Lothar II vs Theutberga: a marriage scandal that shook the ninth century

King Henry VIII famously ran into a world of problems trying to get out of his numerous marriages. And interestingly, we can find a similar story of royal marital strife all the way back in the ninth-century – during the reign of Lothar II. When this Carolingian ruler tried to divorce his wife, Theutberga, he ran headlong into a clash with the pope. Professor Charles West explains the story to David Musgrove and reveals what it can tell us about how power, politics and passions were intertwined in the ninth century.

Charles West is the author of The Fall of a Carolingian Kingdom: Lotharingia 855-869 (University of Toronto Press, 2023)