Early life Zwentibold was born during the long reign of his great-grandfather, King
Louis the German in
East Francia. He was the first-born, yet illegitimate, son of
Arnulf of Carinthia and his concubine Vinburga. Zwentibold's father was an illegitimate son of
Carloman of Bavaria, the eldest son of
Louis the German. Zwentibold was named after his godfather
Svatopluk, ruler of
Great Moravia (Zwentibold being a Frankish transcription of Svatopluk). After Louis' death in 876, Carloman ruled over the East Frankish territory of
Bavaria and ceded the adjacent
marches of
Pannonia and
Carinthia (former
Carantania) to his son Arnulf. In 887 Arnulf succeeded the incapable King
Charles the Fat as king of East Francia. When Zwentibold came of age, he intervened in the scramble for the throne in
West Francia between Count
Odo of Paris and
Charles the Simple, but they began to cooperate against Zwentibold, when it became apparent that he intended to become king of West Francia. The eldest son of Arnulf was at first marked out for his succession in East Francia. According to the 870
Treaty of Meerssen and the 880
Treaty of Ribemont, the Lotharingian kingdom of former
Middle Francia had fallen to the East Frankish realm. When in 893 King Arnulf's wife
Ota gave birth to his legitimate son and successor
Louis the Child, Zwentibold in compensation received the Lotharingian royal title, which last had been held by
Lothair II.
King of Lotharingia In the summer of 893 Arnulf received pleas of intervention against
Wido of Spoleto from
Pope Formosus and
Berengar of Friuli, king of Italy. Arnulf sent Zwentibold down the
Brenner Pass with an army who joined forces with Berengar in
Verona. The two marched to Wido's capital,
Pavia, and besieged it unsuccessfully, finally abandoning the siege. According to
Liutprand of Cremona, Zwentibold accepted money from Wido in order to leave, although it is not clear if it was in the form of a personal bribe or a tribute to his father. Zwentibold's retreat was nonetheless seen as a failure, but after learning details of the campaign, Arnulf summoned a stronger army and personally led it to Italy and took Pavia a few months later. As a part of the plans to integrate
Lotharingia into the
East Frankish realm, the rule of King Zwentibold was enforced by his father, supported by the archbishops
Herman I of Cologne and
Ratbod of Trier, against the resistance of the local nobility. As he helped the common population too much, he began to be hated in a few years. He was fighting unruly nobles when his father Arnulf died in 899 and the legitimate son Louis the Child became king of East Francia at the age of six.
Death and legacy Zwentibold attempted to take advantage of the succession of his minor half-brother to establish complete independence for his Lotharingian kingdom. However, after he had lost his father's backing, the entire nobility supported Louis and asked him to intervene. In 900, Count
Reginar I of Hainault and Odoacer rose against Zwentibold and slew him in battle that year, on the river
Meuse, near present-day
Susteren. His remains are buried at
Susteren Abbey. After Zwentibold's death, King
Louis the Child ruled over Lotharingia. However, under his reign the East Frankish realm disintegrated and from 903 Zwentibold's kingdom was administered by the
Lahngau Count
Gebhard, a scion of the
Conradine dynasty, who received the title of
Duke of Lorraine. ==Family==