Louise I

Caesar, Junior Roman Emperor. Augustus, Senior Roman Emperor

By the hand of expansion inherited from her father’s rule, Louise I clenched the fist of stability during her reign, securing, losing, and then reasserting the longevity of her heirs and success of the Diarchy

Chosen One

Though she had other siblings that survived to adulthood, Louise’s acute intelligence and natural ambition, coupled with her father’s foresight, ensured she, and only she, would be chose as the junior member of the first Diarchy. Crowned Caesar in 1573 AUC, she would assume the mantle with vigor, notably traveling across the greater empire before settling in Constantinople for years. And as her father secured yet more territory for his legacy, her mother, Irene of Athens, instructed her in the ways of courtly life and political power.

Love of Expediency, Death of Convenience

Upon her return back to her father’s court in Aachen, Loise met and subsequently married Jude, Count of Bavaria. His deep rooted connections to the brambled infighting of Germanic politics secured a wider swath of land for the empire than her father’s previous three years of warring. With Jude, she would have three children, Pepina II, Louise II, and Charlotte ‘Raven Hair’. Later, the same politics that elevated Jude to his position atop the many interconnected counties of central Europa, led to his embroilment in a feud with his Barons that would ultimately cause his arrest and, execution for un-rightful forfeiture of royal lands.
A few years would pass before Louise married again, this time to Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau, again proving her effectiveness at alliance and client state building, as large tracks of northern coastline came under her sway. Known to be and exceedingly intimate marriage, only one offspring from the pairing would survive to adulthood, Laure.

Familial Fissures

Louise I also oversaw the Carolingian Decline, first filled with horror as her chosen daughter and heir, Pepina II, a bright and intelligent protege tutored dutifully by Lousie’s mother Irene in Constantinople, tragically died in a riding accident. This fateful event set in motion cascading tragedies, as each of Louise’s children rebelled, all pining for the vacated Caesar title, in what would eventually become known as The Righteous Queens Rebellion. In the midst of the conflict, Louise sided with her youngest daughter, Laure from her second marriage, and with her help, ensured the eventual peace treaty amongst all three of her remaining daughters. Despite her best efforts and early success, Louise ultimately divided parts of the empire, a lasting inheritance from her father she was unable to mend.
Charlotte Raven Hair, with her Daneland alliances and calvary, demanded and received succession for her efforts, and a land that ultimately planted the seeds of the Francian Kingdom and her son the founder of the Capetian Dynasty. Laure, Louise’s favored, was awarded her beloved middle kingdom, inclusive of her father’s lands, Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau. Lastly, Lousie II, the eldest and likely most deserving, was crowned Caesar, reigning over the remaining Western Roman Empire after the partition.

Louise I confronts her husband Jude after discovering his largesse to his Germanic nobles

No Rest in Retirement

Louise I would not step down from her throne as Augustus and senior ruler in the Diarchy of the Roman Empire, leading the people until her death in 1629 AUC. Though her daughter’s civil war damaged her legacy, the proud and determined matriarch ruled with clarity and compassion in the second half of her life from her mother’s old throne in Constantinople and the Eastern Roman empire and would later help ensure Louise II’s ascension to the same title and ensure the Diarchy’s continued success.

Bloodlines:

Relationships

Charlemagne

Father

Towards Louise I

2

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Louise I

Son

Towards Charlemagne

5

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Jude, Duke of Bavaria

spouse

Towards Louise I

0

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Louise I

spouse

Towards Jude, Duke of Bavaria

0

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Louise I

spouse

Towards Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau

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Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau

spouse

Towards Louise I

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Previously Held Ranks & Titles

• Augustus, Senior Romanorum Imperator
• Caesar, Junior Roman Imperator

Date of Birth

April 10 1557 AUC

Life

1557 AUC 1629 AUC

Circumstances of Death

Heart Failure

Parents

Irene of Athens

Charlemagne

Spouses

Jude, Duke of Bavaria (spouse)

Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau (spouse)

Siblings

Aligned Organization

Magna Roma, & The Romanorum Imperiums

Related Historical Events

• Partition of Empire
  Carolingian Decline
• 1600 AUC
  Righteous Queens Rebellion
• 1573 AUC
  Small Reunification
• The Years of Prosperity
  Carolingian Renaissance

Reign as Caesar, Junior Roman Emperor

1573 AUC - 1577 AUC

Coronation

19 August 1573

Predecessor

None

Successor

Pepina II, Louise II

Reign as Augustus, Senior Roman Emperor

1577 AUC - 1629 AUC

Coronation

25 June 1577

Predecessor

Charlemagne

Successor

Louise II

Spouse

Jude, Count of Bavaria, Gilbert, Count of the Maasgau

Issue of Note

Pepina II, Lousie II, Charlotte ‘Raven Hair’, Laure I

House

Carolingian

Midnight Scepter

Forged from a deep and particularly darkened vein of gold within the old roman territories, Louise’s magnificent scepter was a wedding gift from her first husband Jude. He meant it to symbolize her serenity and admiration for the peacefulness of the moon, but after his betrayal and Louise’s order of his execution, she dubbed it the ‘Midnight Scepter.’ Before her death, she bequeathed the artifact to her youngest daughter, then ruler of Middle Francia & Burgundy, a lasting symbol of her love and admiration for her daughter, and her husband, as Laure inherited the lovely countryside where Louise first fell in love with her second husband Gilbert.

‘Ruling is a dark thing. And midnight is the furthest away we ever are from the light, where queens find their strength, encircled in the loneliness of night’s death.’ - Louise I’s response when asked why she named her artifact ‘The Midnight Scepter’.