"What if... Charlemagne's other sons had survived?" Charlemagne's sons and the problems of royal succession

Abstract

'The article is concerned with the problem of Early and Medieval royal succession in different circumstances: the death of two of Charlemagne's designated heirs in 810 and 811, the succession of Louis the Pious in 814 and the conflicts between Louis and his sons resulting in Louis's deposition in 833 and the division of the Carolingian Empire. Counterfactuals are employed in the interpretation of the events surrounding and leading up to the central political and legal problems of royal and imperial succession. Asking questions like 'What if... event x would not have taken place?' and - if possible - developing likely and less likely scenarios proves to be a valuable tool of historic research, especially with regard to the Early Middle Ages' grave lack of written sources. The overall effect of a methodic use of counterfactuals in this form is a d-construction or what still may be seen as a 'logical succession' of events.' (author's abstract)