The infant Constantine, as Leo's only male offspring, must be accepted and, in 911, is proclaimed coemperor, as Constantine VII.

His surname, Porphyrogenitus (that is, born in the Purple Chamber of the Imperial Palace in Constantinople, as befits legitimate children of reigning emperors), pointedly answers the doubts expressed about the legitimacy of his birth in 905, which has slowed down his career and contributed to his shyness.

Sancho has involved himself in the squabbles among the Muslim lords to the south with repeated success.

In 907, he had turned on his former ally Lubb ibn Muhammad, killing him in battle.

Four years later, another former ally, Galindo Aznar, joins with his brother-in-law Muhammad al-Tawil and Abd Allah ibn Lubb ibn Qasi to attack Sancho, but they are defeated and neutralized as a threat.

Al-Tawil flees and is killed shortly afterward, and the power of the Banu Qasi is severely crippled, while Galindo is forced into vassalage to Sancho, leading to the incorporation of the County of Aragon into the Pamplona kingdom.

Tiaret begins to be fought over by a number of tribes, being first captured by Massala ibn Habbus of the Miknasas in the year 911, in alliance with the Fatimid Caliphate.

Æthelflaed, known as the Lady of the Mercians, rules Mercia on her own during the illness that precedes her husband’s death in 911 and thereafter on her own.

She builds fortresses and helps her brother Edward of Wessex recover areas held by the Danes.

Louis, only seventeen or eighteen years old, dies in a state of despair at Frankfurt am Main on September 20 or 24, 911.

He is buried in the monastery of Saint Emmeram in Regensburg, where his father Arnulf of Carinthia lies.

His death brings an end to the eastern (German) branch of the Carolingian dynasty.

The vacuum left in the Carolingian East will eventually be filled by the family of Henry the Fowler, a cousin, and heralds the beginning of the Ottonian dynasty.

Firstly, however, the dukes of East Francia assemble to elect Conrad of Franconia king, as opposed to the reigning king of West Francia, Charles the Simple.

The magnates of Lotharingia elect Charles.

Lotharingia Shifts Allegiance to West Francia After Louis the Child’s Death (911)

With the death of Louis the Child, the last Carolingian ruler of East Francia, in 911, the kingdom is left without a direct Carolingian heir. As a result, Lotharingia (Lorraine) becomes the only East Frankish duchy to break away, transferring its allegiance to Charles the Simple, King of West Francia.

Why Does Lotharingia Join West Francia?

1. Weakness of East Francia After Louis the Child

   • With Louis the Child’s death, East Francia is without a Carolingian ruler, and the throne passes to Conrad I of Franconia, a non-Carolingian noble elected by the East Frankish nobility.
   • Lotharingian nobles, however, are reluctant to accept Conrad, preferring the legitimacy of the Carolingian dynasty.

2. Charles the Simple’s Carolingian Lineage

   • Charles the Simple, King of West Francia, is a direct Carolingian, making him a more legitimate ruler in the eyes of the Lotharingian aristocracy.
   • Seeking a stronger royal protector, the Lotharingians swear allegiance to Charles rather than to the East Frankish king, Conrad I.

3. Lotharingian Nobles Seeking Greater Autonomy

   • Lotharingia had long been a contested border region between East and West Francia.
   • By siding with Charles, the Lotharingian nobility likely hoped to increase their independence and retain control over their own affairs.

The Political Impact of Lotharingia’s Shift

• Conrad I of East Francia views Lotharingia’s defection as a direct challenge to his authority, leading to decades of conflict over the region.
• Charles the Simple strengthens his position in West Francia, but his hold over Lotharingia will remain fragile, as tensions between East and West Francia persist over the region.
• The Lotharingian identity as a borderland between France and Germany continues to define its political and cultural history for centuries.

The Beginning of the Lotharingian Conflict Between France and Germany

Lotharingia’s shift to West Francia in 911 is a crucial moment in Frankish history, as it sets the stage for centuries of Franco-German rivalry over the region. Eventually, in 925, Lotharingia will be reabsorbed into the East Frankish realm, marking the continued struggle between France and the Holy Roman Empire for control over the territory.

Igor, supposedly the son of legendary Varangian adventurer Rurik of Novgorod (who died around 879), rules Kiev (according the Russian Primary Chronicle) at the death of Rurik’s successor, Oleg.

Constantine Zuckerman, drastically revising the chronology of the Primary Chronicle, argues that Igor actually reigned for three years, between summer 941 and his death in early 945.

He explains the epic thirty-three-year span of his reign in the chronicle by its author's faulty interpretation of Byzantine sources.

Indeed, the chronicle records none  of Igor's activities prior to 941.

Arnulf, besieged by frequent raids by the Hungarians and desperate to raise funds to finance a defense, strengthens his power through confiscation of church lands and property, which earns him the nickname "the Bad".

He reestablishes the stem duchy of Bavaria and eventually negotiates a truce with the Hungarians, who hereafter largely pass through Bavaria on their raids into other German territories.

Alexander, the brother of Leo VI, crowned co-emperor by his father Basil I in about the year 879, succeeds his brother on May 11, 912, as senior emperor alongside Leo's young son Constantine VII.

He is the first of Constantinople’s emperors to use the term "autocrator" on coinage to celebrate the ending of his thirty-three years as co-emperor.

Alexander promptly dismisses most of Leo's advisers and appointees, including the admiral Himerios, the patriarch Euthymios, and the Empress Zoe Karbonopsina, the mother of Constantine VII whom he locks up in a nunnery.

The patriarchate is again conferred on Nicholas Mystikos, who had been removed from this position because he had opposed Leo's fourth marriage.