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Middle Francia () was a short-lived Francia kingdom which was created in 843 by the Treaty of Verdun after an intermittent civil war between the grandsons of Charlemagne resulted in division of the united empire. Middle Francia was allocated to Emperor Lothair I, the eldest son and successor of Emperor Louis the Pious. His realm contained the imperial cities of Aachen (the residence of Charlemagne) and Pavia, but it lacked any geographic or cultural cohesion, which prevented it from surviving and forming a nucleus of a larger state, as was the case with West Francia (which became the Kingdom of France) and East Francia (which became the Kingdom of Germany).
Middle Francia was situated between the realms of East and West Francia and comprised the Frankish territory between the rivers Rhine and Scheldt, the coast of the North Sea, the former Kingdom of Burgundy (except for a western portion, later known as Bourgogne) and Lower Burgundy, as well as parts of northern Italy. Following the 855 partition, 'Middle Francia' became only a geographic term, and the bulk of its territory was reorganised as Lotharingia, named after Lothair I's Lothair II. One of the reasons Middle Francia was a short-lived state was its geographic situation between two more powerful states, each of which had much greater influence in Europe than Middle Francia.
The geographical situation of Middle Francia was unprivileged in comparison to its neighbours West and East Francia. This is due to the position of the kingdom in Europe. Its only major borders were with East and West Francia; the rest of its borders were isolated and very small in comparison. The only borders it shared with other states at the time were with the Papal States of Benevento and Venice, which were relatively new states without a culture of trade or development. This prevented Middle Francia from trading with other states such as Byzantium or Bulgaria. In addition, its position in Europe could compromise its sovereignty. If any of its neighbouring states, especially West or East Francia, decided to attack Middle Francia, its borders could not be defended due to their length; this is essentially what happened in the Treaty of Meerssen.
When Lothair II died in 869, his only son Hugh by his mistress Waldrada was declared illegitimate, so his only legal heir was his brother Louis II. If Louis II had inherited Lotharingia, Middle Francia would have been reunited. However, as Louis II was at that time campaigning against the Emirate of Bari, Lotharingia was partitioned between his uncles Charles the Bald and Louis the German by the Treaty of Meerssen in 870. Louis the German took Upper Burgundy, territory north of the Jura Mountains ( Bourgogne Transjurane), while the rest went to Charles the Bald.
In 875 Louis II died without sons and named as his successor in Italy his cousin Carloman of Bavaria, eldest son of Louis the German. However, Pope John VIII, dealing with the constant threat of raiders from the Muslim Sicily, sided with Charles the Bald. After much confusion and conflict, Charles the Bald took Louis' realm in Italy. Carloman was crowned king of Bavaria in 876 and invaded Italy in 877 to claim the Kingdom of Italy, but on his death in 880 without any legitimate heirs, his kingdom went to his younger brother, King Charles the Fat. Charles was crowned emperor by Pope John VIII in 881, and thus he reunited the entire Carolingian Empire in 884, although it lasted only until Charles' overthrow in 887.
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