LUIGI IV, called d'Oltremare, king of FRANCIA. - Son of Carlo il Semplice, b. in 921, d. at Reims, 10 Sept. 954.
He recovered the throne lost by his father Carlo il Semplice. Ugo il Grande, father of the future Ugo Capeto, considered it a very astute move not to claim, in 936, the crown usurped by his father Roberto and his brother-in-law Raoul di Borgogna. By having L. d'Oltremare recalled from England, Ugo hoped to be able to govern in his stead. But L. wished to reign, and throughout his reign he had to struggle to free himself from this tutelage: he succeeded in averting the coalition of the duke and the other great men, was able to detach the emperor Ottone I from Ugo, and also to recover his dominions, obtaining from the Council of Ingelheim the excommunication of Ugo, guilty of having imposed at Laon a bishop of his own choice. Ugo, finally subdued, did not even think of disputing the crown with the young son of L. IV, Lotario.