The empire created by Charles the Great was divided into three parts: the central part, including the largest portion of Belgium, Holland, Italy, and the eastern part of France, was allotted to Lotharius, together with the title of Emperor; the western part of the empire, embracing the largest part of France, and Flanders to the west of the Scheldt, became the share of Charles; the eastern part, which included nearly the whole of Germany and certain parts of Austria-Hungary, was given to Louis. The Treaty of Verdun practically cut the territory of Belgium into two parts, separated by the Scheldt, and gave each of them to a different ruler. These two sections of Belgium remained separated during the Middle Ages, and were not reunited until six centuries later. After the death of Emperor Lotharius (855) the northern part of his central territory, located between the North Sea and the Jura Mountains, was given to one of his sons, Lotharius II. That section which included the entire eastern part of Belgium to the Scheldt embraced peoples of very different race and origin: Frisians, Franks, Alamans, Walloons. As it was impossible to name the territory after its inhabitants--they were of too many different origins--it was named after its sovereign: _regnum Lotharii_, “Lotharingia,” “the realm of Lotharius.” In 870 the Treaty of Meerssen, whereby Charles, King of France, and Louis, King of Germany, divided between them the realm of Lotharius II, ended the existence of that state. The second Treaty of Verdun in 879 finally settled the status of Lotharingia: the boundary between France and Germany was declared to be the river Scheldt, and the whole of Lotharingia was incorporated in Germany. Of course, all the parts of the former empire of Charles the Great were once again united by the Emperor Charles the Stout, but after all kinds of internal struggles, Lotharingia was again--and this time for many centuries--annexed to Germany in 925. Belgium is thus divided into two tracts by the Scheldt: the western part, Flanders, belonging to France and politically influenced by that country; the eastern part, Lotharingia, which was a dependency of Germany. As in the establishment of the bishoprics, so here, no attention was paid to the racial differences of the inhabitants. Both Lotharingia and Flanders included peoples of different origin: Flanders had inhabitants of Teutonic origin in the north and inhabitants of Romance origin in the south; Lotharingia included Flemings in the east, the center, and the north, and Walloons in the south.