Louis the Lazy
Louis V of France comes by his nickname in the most obvious way; he did nothing. His father started preparing him to be king from a young age and used his son to the advantage of the Kingdom. In 978, he started to be associated with the government despite being only 12 years old. The following year he was crowned co-King with his father.
When Louis V was just 15 his father married him to the 40-year-old Adelaide-Blanche of Anjou in order to cement Carolingian royal power in the southern part of the Kingdom. The marriage was short-lived because the two could not get along. They kept separate rooms, traveled separately, and only spoke in short conversations in public. As Louis V was only 15, they never consummated their marriage. She eventually left him during a visit to Aquitaine and went back with her family after only two years of marriage. She did not produce a single heir for Louis V.
Louis V became the undisputed king in 986 after the death of his father. Having already been crowned for nearly 10 years, there was no dispute over his taking the crown. At the time there were two groups in France that had different ambitions for the future of the Kingdom. One wanted to renew friendly relationships with the Ottonian dynasty, and the other wanted to continue expansion to the east and the recovery of Lotharingia. There was also a dispute between the elected kings of Louis V’s father and it was all put on the young monarch’s shoulders at once.
Louis V vacillated between the sides and refused to take any strong stance on the issues that were presented to him. He died from a fall while hunting just a year after taking the throne which prevented him from making any lasting impact with his reign. Since he had no heirs the throne was taken by his uncle and the Carolingian dynasty ended.