This denier spans one of the most chaotic successions in Carolingian history. Charles II (the Bald) was crowned emperor in 875; after his death in 877, the western kingdom fragmented through the reigns of Louis the Stammerer, Louis III, Carloman II, and Charles the Fat before Charles III (the Simple) consolidated control. The Bourges mint operated through this entire convulsion, striking under overlapping royal and imperial titulatures — which is precisely why the references cover such a wide range of die combinations and why attribution to a specific reign within this bracket remains contested among specialists.
This denier spans one of the most chaotic successions in Carolingian history. Charles II (the Bald) was crowned emperor in 875; after his death in 877, the western kingdom fragmented through the reigns of Louis the Stammerer, Louis III, Carloman II, and Charles the Fat before Charles III (the Simple) consolidated control. The Bourges mint operated through this entire convulsion, striking under overlapping royal and imperial titulatures — which is precisely why the references cover such a wide range of die combinations and why attribution to a specific reign within this bracket remains contested among specialists.