But the written sources we have got are few and often biased. Apart from Pippin the HunchbackвЂ™s revolt, the written sources do not mention conflicts between these brothers, them and CharlemagneвЂ™s other sons, or between father and sons. Conflicts were violent and frequently resulted in war, political assassination, the disfigurement of opponents, banishment into monasteries and exile, etc.ДЄmongst CharlemagneвЂ™s sons, four were treated as potential successors, Pippin the Hunchback, Karl the Younger, Karlmann/Pippin and Louis. Rivalries between brothers, fathers and sons, the offspring of women married to or allied with the same king, etc. But, taken the collective mentality of Early Medieval Elites, Louis the PiousвЂ™s sons were neither particularly greedy nor exceedingly belligerent. This conflict peaked in the deposition of Louis 833 and, later, in the division of the Frankish empire formulated in the treaty of Verdun, in 843. Long before Louis died in 840, the kingship had been contested amongst his sons. His son Louis the Pious succeeded his father into kingship and empire. On January 28th 814, Charlemagne died at the age of 72. The overall effect of a methodic use of counterfactuals in this form is a deconstruction or what still may be seen as a вЂњlogical successionвЂќ of events. Asking questions like вЂњWhat if вЂ¦ event x would not have taken place?вЂќ and вЂ“ if possible вЂ“ developing likely and less likely scenarios proves to be a valuable tool of historic research, especially with regard to the Early Middle AgesвЂ™ grave lack of written sources. 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. The article is concerned with the problem of Early Medieval royal succession in different circumstances: the death of two of CharlemagneвЂ™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 LouisвЂ™s deposition in 833 and the division of the Carolingian Empire. The problem of Early Medieval royal succession in different circumstances. The Coronation of Charlemagne, fresco by Raphael at the Apostolic Palace, c.1516 / Wikimedia Commons

Age of charlemagne factions