Verdun, << vehr DUHN or vur DUHN >>, Treaty of, divided Charlemagne’s empire into three parts. Charlemagne’s grandsons fought for control of the empire, especially after their father, Louis I, died in 840. They finally signed the treaty in 843. Charles the Bald received most of what is now France. Louis the German took almost all the land east of the Rhine, which became modern Germany. Lothair kept the title of emperor, and ruled a strip of land in the middle, from the North Sea to central Italy.
As a result of the treaty, the lands that became France and Germany were divided. The section in between remained a battleground for a thousand years. Northern Italy soon fell away from Lothair’s kingdom and became part of the German empire, later called the Holy Roman Empire. Part of Lothair’s kingdom became known as Lotharingia or, later, Lorraine.
