Louis III of France

Louis was born between 863 and 865, the eldest son of Louis the Stammerer and Ansgarde of Burgundy. Questions about his claim lingered through childhood; when his grandfather died in 877 and his father in 879, he took the throne of West Francia but faced refusals to recognize him as legitimate. A deal struck at Amiens in 1880 forced him to rule alongside his younger brother Carloman II, splitting the realm between Neustria and Aquitania. He fought Duke Boso, who had declared himself King of Provence, winning at Mâcon and in the north but failing to take Vienne even with help from his cousin Charles the Fat. After peacefully resolving invasions by ceding Western Lotharingia in 880, Louis faced Viking raiders who swept into Saucourt in August 881 fresh from sacking cities across Francia. At the Battle of Saucourt-en-Vimeu, he and Carloman crushed the offensive, killing roughly 9,000 invaders in a triumph later immortalized in the poem Ludwigslied. He died a year later on 5 August 882 in an accident, contemporaries calling him able, energetic, and unexpectedly popular.