Sigfred wanted another bribe. The Count of Paris, Odo, managed to sneak some men past the siege and get word to Charles, but Charles refused to authorize payment. In 886, disease started sweeping through Paris, and Odo himself snuck out to beg Charles for help.
Charles finally brought an army and surrounded the besiegers, but not to attack them: to try to get them to give up. When they finally left the following spring, it was with 700 pounds (in weight, not the unit of currency) of silver.
Charles had got married in 862 to the very devout Richardis of Swabia, who had been crowned empress with him in 881. Unfortunately for the succession, they had no children. Charles had one known illegitimate son, Bernard (c.870 - 891), whom he tried to name his successor. His bishops opposed this, but Charles got the support of Pope Adrian III, who intended to travel to an assembly in October 885 to eliminate the opposing bishops. Unfortunately, the pope died along the way. Charles tried again with Pope Stephen V, but the pope would not travel to meet with Charles, which was a sufficient warning to give up on Bernard. (Bernard would later become the focus of unsuccessful attempts to take over Alemannia.) Defeated, Charles ultimately adopted Louis the Blind as his heir when Louis' mother, Ermengard of Italy, brought her very young son to Charles for protection.
Over the next two years, Charles' support among his people wavered and collapsed. Many more qualified adults were upset that they were not chosen as his successor, and his wife abandoned him after he accused her of an affair. In November of 887 Arnulf of Carinthia started a rebellion in West Francia. One week later East Francia turned against Charles. He quickly fell out of power and requested merely some estates in Swabia to live out his days. He died on 13 January 888 at Donaueschingen at the southwest border of Germany. The empire that had come together under him would never be restored. He was the last Carolingian emperor.
As for his wife, Richardis, his accusation turned into a trial by fire for her, and ultimately she achieved a title he would never receive. I'll tell you that story tomorrow.
