Capture of Louis III

Date: July 21, 905 • Location: Rome, Italy

Louis III, Holy Roman Emperor, was captured and blinded during his attempt to restore Carolingian power over Italy by King Berengar I.

Louis the Blind was king in Provence and Lower Burgundy from 890 to 928, and also king of Italy from 900 to 905, and also the emperor between 901 and 905, styled as Louis III. His father was king Boso, from the Bosonid family, and his mother was Ermengard, a Carolingian princess and only child of Emperor Louis II. In 905, he was blinded and lost Italy, retreating to his remaining domains in Provence and Lower Burgundy.