LOUIS II., Roman emperor, grandson of the preceding, was born about 822 and crowned king of Lombardy in 844. From 849 he shared the imperial title with his father, Lothair I., being crowned at Rome by Leo IV. in 850. He succeeded to the undivided but almost entirely nominal dignity in 855. On the death of his childless brother, Lothair of Lorraine, in 869, the inheritance was seized and shared by his uncles Charles the Bald and Louis the German; the pope, however, espoused the cause of the emperor, crowning him king of Lorraine in 872. Louis II. died in 875, and the imperial crown was forth-with bestowed on Charles the Bald.