the earliest depictions of the rule of law in european art. Lothair needed to show his people how integral justice was to his reign, even at the expense of his empire. Made for a king without an heir in a kingdom without a future. If he had divorced his Theutberga and consolidated his reign with a legitimate son, perhaps Lotharingia would be as powerful today as its fraternal territories Germany and France. However, even though Lotharingia is no more, the principal the crystal proclaims is still alive
This made Lothair the ideal choice for emperor. Lothair was crowned emperor by his father Louis I in 817. He and his father co-ruled the empire until his father’s death in 840. After Louis the Pious’ death, Lothair kept the title of emperor by the Treaty of Verdun. In addition, the Treaty of Verdun also gave him the middle portion of the empire. This included Italy, and the territory north of the Alps, that came to be named after him, Lotharingia (Greer and Lewis 218). Modern