand people have wreaked havoc on my territory, entered my forests to hunt without permission, harassed my villages, and ruined my crops. The cabinet should provide some compensation!"

Vig chose to give up, saying, "To supply this army, I borrowed another 1,500 pounds from Nordic merchants, and now I only have a little over half left. I'll use that to compensate you, because I don't have any money left to pay the guards' salaries."

(End of this chapter)