Battle of Fontenoy (841)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Battle of Fontenoy" 841 – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 2008) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Battle of Fontenoy
Part of the Carolingian wars of succession [de; fr; nl]
The battle as depicted in the fourteenth-century Grandes Chroniques de France.
Date 25 June 841 Location Fontenoy, Yonne, Carolingian Empire Result Divisionist victory (Empire divided between the three leaders in 843)
Belligerents
Imperialists	Divisionists
Commanders and leaders
Lothar I, and King Pepin II of Aquitaine	Charles the Bald, Louis the German
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The three-year Carolingian Civil War culminated in the decisive Battle of Fontenoy, also called the Battle of Fontenoy-en-Puisaye,^[1] fought at Fontenoy, near Auxerre, on 25 June 841. The war was fought to decide the territorial inheritances of Charlemagne's grandsons—the division of the Carolingian Empire among the three surviving sons of Louis the Pious. Despite Louis' provisions for succession, war broke out between his sons and nephews. The battle has been described as a major defeat for the allied forces of Lothair I of Italy and Pepin II of Aquitaine, and a victory for Charles the Bald and Louis the German. Hostilities dragged on for another two years until the Treaty of Verdun, which had a major influence on subsequent European history.

Although the battle is known to have been large, it was not well documented. Many historical sources are believed to have been destroyed after the war, leaving scant records from which to conjecture the numbers of combatants and casualties.